# Ethernet Splitter



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

Bear with me if this is a dumb question...

I have a relatively old HP LaserJet printer that has a network card installed. I have a wired and wireless home network, I have a desktop computer connected to the wired network and a wireless router for my wireless network. Currently I have the printer plugged directly into my wired network using a jack in the laundry room. I want to move the printer to my home office but I only have a single network jack in that room, which is being used by the desktop computer to have internet access. 

I realize that I could connect the printer to the LPT1 port on my desktop computer I have in the home office and then share it on my network, but I'd have to leave that computer on all the time (I believe), which I'd rather not do. 

So, my question is, what options to do I have to expand the single network jack in the home office so that I can plug the printer in separately to the network and have it available on my network without having to directly connect it to the desktop computer?

Thanks.


----------



## Michael D'Angelo (Oct 21, 2006)

You need to get a network switch. Run the line going into that room into the network switch and than you will have multiple outputs.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

BMoreRavens said:


> You need to get a network switch. Run the line going into that room into the network switch and than you will have multiple outputs.


Thanks for the quick response.


----------



## Michael D'Angelo (Oct 21, 2006)

Here is a bunch of them. All different amounts of outputs and there is 10/100 or 10/100/1000 depending what you need.

http://www.newegg.com/store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=30&Tpk=network+switch


----------



## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

davemayo said:


> Bear with me if this is a dumb question...
> 
> I have a relatively old HP LaserJet printer that has a network card installed. I have a wired and wireless home network, I have a desktop computer connected to the wired network and a wireless router for my wireless network. Currently I have the printer plugged directly into my wired network using a jack in the laundry room. I want to move the printer to my home office but I only have a single network jack in that room, which is being used by the desktop computer to have internet access.
> 
> ...


An alternate is to use a pair of Ethernet Splitters, as you originally suggested. You'd need one in the home office and one whereever the other end is, but yes, it would work up to 100-mbit speeds. They aren't compatible with gigabit speeds.

Something like these would work.

It's ugly, but perfectly workable.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

dmurphy said:


> An alternate is to use a pair of Ethernet Splitters, as you originally suggested. You'd need one in the home office and one whereever the other end is, but yes, it would work up to 100-mbit speeds. They aren't compatible with gigabit speeds.
> 
> Something like these would work.
> 
> It's ugly, but perfectly workable.


Thanks.

If I use a switch like BMore mentions, is it plug and play? Or, do I have to configure it to work on my network? I have one router in my basement where my cable modem output is split to 8 rooms in my house. When I got my wireless router, I had a devil of a time getting that working because it was trying to use the same IP address as the router in the basement. So, if I use one of these switches, will I have to configure it to use yet a third IP address so it won't conflict with the other two routers, or will it figure that out on its own?


----------



## Michael D'Angelo (Oct 21, 2006)

davemayo said:


> Thanks.
> 
> If I use a switch like BMore mentions, is it plug and play? Or, do I have to configure it to work on my network? I have one router in my basement where my cable modem output is split to 8 rooms in my house. When I got my wireless router, I had a devil of a time getting that working because it was trying to use the same IP address as the router in the basement. So, if I use one of these switches, will I have to configure it to use yet a third IP address so it won't conflict with the other two routers, or will it figure that out on its own?


Network switch is plug and play.


----------



## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

davemayo said:


> Thanks.
> 
> If I use a switch like BMore mentions, is it plug and play? Or, do I have to configure it to work on my network? I have one router in my basement where my cable modem output is split to 8 rooms in my house. When I got my wireless router, I had a devil of a time getting that working because it was trying to use the same IP address as the router in the basement. So, if I use one of these switches, will I have to configure it to use yet a third IP address so it won't conflict with the other two routers, or will it figure that out on its own?


Shouldn't be any configuration for the switch - unless we're talking a 'managed' switch, which isn't in the < $50 price range. 

I would say that the switch is probably the best bet, if power is available in the area you need it. If not, the splitters are unpowered.

Splitters are ugly if you ask me, but they're good in certain situations, this probably being one of them ...


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

Thanks all. I'll probably go with a switch because I do have power available.


----------



## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

davemayo said:


> Thanks all. I'll probably go with a switch because I do have power available.


A fine choice, and one that's got room for expansion in the future. Just wanted to highlight that there's more than one way to skin a cat .... (metaphorically, of course.)


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

dmurphy said:


> A fine choice, and one that's got room for expansion in the future. Just wanted to highlight that there's more than one way to skin a cat .... (metaphorically, of course.)


I appreciate your suggestions.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

Well, I bought a 5-port switch and installed it. All seemed good. But when I went to my laptop, I have no internet connection. I've had this happen before and spent hours on the phone with Linksys to get it fixed. This is exactly what I was afraid of. I can't access the wireless router at all to even try to change the IP address. I can still access the internet through my desktop computer which is connected to the switch, so I know it is not my internet connection. I think the switch is conflicting with my wireless router somehow.

Any ideas? I'm at a loss.


----------



## smiddy (Apr 5, 2006)

davemayo said:


> Well, I bought a 5-port switch and installed it. All seemed good. But when I went to my laptop, I have no internet connection. I've had this happen before and spent hours on the phone with Linksys to get it fixed. This is exactly what I was afraid of. I can't access the wireless router at all to even try to change the IP address. I can still access the internet through my desktop computer which is connected to the switch, so I know it is not my internet connection. I think the switch is conflicting with my wireless router somehow.
> 
> Any ideas? I'm at a loss.


Can you draw it out for me using powerpoint? Attached is my setup for Media Share (mind you it isn't everything), but you can get the idea from this.


----------



## steve053 (May 11, 2007)

davemayo said:


> Well, I bought a 5-port switch and installed it. All seemed good. But when I went to my laptop, I have no internet connection. I've had this happen before and spent hours on the phone with Linksys to get it fixed. This is exactly what I was afraid of. I can't access the wireless router at all to even try to change the IP address. I can still access the internet through my desktop computer which is connected to the switch, so I know it is not my internet connection. I think the switch is conflicting with my wireless router somehow.
> 
> Any ideas? I'm at a loss.


How is your switch connected to your router? I'm assuming your router has 5 ports (1 WAN and 4 LAN) and your switch will have the same. Connect the cat5 to one router LAN port and to the switch WAN port. Connect your laptop to any of the 4 switches LAN ports and you should be good to go.

I'm also assuming that you made sure that the port lights on the Router and Switch are "lit up" when the cat5 is connected?

Best of luck.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

steve053 said:


> How is your switch connected to your router? I'm assuming your router has 5 ports (1 WAN and 4 LAN) and your switch will have the same. Connect the cat5 to one router LAN port and to the switch WAN port. Connect your laptop to any of the 4 switches LAN ports and you should be good to go.
> 
> I'm also assuming that you made sure that the port lights on the Router and Switch are "lit up" when the cat5 is connected?
> 
> Best of luck.


I have a router in my basement into which my cable modem runs. The router then runs out to 8 different rooms. I have the switch connected to one of the jacks. I have the cable from the jack running to Port 1 on the switch. I have my desktop running to Port 2 and my laser printer running to Port 3 of the switch.

I have a wireless router connected to one of the 8 jacks in my house.

I just spent an hour on the phone with linksys and they are telling me it is the wireless card on my year-old laptop, which, by the way, worked fine until I connected this switch into my network. C'mon.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

When I type ipconfig on my laptop that is trying to connect wirelessly, I get a weird IP address that starts with 169.***.*.**. When I go into the router settings, the IP address starts with 168. I cannot figure out why I'm getting the weird IP address when I try to connect wirelessly.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

I was able to figure out that the 169.*** IP address is from something called Autoconfiguration IP Address, which kicks in when there is no DHCP server available. I'm not sure why this is happening because both of my routers are DHCP servers with different IP addresses.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

Well, it is 1am and I give up for the night. I cannot get my laptop to connect to the wireless router. I can connect it directly using the ethernet port, but when I try to connect wirelessly, I cannot get onto the internet. The laptop says it is connected to the wireless network, but no internet connection. I have my HR20-100 connected to a port on the wireless router and the HR says it is not connected to the internet.

This all worked flawlessly before I installed the switch, but once I installed the switch everything with the wireless went haywire. As I mentioned above, I'm getting some weird Autoconfiguration IP address on the wireless router when I check ipconfig, which I think only kicks in when a DHCP address is not available. 

The switch is somehow conflicting with the wireless router, but when I power off the switch, I still cannot get internet access through the wireless router.

If any of you networking experts have any ideas, I would appreciate it.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

I brought my laptop to work at Linksys' suggestion to see if I could connect to our wireless network here. Just like at home, the computer says it is connected to the wireless network, but I cannot get on the internet. 

Any suggestions?


----------



## dms1 (Oct 26, 2007)

davemayo said:


> I brought my laptop to work at Linksys' suggestion to see if I could connect to our wireless network here. Just like at home, the computer says it is connected to the wireless network, but I cannot get on the internet.
> 
> Any suggestions?


You should be able to "wake up" the laptop wireless port by disabling and then re-enabling the wireless adapter. You can do this through "My Network Places" if it is XP - not sure about Vista, but should be similar.

As to why it couldn't connect initially, check your router configuration to see how many DHCP clients are allowed. If you were already at the maximum then adding a new device will mean that one thing on the network won't be able to get an address. If this is the case then just increase the number of clients allowed.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

dms1 said:


> You should be able to "wake up" the laptop wireless port by disabling and then re-enabling the wireless adapter. You can do this through "My Network Places" if it is XP - not sure about Vista, but should be similar.
> 
> As to why it couldn't connect initially, check your router configuration to see how many DHCP clients are allowed. If you were already at the maximum then adding a new device will mean that one thing on the network won't be able to get an address. If this is the case then just increase the number of clients allowed.


I have been able to connect no problem since I got the laptop, but all of the sudden yesterday I could not get on the internet. The laptop says it is connected to my network, but I cannot get to the internet. When I do ipconfig, I get a weird 169.*** IP address, which is some type of Autoconfiguration program.

Anyway, I did disable and reenable the wireless card, but no luck. As for DHCP clients, I only have the one laptop on the wireless network.


----------



## dms1 (Oct 26, 2007)

davemayo said:


> I have been able to connect no problem since I got the laptop, but all of the sudden yesterday I could not get on the internet. The laptop says it is connected to my network, but I cannot get to the internet. When I do ipconfig, I get a weird 169.*** IP address, which is some type of Autoconfiguration program.
> 
> Anyway, I did disable and reenable the wireless card, but no luck. As for DHCP clients, I only have the one laptop on the wireless network.


There is a single DHCP server limit for both wired and wireless connections on your router. If you were already at that limit (which is easily changed) then whatever device you added to the switch will have taken the address that the laptop would have got. An auto-assigned IP address is used when DHCP fails. You have no connectivity because the the laptop is currently on a different subnet to the router.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

dms1 said:


> There is a single DHCP server limit for both wired and wireless connections on your router. If you were already at that limit (which is easily changed) then whatever device you added to the switch will have taken the address that the laptop would have got. An auto-assigned IP address is used when DHCP fails. You have no connectivity because the the laptop is currently on a different subnet to the router.


The current limit on my router is 50, so I can't imagine I'm even close to that. I've got my laptop, my XBOX360 and my HR20-100 connected to the wireless router.

Interestingly, I brought my laptop to work today and it can see the wireless network here, and says it is connected, but still no internet. When I do ipconfig here at the office, I get a normal IP address, not an auto-assigned IP address. Still cannot get to the internet.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

Well, I don't know what I did, but now I can connect to the internet on our wireless network here at work. When I do ipconfig I get a normal IP address. The wireless guest network here is unsecured, while mine at home is secured. I wonder if it is some type of security issue at home.

Obviously, I will try it again at home, but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as to why I'm getting an auto-assigned IP address at home.


----------



## steve053 (May 11, 2007)

davemayo said:


> Well, I don't know what I did, but now I can connect to the internet on our wireless network here at work. When I do ipconfig I get a normal IP address. The wireless guest network here is unsecured, while mine at home is secured. I wonder if it is some type of security issue at home.
> 
> Obviously, I will try it again at home, but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as to why I'm getting an auto-assigned IP address at home.


The 169.xxx ip address is owned by Microsoft and is the default ip address that Windows uses when the OS cannot connect to the network. When you fired up your laptop the ip currently assigned to the nic still had a valid lease date, but the ip address didn't match the addressing scheme on your network. When that happens the Windows OS defaults to 169.xxx

When that happens open your command window and type:
"ipconfig /release"

This will clear the ip address from the nic.

Then type:
"ipconfig /renew"

This will initiate the process where your nic will ask the router for a new/valid ip address.

It sometimes takes a few mintes, but eventually it does work.

Steve


----------



## dms1 (Oct 26, 2007)

steve053 said:


> The 169.xxx ip address is owned by Microsoft ...


No it isn't. The 169.254/16 subnet is reserved for auto-assigned IP addresses, and is defined by RFC 3927. It is not vendor-specific in anyway, and isn't owned by anyone.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

steve053 said:


> The 169.xxx ip address is owned by Microsoft and is the default ip address that Windows uses when the OS cannot connect to the network. When you fired up your laptop the ip currently assigned to the nic still had a valid lease date, but the ip address didn't match the addressing scheme on your network. When that happens the Windows OS defaults to 169.xxx
> 
> When that happens open your command window and type:
> "ipconfig /release"
> ...


I did release and renew a few times, but I keep getting the auto-configured IP address.


----------



## davemayo (Nov 17, 2005)

davemayo said:


> Well, I don't know what I did, but now I can connect to the internet on our wireless network here at work. When I do ipconfig I get a normal IP address. The wireless guest network here is unsecured, while mine at home is secured. I wonder if it is some type of security issue at home.
> 
> Obviously, I will try it again at home, but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as to why I'm getting an auto-assigned IP address at home.


After noticing that I could connect to the unsecured network at work, I came home and disabled my wirless connection, then reconnected and reentered the WEP key. Voila! Connected again.

Thanks everyone for your help.


----------

