when to use unlink port
 

I think that I have this right, but sure would like someone to confirm my thinking. I have a router which connects to my cable modem on one side and has four ports on the other. One port has the option of being an uplink. In my house I have two computers in the front, and three computers way in the back. The two in the front each go directly to a router port. A long CAT5 cable goes to the back. I want to connect the three computers in the back, but only have one cable. So I need to buy a hub and put it in the back, plug one end of the long cable to the uplink port of the router, plug the other end of the long cable into the hub, and then plug the three computers in the back into the hub? Is that correct? (My understanding is that I need to use the uplink port on the router since I am going to a hub rather than to a PC).

Thanks,
John

Yes, that's right. You could also use two normal ports via a crossover cable.

Some switches/hubs/routers these days even automatically sense if they need to configure a port as "uplink" (MDI).

~sind