Hiya
Short version:
Anyone know the easiest way to add extra ports to a wired network?
Long version:
I'm helping my old job (a small community non-profit) slightly upgrade their computer network. They previously had 3 computers (that I built) hooked up to a four port router, which then connected to a modem and thus the interwebs. The remaining port is hooked up to the internal phone system.
They needed another computer, which I built and installed for them yesterday, but there's a bit of a snag, as there's no room on the router to connect to the interwebs.
Things that I've considered:
A) Getting a wireless router (which they want anyway) and a wireless card for one of the desktops. We'd probably need a Pre-N one as we need to milk as much range as possible for their laptops (a whole other story!).
B) Getting a network switch. Do these require indepth knowledge to set up? I've never touched one.
C) Getting a Pre-N router with more than 4 ports, which I can't find. This would probably be the best option overall.
The spanner in the works is that one of the computers (annoyingly, the one that gets used the most) holds all of the documents they use on a daily basis, serving the other computers. This means things can get really, really slow when more than one person's accessing them over the network. Any idea why this is, and if there's a better way to do this that doesn't involve having a computer exclusively as a server?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Cheers!
Short version:
Anyone know the easiest way to add extra ports to a wired network?
Long version:
I'm helping my old job (a small community non-profit) slightly upgrade their computer network. They previously had 3 computers (that I built) hooked up to a four port router, which then connected to a modem and thus the interwebs. The remaining port is hooked up to the internal phone system.
They needed another computer, which I built and installed for them yesterday, but there's a bit of a snag, as there's no room on the router to connect to the interwebs.
Things that I've considered:
A) Getting a wireless router (which they want anyway) and a wireless card for one of the desktops. We'd probably need a Pre-N one as we need to milk as much range as possible for their laptops (a whole other story!).
B) Getting a network switch. Do these require indepth knowledge to set up? I've never touched one.
C) Getting a Pre-N router with more than 4 ports, which I can't find. This would probably be the best option overall.
The spanner in the works is that one of the computers (annoyingly, the one that gets used the most) holds all of the documents they use on a daily basis, serving the other computers. This means things can get really, really slow when more than one person's accessing them over the network. Any idea why this is, and if there's a better way to do this that doesn't involve having a computer exclusively as a server?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Cheers!
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