Is it possible to use a single network cable in two computers at the same time?
 

Hello everyone,

In my home we use a wired network, and there are four computers already connected to one eight ports hub (also the router is connected).

I'm about to add a computer to my current home network, but the problem is that for setting it up, I need a very long cable in order to connect it directly to the hub.

I already have one computer just next to the one that I want to add to the network, (so there is one cable that reaches there already).

I hope I made myself clear so far,

My question is: Can I somehow split the cable that is already there, so that I will be able to use THE SAME NETWORK CABLE CONNECTED TO ONE PORT OF THE HUB in two computers at the same time separately?

Is it physically possible?

Thank you a lot!

Mauricio

short answer, no
long answer, you could drop another switch at the location and add short cables to both computers, or add a second nic to one computer and forward traffic to the other, but just outright splitting the connection wouldnt work

Thank you for that so fast replying.

So it isn't possible... Too bad!

Just two little questions now:

1. Aren't there any network cards that have two plug/jacks? (I mean one for Input and one for Output, or something like that?)

2. How do I do it with another hub? I just plug the cable to it, and then get and plug two other cables to two different ports, each one to each computer? Will this work 100% like if I was laying one more long cable(from the original hub)? (I mean networking compatiblity).

Thank you very very much.

if you are worried about cables and your cables dont reach where you want, why dont you go for a wireless network. A small wireless router can network your home and will get rid of the wires. Make sure you enable the security on the AP.

About your questions, there aint such things as network cards with two plugs one for in and and one for out. 100M ethernet is duplex (meaning in and out traffic is carried over same cable same port).

Following is a quick guide to set up a home network.

hxxp://compnetworking.about.com/od/homenetworking/Home_Networking_Setting_Up_a_Home_Network.htm

I'd do like @frieza says : just use an extra
router or switch at the location.
An e.g. four port is really low cost.
(Or free, people are trashing a lot of these
to use wireless instead, I didn't pay for mine.)
.....

There used to be a way of doing this - in fact, it was how Ethernet was done for many years. It was called 10Base2 or 10Base5. However, it was not cheap to do, and it would be difficult to find the kit these days.

Yes, it is just that simple (OK, you also need to plug the new hub or switch into power).

Switches may be a little better than hubs (performance wise). But in a home network you probably wouldn't notice the difference.

Four or five port switches are very low cost at online stores such as newEgg and pretty low cost at Walmart if you're in more of a hurry. A real computer store would probably overcharge you quite a bit. Even Walmart overcharges pretty badly for the two short cables you would need to use the switch.

This 8-port switch is on sale at a 4-port price
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833180057

If your main hub is really a hub (not a switch), swap that out and put an 8 port switch where it was, and move the hub to the less job of sharing out that long cable.
demanding job

I use this one to split my long cable
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833166006
It is very small, which may be more convenient for you. If you order just a switch plus cables from newEgg, pay attention to the shipping total. It may be more than the purchase total. After you add the cables (so the weight starts to matter) the higher price tiny switch may cost less with shipping included. (I always wait until I'm ordering a lot of things at once and NewEgg shipping becomes reasonable. Many other online sites just total the unreasonable per item shipping charges even when you buy many things at once).

I remember using some old hubs in which you needed a special "cross over" cable to connect two hubs together. On other old models you needed to do the "uplink" to the more central hub though a specific port (that was wired backwards to avoid needing a cross over cable). But I haven't seen that in any recent switches. Even if a specific port seems to be set aside for the uplink, the switch works just as well using a different port for uplink. (A router normally needs you to use the correct port for the uplink side).

i HAVE seen a nic with 2 ports however, it was not for in/out, just 2 interfaces, but i think those are rather uncommon

as for a network card with one port for in, one port for out those do exist.. but not for your purposes, they are for fiber optic networks because you can't presently send a signal in both directions on a fiber, hence one fiber for upstream and the other for downstream

yes but that was either using BNC T connectors or vampire taps, both used coaxial cable and had very slow comparitve transfer rates, and werent very reliable.. as well as requiring terminating points at each open end of the line

I guess I'll end up buying a switch.

Thank you all very much.