Cat5 splitters, switches and hubs

[Decemus]

Today, I was looking for Cat5 splitters, and I couldn't find any that I could pick up from a store. When I was looking, I noticed there were Cat5 switches and hubs. I have no clue what the difference of each of them are, but I need to split one Cat5 cable into two. I can't use my WiFi because my walls are too thick. Which should I get?

 

[glamdringfh]

For most home environments a hub and a switch are pretty much interchangeable, though since there isn't too much difference in price I recommend getting a switch just for future-proofing your network.

Here is a perfectly good 5-port switch for $20 that would handle everything up through gigabit ethernet.

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-SG1005D-1000Mbps-Gigabit-Capacity/dp/B000N99BBC

Depending on your budget needs you could probably get away with the $10 Megabit version below, but as I said the one above will suit your needs even if you eventually upgrade to really fast internet in your home.

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-SF1005D-5-port-100Mbps-Desktop/dp/B000FNFSPY

P.S. Here's a quick explination of the difference between a switch and hub in case you're interseted.

Hubs operate using a broadcast model and switches operate using a virtual circuit model. When four computers are connected to a hub, for example, and two of those computers communicate with each other, hubs simply pass through all network traffic to each of the four computers. Switches, on the other hand, are capable of determining the destination of each individual traffic element (such as an Ethernet frame) and selectively forwarding data to the one computer that actually needs it. By generating less network traffic in delivering messages, a switch performs better than a hub on busy networks.

 

[Decemus]

For most home environments a hub and a switch are pretty much interchangeable, though since there isn't too much difference in price I recommend getting a switch just for future-proofing your network.

Here is a perfectly good 5-port switch for $20 that would handle everything up through gigabit ethernet.

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-SG1008D-1000Mbps-Switching-Capacity/dp/B001EVGIYG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443904529&sr=8-2&keywords=networking+switch

Depending on your budget needs you could probably get away with the $9 Megabit version below, but as I said the one above will suit your needs even if you eventually upgrade to really fast internet in your home.

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-SG1008D-1000Mbps-Switching-Capacity/dp/B001EVGIYG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443904529&sr=8-2&keywords=networking+switch

P.S. Here's a quick explination of the difference between a switch and hub in case you're interseted.

Hubs operate using a broadcast model and switches operate using a virtual circuit model. When four computers are connected to a hub, for example, and two of those computers communicate with each other, hubs simply pass through all network traffic to each of the four computers. Switches, on the other hand, are capable of determining the destination of each individual traffic element (such as an Ethernet frame) and selectively forwarding data to the one computer that actually needs it. By generating less network traffic in delivering messages, a switch performs better than a hub on busy networks.

So, a switch would do the job of splitting a cat5 cable?

 

[glamdringfh]

Yes. If you look at the pictures of the switches I've linked you can see on the back where you would plug in the cat5 cables.

 

[tman1]

get a gigabit switch

 

[jsmithepa]

Should had come here first, would had saved you tons of time.

Probaly heard coax-splitter so automatically you think there is a CAT5 splitter as well and lo and behold, when u google, there are actually CAT5 splitter gadgets out there, and of course hubs always comes up.

This is very easy actually. I dunno who invented the CAT5 splitter, but probably when an honest-to-God hub cost hundreds of dollars, but there is still no excuse because you can manually split a CAT cable in two and use 4 wires for one connection and the second set of 4 wires for connection 2 without buying anything. Then hubs are 20 years old technology, nobody use hubs anymore. Lastly ethernet switches is what people use and lo and behold, consumer switches are CHEAP, less than usd$30 for an 8 port which in most home environment is what people buy. So forget all that other "noises." Buy an 8-port gigabit (current fastest standard) switch and that's all you need.