Reply to: Need a broadband router with more ports

[portseven]

OK, think I may have found the jobby, its a Netgear DGFV338, anyone got one?

[OwlHoot]

Please post back once you have found a 16 port wireless router.

Well to be honest, VectraMan's point about duplicating long cable runs made me change my mind again. So I'm not actively looking for any.

I did see an 8-port Linksys router, if that's any help, although I didn't check whether it was suitable for UK broadband. (Not all are.)

[Sysman]

A couple of years ago, one of the contractors where a pal of mine was working brought in an old hub so he and others could plug their laptops in; the used the line for the printer. Worked fine for months, everyone was happy.

Eventually the network Nazis turned up and went fraking mental and he came within a nats wotnot of getting the boot.

Going back a decade here...

I was spending a fair bit of time in server rooms in cellars and whenever I saw a network guy down there it was my job to tell the rest of my department to save their files and expect a network outage.

I was usually right.

[cojak]

A couple of years ago, one of the contractors where a pal of mine was working brought in an old hub so he and others could plug their laptops in; the used the line for the printer. Worked fine for months, everyone was happy.

Eventually the network Nazis turned up and went fraking mental and he came within a nats wotnot of getting the boot.

Aye - I unplug and put mine away at the end of the day.

[HairyArsedBloke]

A couple of years ago, one of the contractors where a pal of mine was working brought in an old hub so he and others could plug their laptops in; the used the line for the printer. Worked fine for months, everyone was happy.

Eventually the network Nazis turned up and went fraking mental and he came within a nats wotnot of getting the boot.

[Clippy]

I tend to agree, despite all the doubtless good advice above.

Apart from anything else, an extra switch is more clutter and another thing to plug in, and something else to go wrong.

Please post back once you have found a 16 port wireless router.

[cojak]

But then having lots of cables going to a central place is more clutter than say having a couple of small hubs where they're needed. Less to spend on long cables too.

Does the OP really have 16 PCs in one room? Starting your own data centre?

Good sense and it made me chuckle...

[VectraMan]

I tend to agree, despite all the doubtless good advice above.

Apart from anything else, an extra switch is more clutter and another thing to plug in, and something else to go wrong.

But then having lots of cables going to a central place is more clutter than say having a couple of small hubs where they're needed. Less to spend on long cables too.

Does the OP really have 16 PCs in one room? Starting your own data centre?

[OwlHoot]

I would like a router that has 8 ports and does Wifi also

4 ports is just not enough, anyone know of such a beast?

I don't want to daisy chain, I just want the one unit, maybe its a sign of OCD...

I tend to agree, despite all the doubtless good advice above.

Apart from anything else, an extra switch is more clutter and another thing to plug in, and something else to go wrong.

[portseven]

I would like a router that has 8 ports and does Wifi also

4 ports is just not enough, anyone know of such a beast?

I don't want to daisy chain, I just want the one unit, maybe its a sign of OCD...

[Clippy]

I think most modern switches will auto-sense if they are connected to another switch and alter the port accordingly.

Ah, OK - it's been a fair while since I was a techie.

[ctdctd]

Someone will probably tell me that it’s the wrong thing to do (and I am more than willing to be corrected), but I daisy chain from my router into a hub with 8 ports. It works for me, but, as I said, I’ve no idea if this is a good thing to do.

WHABS

Just get a Linksys, Netgear, or Belkin 8 or 16 port switch and uplink it from one of your router ports.
All the modern one are switches, not hubs, and most autosense the uplink port (if not, either first or last port is marked).
For a home network you just need the cheapest one - you don't need to manage or configure at all. They just work!

[Durbs]

^WTS
If so, make sure they have an uplink port which will enable you to daisy chain them together.

I think most modern switches will auto-sense if they are connected to another switch and alter the port accordingly.

[Clippy]

^WTS

One point, you may find that the switches suggested have a large footprint (similar in size to say a DVD player in terms of width, not depth) so you may want to consider getting 2 x 8 port ones.

If so, make sure they have an uplink port which will enable you to daisy chain them together.
However, you will 'lose' use of one port as it is being used to connect the two switches together.

[Sysman]

Someone will probably tell me that it’s the wrong thing to do (and I am more than willing to be corrected), but I daisy chain from my router into a hub with 8 ports. It works for me, but, as I said, I’ve no idea if this is a good thing to do.

I tried with an 8 port hub and while it worked it wasn't very good at the 10/100 negotiation bit (I had a mix of antique kit at the time). An unmanaged switch for about 20 quid solved that.

I'd go for a managed switch next time though.