December 10, 2003

7:57 PM

I have a Linksys 4 port Cable/DSL router, and two computers. I am having a LAN party tonight with one or two more machines, but I can't move the router to another room, where my friends will be. I'm not too worried about lost packets, am I able to use a 100TX hub (intel) while keeping the internet gateway and be able to see all my computers?
posted by Keyser Soze to (7 comments total)

You mean you want to daisy chain the linksys and the hub together with a long cable? Yeah, just read up on what each device requires in terms of uplinking with a standard cable (few switches still require a cross-over cable) or just try all four options until it works:

uplink port to standard port
uplink port to uplink port
standard port to standard port
standard port to upllink port
posted by machaus at 8:02 PM on December 10, 2003

Plug a long cable into one of the four downstream ports on your linksys and run that ethernet into the other room.

Then plug this cable into the uplink on your 100TX hub, then plug your friends into that hub, and you should be golden.
posted by mathowie at 8:05 PM on December 10, 2003

Would I still have packet issues or connectivity issues with any computer directly connected to the router? (ie one in my room wants files from a computer connected to the router)
posted by Keyser Soze at 8:13 PM on December 10, 2003

your only issue is that the computers connected to the 100tx switch will have to share a single cable as the backbone. not an issue really.
posted by machaus at 8:21 PM on December 10, 2003

Would I still have packet issues or connectivity issues with any computer directly connected to the router?

That shoudn't be a problem. An Ethernet hub is like a big splitter; it takes one physical connection (usually connected at the "uplink" port) and sends all the traffic to all its other ports.

Something to check: Your router is probably (i.e. by default) acting as a DHCP server, assigning addresses in the 192.168.1.x range. Assuming each guest's PC is set up for DHCP, when they boot up, their address should be in that range. If this is the case, you're in good shape. Have fun!

If they're something like 169.254.x.x, the PC didn't find your DHCP server and it selected an address from the designated "I gave up on DHCP but I'd still like to have an IP address" range. You have a cabling problem, or your router isn't acting as a DHCP server.

If they're something else, the guest PC isn't using DHCP to get its address. Look in the Network Control Panel, get properties for the Ethernet adapter, click TCP/IP and Properties, then select something like "Obtain an IP address automatically."

There are any number of things that can go wrong, but with the consumer friendly Linksys routers and a simple Ethernet hub, chances are good that things will go smoothly.
posted by jmcmurry at 8:28 PM on December 10, 2003

Allright! Im having a beer right now, 3 computers well connected in my room. Thanks for everyones help.
posted by Keyser Soze at 9:26 PM on December 10, 2003

Surprisingly few packet crashes. Ill drink to that.
posted by Keyser Soze at 10:01 PM on December 10, 2003