Help using a single wired network connection between two computers
July 15, 2020 9:12 AM   Subscribe

I need help with my home office set up. I've recently moved my laptop to try and set up something a bit more comfortable and permanent for my home office. I purchased a KVM switch so that I can use the keyboard, mouse and monitors that I already have on both my home PC and my work laptop. However, I'm finding that the internet connection is slightly terrible. I have a single network cable connected to my PC. Is there any way to use the network cable to connect to both my work laptop and my home PC?

My home PC is located in the very back of my basement and the wifi signal is pretty weak. Right now, I have a 50 ft network cable reaching from my router to my home PC (which works great) and my work laptop is using wifi (which is not great). Is there some way to use the single network cable I have connected to my router and get a wired connection to both my home PC and my work laptop? Or is my only option to buy another 50 ft network cable?
posted by NoneOfTheAbove to Computers & Internet (6 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: You can buy a cheap network switch and just connect all three things to it (50 ft cable into switch, then a short cable from each PC into the switch).
posted by samj at 9:19 AM on July 15, 2020 [6 favorites]


Response by poster: Thanks! I've ordered the switch you linked to. I appreciate the help. :)
posted by NoneOfTheAbove at 9:32 AM on July 15, 2020


Sorry late to the thread, but have you looked at Poweline adapters? You plug one powerline adapter into the wall by the router, and connect a network cable from your router to the adapter. Plug the other adapter anywhere by where your computer is. A network cable goes from your computer to the adapter. It's the same as running a network cable from router to computer, except it uses your home's electrical wiring as a data cable. I have used one for years to connect a wifi-less desktop to our router downstairs, and usually get speeds faster than WiFi. They are supposed to get you about 600Mbps between the router and client device (computer). I've used them over both US standard 110v/120v and European standard 220v/240v with no issues whatsoever.

A set of two TP-Link AV600 adapters, for example, on Amazon will run you about $40. You would need one for the router, and one for every computer you want to connect to the network.
posted by Master Gunner at 10:30 AM on July 15, 2020


A hub is also perfectly fine for this sort of thing since you only have two devices and short cable runs. You don’t see them for sale much these days because switches are so cheap, but you might also have a friend who would just give you one.
posted by wnissen at 1:40 PM on July 15, 2020


Seconding samj. If you already have the network cable where you want it and you just want to share the network between two computers at the end of that cable, a network switch is what you want.

Powerline networking is only interesting for you if you want to get rid of the 50' network cable, and you'd still need a network switch at the other end to connect more than one computer up. I don't see much point in bothering with old network hubs; you could use one, sure, but I definitely wouldn't spend money on one.
posted by Aleyn at 6:23 PM on July 15, 2020


Does the laptop have an Ethernet port? Many routers have more than one 'downstream' port. Ethernet cable is relatively cheap. We have two desktop computers wired to our router, which is wired to the cable company's "gateway" (cable modem and another router in the same box, I don't use theirs currently). Good speed on both.
posted by TimHare at 7:18 PM on July 17, 2020


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