Will my internet be slower if I run my ethernet cable through a router then to the wall for internet access? I mean my roommate sometimes uses the internet on his computer which he hooks up to once in awhile. Just wanted to know if it slowed down my internet use. Also what is port triggering?
Here is a good read on port triggering http://www.portforward.com/help/porttriggering.htm Normaly your wall connection is connected to the input of the router then the computers are connected to the other open connectors. The input connector should be marked.
And to answer your first question, you should not see any noticable slow down with your internet speed. Thats the point of a switch ( as opposed to a hub). ~Rich
You might actually see a performance improvement if you're routinely the victim of DoS attempts. As bkf alluded to, you connect the WAN or Internet port of the router to the wall or modem, and the computers get connected to the LAN ports, which are usually numbered. However, do not get a wireless router unless you know what you're doing. Wired routers normally need no setup by you, other than changing the default password. I would get a D-Link if you don't want to have to upgrade it as your internet speed gets upgraded by your ISP.
can you define a router? I thought a router is the same thing as a hub. um now I"m confused :S What is the thing that allows you to plug in many ethernet plugs into from computers. (For example 4 computers plug into the "thing" then to the ethernet wall port) Sorry I'm so computer iliterate... >.<
It can get confusing. I think in general terms at least to the way I call them a router is a hub and a switch is a switch. Each works a little different in the way they pass data. For a small home system of only a few computers a router is fine. Switches are for when large numbers of computers are passing large amounts of data all at once.
I'm using a hub/router. Anyway to maximize my connection to it's full potential? It's suppose to have 3mbps connection...
A hub and switch basically do the same thing - they let lots of machines plug in together and shared data between them. Switches are much more efficient than hubs; hubs aren't used anymore except in very specific circumstances, such as where traffic monitoring is needed. Anytime a hub receives traffic on one port, it repeats that traffic on all the other ports, even if the machines connected to those ports aren't the intended recipients of that traffic. A switch, on the other hand, learns the identity of each machine connected to it (the identity being the hardware or MAC address) so it doesn't normally send traffic to computers to which the traffic is not addressed. Routers differ from switches in that they route data. They change IP addresses from one network (your internal one) to another (that of the IP belonging to your ISP) whereas switches and hubs do not alter the IP address (or hardware address either). Almost all modern routers have a switch built in so you can have multiple machines not only talk to each other, but share an internet connection. The router portion is important because, while you CAN just plug one port from a switch or hub into a cable modem or wall and have lots of machines share an internet connection, you only need to have one IP address assigned by your ISP, whereas with a switch or hub, you have to have one allotted for each computer, and that can be expensive. More importantly, the router also doubles as a firewall to provide security. The only caveat is that machines inside the firewall (your LAN) are not protected from each other. That's why wireless is a hacker's best friend (along with Internet Explorer, Microsoft Outlook and Windows Media Player, of course.) As far as maximizing your connection, it's up to your ISP. You can do a speed test at DSLreports: http://www.dslreports.com/stest At full utilization you should get 3.0 megabits per second (375 kiloBYTES per second), but people rarely get what their ISPs claim except maybe late at night when nobody else is on, and even then you might not get much better performance.
