RJ45 Doublers/splitters

lukin

I wanted to share my broadband connection between two machines so I bought this:http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&item=300037090170&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1.

The male end of the splitter is plugged into the socket in the wall (it's in a student apartment) and the two UTP cables on the other end go to
1. my lappie and
2. my desktop
However, only one works at a time.
Maybe you can't do this, I thought you could. Any advice would be appreciated,thanks.

fatherdougalmag

What you bought looks like some kind of minihub for a wired ethernet network. That won't work when trying to share a broadband connection. You need a router. If you tell us what type of broadband service you have then we might be able to recommend a router for you.

lukin

Bugger,€20 down the drain so.
It's just a normal internet connection that you have in any student apartment. I dunno what the technical name for it is.
If you could recommend something cheap that will definitley work I'd appreciate it, thanks.

fatherdougalmag

OK. I think I understand. Sounds like you are getting an ethernet connection into your apartment. Chances are their network is configured to only allow one IP per apartment. You need to share this IP address between multiple machines. So it sounds like you need a router. Depending on where you are located, you should be able to just go into a computer shop and pick up a router (NOT a DSL router). In other words, you don't want one with a built in DSL modem. Maybe something like this. If you were technically minded you might be able to set up Internet Connection Sharing (assuming you're running Windows) but that requires more effort.

If you want to push the boat out you might like to get a wireless router and a wireless adapter for your laptop (assuming your laptop isn't relatively new and doesn't have built in wireless capability). Would probably cost another €20/€30 on top of a regular (wired) router. Then another €40 or so for a wireless adapter for your laptop if you need one.

lukin

I won't bother with the wireless setup for the lappie, even though it has built-in wireless in it.
I'll try and pick up a cheap router so (that elara one is a bit too expensive!).
Thanks again.