A group of co-workers was trying to hold a meeting in a conference room of our large corporate HQ building. They had wanted to have everybody bring their laptops and collaborate, but since the ...

Last month, I discussed Ethernet routers and some of the concepts behind routing. This month, we will look at a slightly different piece of network hardware, the Ethernet switch. I use the term ...

I have a small business network that’s been in place for many years, and we’re finally getting around to a long overdue replacement of a dozen or so old desktop computers. The technician doing the ...

I have been brought in on a part time basis to a relatively small company to do some IT work. The problem is that the company has a scattering of small hubs and switches plugged into wall ports, some ...

I’d never recommend hiding your Wi-Fi router in a bookshelf, as that would likely lead to overheating and a weakened signal. But what about the rest of your networking gear? From network switches to ...

Shared versus dedicated channels. In an Ethernet network, every client, server and network device is wired to a hub or switch. A hub shares the total bandwidth among all users, while a switch provides ...

The uplink port on a router is used to expand the network. Routers can use the uplink port to connect to other routers, switches and hubs to increase the maximum number of wired devices connected to ...

Last month we talked about the cabling in your building and the MDF and IDFs. Remember that great admins know a heck of a lot more about their network than just the server farm—your goal should be to ...

Forum visitor mustbjones needs a little gentle understanding in regard to routers and hubs. He or she writes: My house is wired with three Ethernet drops fed by the three ports on my router. I got a ...