Once again, a million thanks for all your help. I really do appreciate it. As I said, we've just moved and this is the first time I've ever had cat5 wiring. Our two iMacs, which will be in the study when we can get in it, are currently in the kitchen and lounge respectively - but wired! In our previous home they were connected wirelessly. Wired is good.
The whole place currently looks like the inside of Steptoe's house, furniture and boxes are piled everywhere. The BT Home Hub is delivering a paltry 2Mbits if I'm lucky but that's being addressed by BT now that the 10-day acclimatisation period is finished. It also only pushes its wifi about ten feet - not sure if that's the thick walls or the fact that it's in the boiler room with all the electrics. It used to reach the whole of the house at the old address. I do have a Netgear wireless extender - but not one you can plug in. It joins the network and then extends the wifi. It actually works well with the iPads and iPhone - but the next time to try to access Google you're not connected. The solution is to switch the extender off and then on again. Once it has booted up you're online again. Frustrating. Lots about it on the forums but no solution that has worked. Hence my question about a plug-in extender. With your help, I feel I'm making progress. Many thanks and I'll keep you informed. Best wishes, Brian On 21 May 2012, at 18:41, Richard Forth wrote: > Hi - see below :) > > On 21 May 2012 13:38, Brian Smith <br...@briansmithonline.com> wrote: > Many thanks for your replies. > Your help is much appreciated. > > My understanding of networks is pretty poor. May I clarify a couple of things > please? > > 1. With a phone line, or indeed a TV aerial, you can just plug in a splitter > and it shares the line. This is obviously not possible with a network. Am I > right that this is because each connected device needs its own IP address > (and will already have its own MAC address). > > > > its more to do with the technology than IP or mac addressing, each cable has > 8 separate wires that do different send and receive requests (indeed it is > possible to wire two computers directly together with a "crossover" cable). > However splitting the signal (which is what a HUB does - as opposed to a > switch), is not the same as using a "splitter" lite a TV Aerial (athough the > concept is similar), its not exactly the same. > > http://www.meyercomputer.net/Article-Hubs&Switches.htm > > > > > > 2. I used the word 'ports' to refer to the four yellow network sockets on the > back of the home hub. IS that the right word? I also used the word 'socket' > to refer to the access point fixed to the wall into which I can plug a cable. > Is that right? > > Yes, its a confusing world we live in, but yes you are right, if you want > absolute clarity, its best to refer to those ports as "ethernet ports" or > "network ports" - for things like "Apache listens on port 80", we refer to as > TCP ports. > > I never understood sockets other than "electrical sockets".... > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_socket > > > 3. I realise that this is very basic networking stuff and I'll freely admit > that I'm an absolute novice. But the ability to ask and receive your answers > is great. > > > Hey no worries, its what we are about, I also feel your pain, - we all do - > you have to learn and start somewhere right? > > If there's anything else you need help with let us know! :) > > > Thanks again, > > Brian > > > > > On 20 May 2012, at 23:47, Johnathon Tinsley wrote: > > > > >> 1. Yes, but you need to get a switch or a hub to split the signal, and > >> however many more cat 5 cables with themn plug into the switch or hub, > >> For example: > >> > >> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Netgear-Prosafe-Ethernet-Unmanaged-Switch/dp/B00009015U/ref=sr_1_cc_3?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1337552799&sr=1-3-catcorr > >> <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Netgear-Prosafe-Ethernet-Unmanaged-Switch/dp/B00009015U/ref=sr_1_cc_3?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1337552799&sr=1-3-catcorr> > >> > > > > It's worth noting, daisy chaining cheap switches is a fast way to cause > > you some interesting laggy network problems that you'll spend an age > > tracking down[0]. Don't chain more than 1, and avoid running too many. > > If you can, just put a single switch with your Home Hub, and run more > > cables from there. > > > > [0] The switch's mac routing table space gets overfilled, since it's > > handling far more devices than it was designed for. Then you find either > > things just go slow, or machines drop off the network randomly, with no > > apparent cause. > > > >> 2. Yes a Wireless Access Point. For example: > >> > >> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edimax-EW-7228APN-150Mbps-Wireless-Extender/dp/B004JV42A0/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1337552831&sr=1-2 > >> <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edimax-EW-7228APN-150Mbps-Wireless-Extender/dp/B004JV42A0/ref=sr_1_2?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1337552831&sr=1-2> > >> > >> Hope that helps :) > > > > These are handy! If you have more than one, and their signals can > > overlap, make sure to manually set their transmit channels to give > > enough bandwidth space between them. Realistically, you should only have > > things on channels 1, 6, and 11, or another set that'll give you clear > > spectrum space between them. See the chart and graph on this page for more: > > http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/wireless/wi-fi/80211-channels-number-frequencies-bandwidth.php > > > > -- > > All postal correspondence to: > > The Positive Internet Company, 24 Ganton Street, London. W1F 7QY > > > > The Positive Internet Company Limited is registered in England and Wales. > > Registered company number: 3673639. VAT no: 726 7072 28. > > Registered office: Northside House, Mount Pleasant, Barnet, Herts, EN4 9EE. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Peterboro mailing list > > Peterboro@mailman.lug.org.uk > > https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/peterboro > > > _______________________________________________ > Peterboro mailing list > Peterboro@mailman.lug.org.uk > https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/peterboro > > _______________________________________________ > Peterboro mailing list > Peterboro@mailman.lug.org.uk > https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/peterboro
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