Topic: PS3

[Baz]

I have my system set up wired to the router,wireless for two laptops and wired to my sons system upstairs in his bedroom.Have tried it wireless to his system but it was slow sometimes.

he also has his PS3 up there and likes to go online with that too sometimes.Have also tried that wireless and again it tended to be a tad flakey but is spot on with the wired.Question I have is.....is it possible to run the computer and PS3 using one cable running from router to his room using a splitter or something.

[Simon]

Does the router not have 4 LAN terminals, Baz?

[daveeb]

Baz the router is almost certain to have four LAN sockets (for running up to four wired internet connections simultaneously) and so you should be able to connect via an ethernet cable to your ps3 and another cable to the computer.

[Sandra]

Wired is always better if you can run a cable but wi fi should work fine for an internet connection, it just wont transfer from pc to pc as fast as a wired connection can.
If the wi fi connection is flaky its because theres something interfering between the wi fi on the router and the wi fi enabled client, maybe the construction of the walls/floor.
If you cant get another cable from the router to your sons room then you may be able to get a wi fi extender placed somewhere that will improve the wi fi capability to his room.
Have you tried one of your wi fi connected laptops in his room to see if the connection is stable on that ?

[Baz]

thanks all.yeah I have two spare sockets on the router but didnt really want to start drilling more holes in ceilings etc. got wrong off the wife for the last one   havent actually tried a laptop in his room yet .will give it a go.

If you use a switch do you lose anything in performance, speed etc.

[Sandra]

If you use a switch do you lose anything in performance, speed etc.

No loss at all, in fact you can get gigabit switches now so if you are doing transfers from one pc to another and they have gigabit LAN capability you can transfer data up to 10x faster between your pcs. It wont make any difference to download speeds off the internet of course, as even the fastest ISPs available at the moment are under the 100mb speed of a standard router.

[Reno]

Yeah, I was about to suggest getting a switch. They're really cheap right now. You can get a generic little 4 port switch around here for 10 or so pounds.

[Baz]

whats the difference between a switch and an unmanaged switch. does it need to be compatible with my router which is a netgear DG834PN

and difference between switch and hub

[Reno]

An unmanaged switch is a glorified hub. It means that the switch does
its thing with no user interaction. For most people, that's quite all
right. The switch's benefits over a hub are full bandwidth to each
port, rather than smushing all the data over all the ports like a hub,
and dealing with collisions.

A Managed switch has its own IP address, and has a telnet and maybe a
web-based interface to monitor and secure access to each port on the
switch. A managed port can have VLANs, which effectively break up
different ports on a switch into different switches. This can be
useful when you have a lot of ports but you'd like to, forinstance,
separate direct connection to the Internet for a few computers, from
the rest of your local area network.

A managed switch can tell you about excessive usage on certain ports.
It can be used to limit the number of IP addresses that one port can
service. This is important if you want one computer for one port,
forinstance. It makes sure nobody plugs a hub into a wall and shares
off more connections without talking to the administrator first. A
managed switch can also be used to enable or disable specific ports
without unplugging a cable.

This pretty much scratches the surface of what a managed switch can do
for you. There is also logging ability, traffic management, and a lot
more. But if you never need any of this, an unmanaged switch is
adequate for many businesses.

hub

[Baz]

thank you.Think i'll go for a switch. some good deals on amazon at the minute, good enough for what I need any way 

[Baz]

well my son ordered the switch and cables early this week and they arrived today.up and running in less than 15 mins, both computer and PS3 running together ok so far.

did notice a slight difference in a speed test on the computer strangely after fitting the switch, it was slower.does it matter which ports the cables go in, priority etc

went for this one

[Simon]

I don't think so, Baz.