www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Right, I've bought some powerline adapters for my Plymouth digs so I can link from the router in the living room to my xbox, tv, pc and laptop without having to use wireless.
I've attached a crude diagram of what I basically think would work but it's been so long since I learned it all at college I want to check I'm barking up the right tree before I drop the money. And I've got a really bad hangover so thinking clearly isn't exactly my strong suit today.

What sort of hub/ switch would you recommend?

I've got a network printer and an IP KVM between the laptop and pc running baring in mind. So on second thoughts laptop and PC need to communicate and I need to connect to the printer from the PC.

I'm too hung over to make a new diagram, never drink ouzo with a greek man

Even the most basic 4, 5. 6-way switch (10/100) would do the job. I have some small units about 4" x 3" x 1" operating from a wall wart down at the workshop to feed a couple of PCs and printers with no problems.

If you wanted to be fussy then using a 'named' product may improve speeds but not so's you notice in real world use.

You get nowhere near the advertised speed with homeplug adapters, but I'd go with a Netgear switch anyway. They're relatively cheap and good quality. Your setup will work.

I brought one of these recently, does me nicely for the price:

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tp-link-tl ... 6-pdt.html

'cos it's gigabit, it'll last you if you need to re-purpose it later.

My choice was also because of power usage, couple of watts in use compared to my last beast! :)

BG

also a 5 port version, but it leaves you with no expansion room: http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tp-link-tl ... s~10991885

15 clams!

BG

Does the Cisco Router have wireless?

If so, you could do away with the powerline plugs and plug one of these into your switch essentially bridging your wired network (everything plugged into your switch) to the router.

Are you suggesting he use it as a wireless bridge, or as a switch?

The powerline are there "as a cable" presumably so he doesn't have cables trailing around the house. If you are suggesting to use it as a switch, not a good idea:

- You only have 4 ports available on the switch side
- Use the WAN port and it'll end up with NAT being implemented twice, which can break protocols like uPNP or online gaming
- You need to remember to turn DHCP off, or there will be two DHCP servers running, which can also cause issues/connectivity problems.

If the router above is capable of being a wireless bridge, I doubt the stability or speed would come close to that of the homeplugs, plus he already has them

BG

Use it as a bridge, when it is set to bridging mode (non router) the 5th "NAT" port can be used as another switch port so it has a 5 port switch built in, but another gig switch could be added for the wired devices to communicate faster/future expansion if needed.

These units are as solid as a rock. I have had one for 12 months and never an issue, it connects my main PC, Server and NAS (all patched into it) to the router in another bedroom via wireless. They really are very versatile units and you can even flash them with the DD-WRT firmware.

It has wireless but the wireless usually slows down when a few people are connected (5 students, smartphones, laptops, consoles, desktops etc.)
The dlink that came as standard was brought to it's knees, hence why I bought my own.