have airport exp, need 2nd ethernet port

[zzs999]

i have a macbook and an airport express, which is plugged into a cable modem. i plan to buy a samsung blu-ray player (model 1600), which can plug into an ethernet port or, for more money, use wireless. i'd like to use an ethernet cable because I think the airport express gets overloaded sometimes (music stops if two computers using wireless, for example) and the wireless attachment for the blu-ray player is a little pricey.

how do i create a second ethernet port? do i plug a router into my cable modem and then plug the airport express into one of the router's ethernet ports? if i do that, will it just work or is there some set-up work to do?

sorry, but i don't know very much about networking. thanks in advance for your ideas.

 

[Revelation78]

Just get a simple switch or hub.

http://www.bizrate.com/networkhub_s...thernet-switch--pid5226770/compareprices.html


There's an example of one that is only $15 USD. You can find some that are cheaper, like a simple two port hub/switch.

 

[zzs999]

thanks very much. does "switch" imply that only one of the ports is on at a given time? can two be on at once? not sure what the word "switch" here means. sorry for my lack of knowledge.

thanks again.

 

[brentsg]

Switches intelligently handle traffic at the packet level so they can effectively manage traffic for many devices simultaneously.