[SWLUG] Connecting multiple PCs

[Justin Mitchell]

On Mon, 2004-02-02 at 12:52, Rhys Sage wrote:
> I gather there's some other gizmo available for
> connecting multiple PCs to a server than a hub.
Yes, its called a Switch.

> My situation is that I can run either two LAN cards or
> 1 LAN card and a modem on my server. I really need now
> to run 3 LAN cards. Is there a solution that does not
> involve a hub?
> 
> My dislike of hubs stems from the fact that the host
> line might be 100Mbps but each of the slaves is
> limited to 10Mbps. What I'd like to do is to run 3 x
> 100Mbps lines.
You seem to have a very outdated idea of what networking equipment can
do.

You can get a cheap 5 port 10/100 switch for £30 or less.
eg.
http://www.dabs.com/uk/channels/hardware/networking/productView.htm?quicklinx=23BG

A switch will run each port at whatever speed it can best do, so the
faster machines dont suffer due to slow ones on the same network.
Which means the fastest machines can talk at 200Mb (100up, 100down) and
still share happily with old 10mbs cards.

If you still have some ancient 10base2 networking around, you can find
hubs/switches with a bnc port as well, but theyre not going to be as
cheap, it would likely be cheaper to buy new 100baseT cards (from £5)