Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Computer hub issue

This is topic Computer hub issue in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Richard May (Member # 2627) on 11-29-2008, 10:49 AM:

I don't know a lot about computers so this may be very simple. I have 2 PC's at home hooked up to the internet connection. There is only one output coming out of the cable modem so I bought a hub. The problem is it won't see both computers at the same time. If I use one, the other one will say limited or no conectivity. I have to reset the modem for the other one to work but then the first one loses it. What am I missing?

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 11-29-2008, 10:57 AM:

Most likely, the cable "modem" ("bridge," really) is only recognizing the first hardware ("MAC") address that it "sees" when it boots. If your cable service does not support multiple computers, you will need to get a router to perform network address translation so that all of your network traffic appears to come from one source. Home-type routers are inexpensive and available at any computer store, Best Buy, office supply store, etc.

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 11-29-2008, 11:20 AM:

A hub (or a switch as well) is for connecting multiple computers together into one local network; not for connecting multiple computers to an external network.

Posted by Richard May (Member # 2627) on 11-29-2008, 11:23 AM:

Thanks guys. I used a router before but it slowed down the speed . My cable provider even said that a router may do that.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 11-29-2008, 11:29 AM:

Well, the hub would work if the cable modem (bridge) were configured to recognize multiple computers (hardware addresses, actually). There is no reason why it couldn't, except that the cable company has (presumably) configured it not to do so.

There is no reason why a router should impose a performance limit on a typical home cable or DSL connection; most likely, something else was wrong.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 11-29-2008, 12:12 PM:

quote: Scott Norwood
the cable company has (presumably) configured it not to do so

The cable company wants to charge you the monthly fee for each computer that accesses their service. Using a router makes all of the computers look like a single machine to the cable modem.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-29-2008, 12:58 PM:

quote: Chris Slycord
A hub (or a switch as well) is for connecting multiple computers together into one local network; not for connecting multiple computers to an external network.

Actually I have two servers here at home connected through a switch and then to my internet router.... works out fine with just a tiny bit of latency...

What kind of router were you using?

Mark

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 11-29-2008, 01:34 PM:

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
Actually I have two servers here at home connected through a switch and then to my internet router.... works out fine with just a tiny bit of latency...

I don't see how that changes what I said. A switch alone cannot connect a group of computers to an outside network (ie it can't route packets). Otherwise, it would be a router itself.

quote: Richard May
I used a router before but it slowed down the speed . My cable provider even said that a router may do that.

There are only a few ways that could happen

1) Your router just plain sucked and was somehow extremely slow (not as likely)
2) Your router had bad settings (more likely)
3) Your ISP has a policy against using routers and determined you were doing it and slowed you down

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 11-29-2008, 02:28 PM:

Option 2 gets my vote.

Try a ping test by clicking Start -> run. Type "cmd <return>" in the open box and click OK. In the DOS window, type the command "ping www.film-tech.com [return]". I get average response time of 61ms and my throughput is fine for a 3Mb DSL connection.

Geek Note 1: I tried to edit out the HTML code for a URL but it didn't work.
Geek note 2: I know, Ping is intended for testing connectivity. Never the less, give it a shot.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 11-29-2008, 03:24 PM:

I've seen Option 1's do it as well - poor makes of routers..

If you also subscribe to Vonage and you wonder of sudden disconnects, a bad router does this as well since its slowing down trans connections.

dang, did 77ms with that 'ping' test ... using DSL 756k