5 rooms and a 4 port integrated modem/router

Hello everyone

My bro wants to totally network his house.... now he already has a dlink 504 integrated modem/router which has 4 ports... but what he wants to do is provide 2 points in 2 of the rooms where a pc can be positioned to join a network and also in the other 3 rooms provide a single access point. now given that the current dlink has only 4 ports this will not suffice, so I reckon he needs a switch to accomplish what he wants... will this be what he needs?

Is it as simple as plugging a switch into his modem/router to provide the extra points that he wants ??

I have already mentioned/suggested wireless, but with the cost of pci and pcmcia cards, the switch looks extremely attractive ??

help??? is it/could it be this simple? BTW all cat 5e cabling and RJ45 sockets are already in my/our posession.

Thanks all

Yes, the switch is the easy way that I used to get around that.

I bought a 8 port Gigabit switch and a like card for all my computer as I tend to transfer REAL huge files. And ii find 480 to be faster than the 80 in a 10/100 setup.

modem -> router -> switch, then a cable to each computer.
Now if he has a modem/router combo unit, then just install one cable again, between it and the switch.

Yep it really is that simple. I too have an 8-port gagabit switch (Netgear) plugged into a D-Link modem/router. There's no setup or configuration involved at all, just plug and go :)

well it has to be said.. thanks for the excellent and speedy responses ..

will inform me bro and will be surely back in a week or 2 with set up issues .. lol...

ta very much..

hi again,

even tho' i have marked this as reolved.... I still have a question or 2 !!!!

1st the connection of the modem/router to the switch will be a regular not crossover cable .. Yes?

2. The modem/router will assign an IP to the switch in regular fashion and the switch will then assign ip to each pc atached to it.. yes ? ... could i encounter any issue with regard to ip's assigned?

what I mean is the dlink assigns 192.168.0.xxx range by default and I'm not sure how I can change the defaults.....is there a potential for replication by the dlink and switch of the 192.168.xx.xx range... and if so what issues could be raised ........ie if i have a pc that is directly connected to the dlink that gets assigned an ip 192.168.0.3 and the switch also (if possible or likely) assigns a 192.168.0.3 to a pc connected to it ?

sorry to be a pain but I dont know this stuff!!!!

ta again

1. They will be all regular cables.
2. The router will pass through the switch and assign IP numbers to the computers.
3. Run IPconfig before and after hooking in the switch. The ip numbers will stay the same series.

Fact is, the switch is scary simple to hook up and power up. Nothing else to do.

To slow the ip number changing in the router he can go into the router to ""Client Lease Time:" and set a time in minutes for 4 or 5 days.

The switch you linked to automatically detects crossover settings where necessary; it'll work regardless of which sort of cables you use.

If you were using a switch which doesn't do that, you'd need a crossover cable to the router (since you're linking two switches), and regular cables everywhere else.

The switch is a fairly dumb device; it doesn't deal with IP stuff at all.