Can a switch take the place of my router?

Tim

I've been using the same 4 port Dynex ethernet router for 5-6 years now, and it has always done well. But 4 ports isn't enough anymore. I've got my main PC, 2 folding PCs, a laptop, and my Xbox. I don't want to have to keep swapping around an ethernet cable anymore.

I was in my local Fry's Electronics store the other day, and they have 8 port ethernet switches.

I should probably know this already, but what is the difference between a switch and a router? I didn't see any 8 port ethernet routers, but then again I didn't look very hard. It was all switches and 4 port routers there.

Can I daisy chain 2 4 port ethernet routers? Have one of the 4 outputs go to the input of a second 4 port?

I want to take it out of the box, plug in all the needed ethernet cables, and go online and never have to do anything else. Will a switch do that?

My laptop COULD go wireless, but for security I'd prefer not to use wireless even if the router/switch has it built in.

Leonardo

A switch breaks a signal into multiple leads (sorry for the poor terminology). The switch will not translate/reformat a signal coming into your house - that's what the modem and router do. The switch will take an already valid PC computer protocol network communication signal and distribute it over multiple Ethernet connections. Tim, you can get good quality four-port switches for $20 or less. Mine, a nice quality Linksys, was $12.95 at Office Depot a year ago.

Simply put: 1) keep your router and modem where they are are, 2) attach one of the Ethernet cables coming from the router to to the switch, and 3) split off the switch leads to additional Internet devices. It's that easy.

Thrax

As Leo said, you need to purchase a switch, then connect a cable from the router that would normally go to a PC to the switch instead. Then you can use all the ports on the switch, plus the free ports on the router.

Tim

Okay, thanks. A 4 port router + a 4 port switch will then give me 7 ethernet ports that can go to computers, which will be enough for me for a while.

mirage

And, for the record, this kind of network topology is called "daisy-chain"

AlexDeGruven

This is almost precisely the setup I now have at home, except I used a gigabit switch, rather than a 10/100. Now I have 1Gbit between my wired workstation and home server, and freed up ports so I can add devices in the future.