Expanding Router Ports

[MattWilliams]

Hi. We have a house network using a sky wireless router with 4 ethernet ports. We'd like to expand the number of ethernet ports on the network (8 would be fine) and maintain the wireless capability without having to spend to much! Can this be done by adding a hub?

[matt261102]

Yes it can. If you plug in a switch or hub to one of the router ethernet ports you will maintain the wireless access and provide more ports for wired devices.

[MattWilliams]

Thanks very much. Will that distribute bandwidth evenly between all of the ports being used though? Or will it distribute 1/4 to each of the router ports and therefore the port with the additional switch on, with say another 4 ports, get a dis proportionally small amount of bandwidth? (I don't really know how routers distribute bandwidth so this might not make much sense!!!!)

[matt261102]

It's a fair question. It can get a bit technical going into it but there are a few key things to remember.
Switches distribute maximum bandwidth evenly through each port. The ethernet ports on your router are actually an inbuilt switch. So if you connect another switch to one of these ports the bandwidth is still shared evenly.
Hubs are not efficient like switches are, as each device connected to a hub steals each others bandwidth.
Hope this answers your question.

[johnwill]

If you want to evenly share bandwidth, you need a router that has bandwidth management, commonly called QoS. There aren't many that will do the total job unless you spend a few hundred on the device.

[lazareth1]

Originally Posted by matt261102

Yes it can. If you plug in a switch or hub to one of the router ethernet ports you will maintain the wireless access and provide more ports for wired devices.

Also remember that you will need a cross-over network cable to connect the new switch or hub to your router.