router/switch question

[Gentle Ben]

Hey TERB collective, I have a situation hoping someone can help me out.
I need a few more ports from my router.

here is the scenario that I want to work out....

so the modem is connected to my wireless router, then I want to hook up the following to my network

2 desktop computers (wired to the network (wireless router) via cat5 )
1 laptop (Wireless)
3or possibly 4 printers (wired to the network via cat5 to the router )

okay so the router has 4 ports, I need 5 or maybe 6 ports .

It seems that I can add a switch or another router to add more cat5 ports?
does the switch or router hook into my current wireless router, or does the switch connect to the modem and then hook my wireless router to that?

what is the difference between a router & a switch, or are they both basically the same?
I have a non wireless router that I'm not using, it works fine , can I use that ?do I need to make any setting changes to it to sync with the wireless router?

thanks for helping...

oh, and a magic jack plus added to the router too...

 

[blch]

for a simple explanation, router is a better version of switch.
router has DHCP server and firewall build-in.
in your case, you can hook up your extra router for extra port you need but you need to log in to the 2nd router to disable the DHCP server.
2 router with 2 DHCP server on will be a conflict in your network. make sure to login to the router and change some settings.
different brand has different IP address to login.

the setup, in my opinion, will be like this:
modem > wireless router > router(need to login and disable DHCP server)

 

[Anynym]

Another way of stating it (oversimplified) would be that a switch connects devices within a network, and a router connects devices between networks (e.g. between your home network and the Internet).

Your home router includes a four-port switch, plus wireless (which can extend the number of devices it can handle).

But for your situation, you want to add another switch and connect it to one of the (four) switch ports (device ports) on your router.

 

[larry]

blch is correct but if you had to ask the question, you probably don't understand the answer. anynym is right too.

 

[thewheelman]

or you could just connect the spare router to the wireless router using a LAN port on each and the spare will function as a hub.
Just don't use the WAN port on the spare router.
You give up one port on the spare router, but no other configuration is required.

 

[frankcastle]

I had a similar question recently.....I found that I needed to use a

cable modem to router to splitter configuration to work

now I have cable modem that is also a rounter which commects to three splitters

when I tried cable modem to splitters it didn't work as rogers only allows two IP addresses at a time..... the router gets around that problem

 

[Gentle Ben]

Thanks for the input.
gives me 2 options, I'll try the router route first.

 

[wileyc]

Use your existing 4 port wireless router, buy a 4, 5 or 8 port 100Mbit or 1000Mbit Switch from Linksys/Netgear etc. Buy a Crossover Cable from TigerDirect, Canada Computers. Plug the cross-over cable from one of the 4 ports on the router to one of the ports on the switch. Your DHCP server built into the router will serve DHCP addresses to the switch without issue. Depending on the Switch you buy, it may do an auto-crossover when connected to the router via a regular cable.

Cheers..

 

[b1icaj27]

You guys are brutal.... he will be f'ing around for ever.

Do not buy a router, u only need that to connect another network ... ie the Internet.

Do buy a switch, but don't worry about buying a cross over cable. Switches and routers will handle the cross over automatically. I haven't seen a router or switch that didn't auto cross over in ten years.

Simple plug one LAN port from the router into one LAN port on the new switch and you are done.

 

[Gentle Ben]

Thanks to everyone that replied here.
I finally got around to working on this set up. I ended up adding the non wireless router and thus gave me 3 more ports. everything is working hunky dory .
in my retired computer parts box was another non wireless router that I am going to try adding to the mix so I can have additional ports in another room that currently has 1 cat 5 .
Thanks again

 

[Gentle Ben]

I took the wired router and disabled dhcp . plugged 1 cat5 from my router to it. so basically I went from 4 ports on the router to 6 useable ports total. in another room that has a single cat 5, I used another wired router that I have , disabled dhcp and plugged it in , so I now have 3 ports instead of just 1, for a total of 8 ports .
accomplished what I needed to for now.