Switches Trouble

[ronny7]

I'm asking this for a friend as I don't know much about switches/routers. He bought a switch off ebaythis one to be exact, he bought it it thinking it was a router. He's on NTL and this is basically what he wants Modem -> Router -> PS2+Computer. I've done a bit of research and seen that normally a router goes into a switch then into whatever you want e.g a computer. Now his is question : Can he have it like this ; Modem -> Switch -> PS2+Computer? Thanks in advance.


Luke.

[agatward]

Originally Posted by ronny7

I'm asking this for a friend as I don't know much about switches/routers. He bought a switch off ebaythis one to be exact, he bought it it thinking it was a router. He's on NTL and this is basically what he wants Modem -> Router -> PS2+Computer. I've done a bit of research and seen that normally a router goes into a switch then into whatever you want e.g a computer. Now his is question : Can he have it like this ; Modem -> Switch -> PS2+Computer? Thanks in advance.


Luke.

No. You need to do what's called NAT (Network Address Translation). NTL only give you one public IP address, but you need to make a number of hosts "appear" as this address to the outside world.

Pretty much any "broadband router" available at well-known stores will do the job; however note that some are a lot better than others. I'm not that well up on what's good or not in the home market any more as I got narked off with them all and purchased enterprise-grade equipment

[ronny7]

Well on another forum I got told as long as my modem provided NAT I could use it, my modem is a Ntl:250. Would you know if that provides NAT?

[50420]

hi ronny
to the best of my knowledge...the simple answer is no. that setup wouldnt work for your mate, as the switch in question, i believe does not have dhcp capabilities, so either the pc or the ps2 is not gonna get an IP address ( if either of them do..?)
ideally, if he can, is he able to return the switch to the seller, and buy a router instead. the linksys wrt54g is a popular choice

edit:
agatward beat me to it
and the ntl250 does not provide NAT functions

[ronny7]

What do you reccommend him saying to the seller as in terms of retuning?

[Gareth]

I'd be honest and say that he bought it in error - saying he'll pay the return shipping, but can he be reimbursed. No point in trying to make out that he was deceived as apparently this was not the case, and this will just make the seller less likely to be helpful.

[50420]

Originally Posted by ronny7

What do you reccommend him saying to the seller as in terms of retuning?

if it were me...i'd be honest and tell the seller I had made a mistake and bought the wrong equiptment...if the seller has his/her own 'store' on ebay, it might be worth asking if they have a router instead and pay any difference between the two products.

[ronny7]

Ok thanks for all your help unfortunately he doesn't have a shop but I will tell him to be as honest as poss ,will keep your informed. Before I give him a ring and tell him it won't work. He got this off ebay for £27.00 altogether would you think it would be worth putting it back and as the one he got is still in wrapping and a used one of ebay is going for £20 at the moment + £5.00 Post and Packaging so he could make a profit?

[Gareth]

Yep, if the seller doesn't want to know, then sell it privately... bear in mind that some people could check your feedback on ebay and see that you bought it very recently and just how much you paid for it

[ronny7]

I didn't buy it