Hub, switch or repeater?

[mr. shr]

Hi guys,
Quick question:

Broadband router will be doing in the hallway.
I've wired CAT5e cable to the lounge and to the study.

My question is, what do I need to put in the lounge and study to give me multiple outputs in each of these rooms?

I want to connect at least two devices in the lounge (sky box and amp) and 2 devices in the study (2 x desktop pc).

Do I need a hub or a switch or something else?

 

[Troon]

A hub will work, but a switch is better, particularly if the devices in a room want to talk to each other at full speed. Any cheap four-port switch supporting at least the speed of the fastest device will be fine, but get a gigabit switch for best future-proofing.

So in the study, you'd have a switch with one port plugged into your wall Cat5e socket (to the router) and one port to each PC. Likewise in the lounge with your other switch and devices.

http://ask-leo.com/whats_the_difference_between_a_hub_a_switch_and_a_router.html

 

[moonloops]

I would run one device in each room on wired and one on Wi-Fi (providing speed isn't important wifi for laptops and desktops is fine.

Other than that, if you want to go wired then a small 4 port switch in each room will work.

 

[mr. shr]

Thanks guys.
Anyone recommed a specific product and from where?
eBay seem to have a lot of everything but I don't know how to tell which ones are quality and which ones are poor quality.

 

[gaz_l]

These kiddies will do you fine, I've used loads of them (and the 8/16 port versions) at work and they're bulletproof:

NETGEAR ProSafe FS105 10/100 Desktop Switch - switch - 5 ports (FS105UK) - dabs.com

Or for a little more cash you can future-proof with the gigabit version:

NetGear GS105 5 Port Gigabit Switch (GS105UK) - dabs.com

HTH,

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[mr. shr]

Thanks.
I think I have an old NTL router in the garage. Would I be able to use that in one of the rooms?

 

[agatward]

We used to use the Netgear ones at work, but recently I've changed for TP-LINK ones as they're a little cheaper but still stand up to abuse by students and staff alike...

5-port gigabit one here:

http://uk.insight.com/en-gb/productinfo/network-switches/TPKNASG100

 

[mr. shr]

I saw one of those on Dabs earlier.

Here it is.