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easiest way to get 2 laptops online in same dorm room.

its a cable connection...switches can route two pcs through to a cable connection? i thought only routers could.
 
switches = router.
switches is like a smart router, knows which computer to send packet to instead of sending to all connections on network.
 
I think you'll need a layer-3 switch = Router
(a layer-2 switch will do you no good)

edit - a cheaper way might be to stick 2 nics in one computer and use that as the server. however the server must be on, in order for the 2nd computer to access the net.

edit #2 - just noticed you have 2 laptops, so I'm not sure if you want one to have two NICs. Your call entirely, but my suggestion would be to spend a little more $ and get yourself a router. Also, if the router has printer serving capabilities you can plug in a printer and both of you can print on it.
 
Originally posted by: vinsma
switches = router.
switches is like a smart router, knows which computer to send packet to instead of sending to all connections on network.
Click to expand...

I switch does not by any means = a router. A switch at best is like a smart hub. That allows for 100mbps instead of 10. A router on the other hand routes several clients through a single connection. This is usually done throught the use of NAT. So in other words please dont hand out advice if you dont know what you are talking about since a switch is not by any means a router.
 
yes thats why i said lap tops...since they are a pain in the ass to to stuff into.

when i said switch i meant the dumb lvl 2 swtich...not the lvl 3 switch, aka router.


 
It would be real helpful if we knew exactly what kind of service is being used in this dorm. If you are supplying your own broadband service with a modem, a broadband router would be the right choice. If it's the university's service, and you can get multiple IP addresses from the DHCP server, a simple switch or hub will do the job.
 
If it's just university supplied, a router is definately not necessary. Routers are prohibited in our dorms actually.
 
oops, shouldve read the whole thing,someone already pointed out that a router and switch are nothign alike.



is it just ethernet coming into the room? cause then a hub would work
 
Originally posted by: jonmullen
Originally posted by: vinsma
switches = router.
switches is like a smart router, knows which computer to send packet to instead of sending to all connections on network.
Click to expand...

I switch does not by any means = a router. A switch at best is like a smart hub. That allows for 100mbps instead of 10. A router on the other hand routes several clients through a single connection. This is usually done throught the use of NAT. So in other words please dont hand out advice if you dont know what you are talking about since a switch is not by any means a router.
Click to expand...

A switch is similar to a hub in that they both take packets and spit them out on different ports. But a hub is a layer 1 device, which means it just retransmits the electrical signals without regard to any content in the packet. A basic switch is a layer 2 device that examines the MAC address in the packet and only spits it out to the port that the destination machine is known to be attached to.

A router can route several clients over a single IP through NAT (Network Address Translation. Which is what most SOHO routers do. Other routers (Cisco 2600 for example) connect seperate networks or subnets together.

Oh, and to answer the question:
If your university doesn't limit the number of machines and a room, and their dhcp server will hand out ips to any machines that request them you can just buy a switch or hub and three cat-5 cables. Make sure they're not crossovers or rollovers.
Connect your machines to the switch in any non-uplink spots (if your switch isn't autosensing) and connect to the plug on the wall with a straight through connected to the uplink port on your switch.

If they do limit the number of machines in a dorm, buy a cheap router, and three straight through cables. Connect your machines to the LAN ports on the router, and connect the WAN port to the wall plate with a straight through cable. You may have to spoof/clone the MAC address of one of your machines in order for your university's dhcp server to give your router an ip.
 
Unless they actually know the MAC address of the machine, why would you have to spoof one of them? I'd think the router's MAC would be just fine as shipped.
 
its actually not in a dorm...i was wrong. its in a house on campus. its connected to the main college's connection via cable.
 
Originally posted by: gunrunnerjohn
Unless they actually know the MAC address of the machine, why would you have to spoof one of them? I'd think the router's MAC would be just fine as shipped.
Click to expand...

Well, I meant that as if they had to register their MAC addresses with their schools IT dept
 
get a router and two additional thernet cables.


cable modem -> router -> to the two nics in the 2 computers


piece of pie.
 
A switch is cheaper and would be all he needs. I don't see why a layer-2 switch would do him no good. It works fine to connect two computers to the network
 
Without going into definitions of various networking equipment, you will need one of two things:

1. a router - this will be needed if your university will only assign you one IP address, which will be assigned based on your MAC address
2. a switch - this will work fine if your university doesn't limit the number of IP addresses per student

If you have a Windows PC, I would probably recommend a router anyway just to keep all your PC's isolated from the rest of the college's network. There are many, many college students that do not keep their Windows systems patched, and you may be more vulnerable to viruses (similar to blaster, nachi, etc) if you do not have some layer of protection, such as a router.
 
Pex, we need a little more info:

A) are you saying there is one cable connecting your house to the university network & your house has working ethernet connections in multiple rooms?

or

B) one cable connects your PC directly to school's the network?

if you are unsure of the cabling layout, simply check to see if your IP is something like 192.168.XXX.XXX when you're connected in your room (there's another LAN pool that i don't know off the top of my head, but 192.. is the most common). that means you're probably dealing with A.

Solution for A: (more likely)
there must be a router to share the connection hiding somewhere in your house. as long as that router is using DHCP & has enough IPs to accomodate all the PCs in the house (including your friends), a simple hub or switch setup will work fine in your room. if it doesn't work right away, your router probably needs more IP addys in its pool. you'd probably have to find out who administers that router and have them add to the "IP pool" to accomodate another PC (unless of course, you know the password and can log into the router & do it yourself).

Solution for B: (unlikely since cabling is very expensive)
if there's a line connecting your PC directly to the school, you'll have to either deal with getting another IP from the IT dept, or use a router.

good luck!
 
Originally posted by: vinsma
switches = router.
switches is like a smart router, knows which computer to send packet to instead of sending to all connections on network.
Click to expand...

Actually a switch is like a smart hub. And most routers have a switch built into them. A router will do NAT (network address translation) a switch won't.
A router will let you connect two or more computers to the Internet using only one WAN IP address, a switch won't do that.
If you use a switch you will have to lease one IP address for each PC you connect if you want them all to be able to go online.

Edit: Oops looks like I'm guilty of not reading the whole thread also, sorry.
 
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