Five computers & a 4-port router: How to do it?

**madonion** · 03-26-2006, 03:15 PM

here is my problem:
i will have a single internet connection into my home. the connection is a straight lan / ethernet cable in. i will connect that to a router. the problem is: i gotta hook up five pcs, and the router has only four ports!

obviously, i'm gonna need something extra.
if this was you, how would u go about solving this?
i thought of adding a second networking device to one of the pcs. then connect that to a hub and connect that to the last pc. but i'm not sure how complicated this is going to be as far as configuring the ip address on that final pc. (i'm not exactlty a networking genius

). is there any easier (cheaper?) way!?

HELP

madonion

**madonion** · 03-26-2006, 03:19 PM

whoopz: i just realized now that this should have gone in the hardware forum!

D'OH!

madonion

**peat moss** · 03-26-2006, 03:40 PM

Just guessing but use a usb port for the 5 th one ?

**suprafreak6** · 03-26-2006, 05:17 PM

or just buy a router with 5 or more ports!

its like 20 bucks

**Chewie** · 03-26-2006, 05:26 PM

Either:

a: get another router and connect its WAN port to one of the LAN ports on your original router, then connect two PCs to it, or

b: connect four PCs to the router and the fifth to a second NIC installed in one of the connected PCs, then use ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) on the PC with two NICs to allow the fifth PC to connect to the internet through it, or

c: get a WiFi router with four LAN sockets, and a wireless NIC. Connect four PCs through cabling and the fifth wirelessly.

BTW: moved to Discussions/Hardware

**tesco** · 03-26-2006, 05:28 PM

Either buy a 5port router or get a switch/hub, connect that to one port on the router, then connect 2 PCs to it.

**fkdup74** · 03-26-2006, 05:39 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833124004
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833124005

You already have a router, so a simple switch would suffice.

A router will run more than 20 bucks. Try 80-90-ish.

-edit-
And adding one of these Linksys switches will save you the trouble of configuring another router.
Or ICS, or any configuration for that matter. They're plug n play redefined.