Single ethernet plug in the living room

[Scouzer]

So in my living room I am fortunate to have 1 ethernet wall jack which leads to my router upstairs.

My problem is I want that jack to power 3 devices:

- Telus TV (similar to Verizon FiOS, an IPTV solution)
- Xbox 360
- HTPC

Now my biggest concern is the Telus TV. Whatever device could do the trick would have to be completely seamless because the IPTV is very sensitive to network problems.

I sense a DD-WRT solution suggested, but I really hate DDWRT. I find it's so damn buggy, crashes, and never quite works right. But if that's the answer, it's the answer.

 

[ch33zw1z]

gigabit switch. a 5 port or 8 port will do the trick. No need for DDWRT or a router. Trendnet green switches aren't bad.

Plug the wall jack into a port on the switch. Plug in the devices to the switch.

Of course, the other end of the wall jack needs to go to a LAN port on the router

 

[Eug]

$19.99 will get you a decent 5-port consumer Gigabit switch. Currently on sale at the usual Canadian geek store retailers.

 

[SecurityTheatre]

So in my living room I am fortunate to have 1 ethernet wall jack which leads to my router upstairs.

My problem is I want that jack to power 3 devices:

- Telus TV (similar to Verizon FiOS, an IPTV solution)
- Xbox 360
- HTPC

Now my biggest concern is the Telus TV. Whatever device could do the trick would have to be completely seamless because the IPTV is very sensitive to network problems.

I sense a DD-WRT solution suggested, but I really hate DDWRT. I find it's so damn buggy, crashes, and never quite works right. But if that's the answer, it's the answer.

I assume you actually meant that you want the single port to PROVIDE DATA, rather than "power" these devices.

A simple switch plugged into that port should do it and be completely transparent to the devices. Any old gigabit ethernet switch should do, they're really really simple devices, by modern standards.

 

[IsDanReally]

The problem with any of the cheap switches, is that they do not support multicast IGMP snooping. As such, with any of the telco TV (Telus TV, AT&T U-Verse, MTS Ultimate TV, etc) if you plug a set top box and some other device (computer, Xbox, etc) into the same switch, then all your TV traffic gets sent to every port. On devices with 100 mb only, or any wireless device (access point, bridge, etc) this is bad.

You'd probably want a switch that can properly send the multicast TV streams only where they belong. The Netgear GS105e or GS108e for example. $45 and $62 at newegg.ca (5 and 8 port). That switch is what AT&T uses in the States for their TV installs that need more ports. I have a few of these switches and they work great with my Telus TV equivalent (MTS Ultimate TV).

 

[ccnahq]

Either you take a 8 port switch or a Router of any branded company and plug your main wire into the switch/router and connect the switch to your other devices.... you need different LAN wires to connect from switch to your device, i hope that helps


CCNAHQ

 

[QuietDad]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833127334

 

[alkemyst]

The problem with any of the cheap switches, is that they do not support multicast IGMP snooping. As such, with any of the telco TV (Telus TV, AT&T U-Verse, MTS Ultimate TV, etc) if you plug a set top box and some other device (computer, Xbox, etc) into the same switch, then all your TV traffic gets sent to every port. On devices with 100 mb only, or any wireless device (access point, bridge, etc) this is bad.

You'd probably want a switch that can properly send the multicast TV streams only where they belong. The Netgear GS105e or GS108e for example. $45 and $62 at newegg.ca (5 and 8 port). That switch is what AT&T uses in the States for their TV installs that need more ports. I have a few of these switches and they work great with my Telus TV equivalent (MTS Ultimate TV).

That's the answer I was trying to find. AT&T uses a consumer box, but that box has the proper code base to handle TV traffic properly.

Keep in mind any of these boxes are really only going to provide true gigabit speeds when using 50% or less of their total ports usually.