I'm curious if you could buy an eithernet or USB splitters and have it work on the Airport Extreme base station. What i want to do is have the internet go to both of my PS2s. Right now only one on my PS2s has internet because there is only one plug on the airport extreme. If i put a splitter on the Airport to have two eithernet cables for 2 PS2s...will it work?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Usings Spliiters with Airport Extreme. Is it Possible?
- Thread starter AlmightyG5
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Is there such a beast as a "splitter", as in 1 plug with 2 ports? Anyway.. a hub should work just fine.
i know that if you hook up an airport express over a router it works. i plugged the computer in one slot and the airport in another and it worked....
I had two ps2s connected via my wireless network (one through an airport extreme and the other through an express within the same network, so not an answer to your question). A hub should work fine, but one thing to note. For some reason, you need to use two differently-named network settings files on the two ps2s, otherwise one won't connect. You can use exactly the same settings in each of the files, they just need to be called something different. At least, this is what I found.
yellow said:
I think the term he wants is a switch or a hub. Don't waste money on a hub. Get a switch for $25 or so, even if it's 4-port.
Bah.. it's just a couple PS2s. Who cares if all the incoming packets get spewed to all the hub's ports? 
I wouldn't use a router, as the AEBS is already a router, and there's no reason to have the 2 of them vieing for control. A hub or switch will do just fine for this guy. I just wanted to make sure he wasn't trying to get a phonejack splitter from Radio Shack and trying to use that to "split" this..
Thanks...I searched around and found This: Cat5e Adapter.
So can i plug this into the Airport extreme, so i have have 2 ports for two PS2s?
So can i plug this into the Airport extreme, so i have have 2 ports for two PS2s?
AlmightyG5 said:
I don't think so. AFAIK, the Airport can't act as a switch for data coming in through a single ethernet cable into a single port (which is what it sees on its end). The two PS2s would not get two different ethernet addresses this way, and so the Airport wouldn't really know which data was coming to/from which one of them. I think you should stick with the suggestions above and buy a cheap switch.
mkrishnan said:I don't think so. AFAIK, the Airport can't act as a switch for data coming in through a single ethernet cable into a single port (which is what it sees on its end). The two PS2s would not get two different ethernet addresses this way, and so the Airport wouldn't really know which data was coming to/from which one of them. I think you should stick with the suggestions above and buy a cheap switch.
Ok, I don't know much about networking...so can someone show me link to a cheap switch/hub that will work...thanks.
And what about USB. Say i wanted to connect another printer. Can i use a USB hub?
Here is another network cable splitter...http://www.pcconnection.com/ProductDetail?sku=446056&SourceID=k22350. Why wouldn't this work?
AlmightyG5 said:
Try this:
Linksys Switch at CDW
That's the idea. I'm sure you can find something cheaper at CDW or elsewhere. Linksys is owned by Cisco, so probably a safe bet. You'll need two more network cables, one from the airport to the switch, two from the switch to the two PSPs.
Will this switch work? http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=458463&CatId=201
To recap:
"Splitters" do not work.
Any kind of Ethernet 10/100 hub or switch will work.
It is best if the hub or switch comes with an "uplink" port (usually an either-or choice with Port 1) which makes it easier to connect to routers, as you don't need to dig up a "crossover" cable. Basically, a hub-to-machine connection is a straight through cable, but machine-to-machine or hub-to hub (or hub-to-router) requires crossing over 2 of the connectors. This can be done with a cable that is wired specially (a crossover cable) or with a port on the hub that has the crossover built into its wiring (an 'uplink' or crossover port).
Modern Macs have automatic switching built into their ethernet ports so they can accommodate either type of cable, iven if it's the 'wrong' one.
"Splitters" do not work.
Any kind of Ethernet 10/100 hub or switch will work.
It is best if the hub or switch comes with an "uplink" port (usually an either-or choice with Port 1) which makes it easier to connect to routers, as you don't need to dig up a "crossover" cable. Basically, a hub-to-machine connection is a straight through cable, but machine-to-machine or hub-to hub (or hub-to-router) requires crossing over 2 of the connectors. This can be done with a cable that is wired specially (a crossover cable) or with a port on the hub that has the crossover built into its wiring (an 'uplink' or crossover port).
Modern Macs have automatic switching built into their ethernet ports so they can accommodate either type of cable, iven if it's the 'wrong' one.
To expand on the recap:
To expand on why 'splitters' don't work in normal usage:
The cable used for Ethernet, commonly called 'Cat-5' (sometimes Cat-5e or Cat-6 when they're made to higher specs,) has eight wires in it.
100Base-TX Ethernet only uses four wires. They are 'pins' 1 and 2 as a pair, and pins 3 and 6 as a pair. These are the four pins that every normal Ethernet device on the planet try to use. The other wires are unused, and no normal Ethernet device (like the AirPort Extreme Base Station) will try to use them. Indeed, these pins are usually not connected to anything inside devices.
If you already have a Cat-5 cable running some long distance, and need to get a second Ethernet connection on each end without running a new cable, you can use the SPARE four wires in the cable to run a second Ethernet connection.
This is not considered 'normal', and technically violates the 100Base-TX Ethernet standard. However, this is what the 'splitter' is used for. It assumes that the other end of the cable has been wired so that the spare four wires connect to another splitter or similar. So BOTH ends of the wire need to accept two Ethernet connections. (Which the AirPort Base Station does not.) This splitter just uses the 'standard' set of four wires for one plug, and the 'extra' set of four wires for a second plug. If the device at the other end doesn't know to look for something on this extra set of wires, then it won't work.
A common use would be in businesses where they have their Cat-5 wires all going into a central server room, which then runs through a 'patch panel' to map all the cables more intelligently than just a wad of wires. If the extra four wires were 'patched' into a separate jack in this server room, then a splitter would work, as these extra four wires now connect to something on the other end. It WON'T work with any standard Ethernet equipment, though.
Finally, 'Gigabit' Ethernet, or 1000Base-T, uses all 8 wires, and using such a 'splitter' would break Gigabit compatibility, forcing any computers connected this way to drop to 100 Mbit speeds. (Or worse. I have seen techniques like this used that even breaks 100 Mbit speeds, forcing computers to drop to 10 Mbit.)
To expand on why 'splitters' don't work in normal usage:
The cable used for Ethernet, commonly called 'Cat-5' (sometimes Cat-5e or Cat-6 when they're made to higher specs,) has eight wires in it.
100Base-TX Ethernet only uses four wires. They are 'pins' 1 and 2 as a pair, and pins 3 and 6 as a pair. These are the four pins that every normal Ethernet device on the planet try to use. The other wires are unused, and no normal Ethernet device (like the AirPort Extreme Base Station) will try to use them. Indeed, these pins are usually not connected to anything inside devices.
If you already have a Cat-5 cable running some long distance, and need to get a second Ethernet connection on each end without running a new cable, you can use the SPARE four wires in the cable to run a second Ethernet connection.
This is not considered 'normal', and technically violates the 100Base-TX Ethernet standard. However, this is what the 'splitter' is used for. It assumes that the other end of the cable has been wired so that the spare four wires connect to another splitter or similar. So BOTH ends of the wire need to accept two Ethernet connections. (Which the AirPort Base Station does not.) This splitter just uses the 'standard' set of four wires for one plug, and the 'extra' set of four wires for a second plug. If the device at the other end doesn't know to look for something on this extra set of wires, then it won't work.
A common use would be in businesses where they have their Cat-5 wires all going into a central server room, which then runs through a 'patch panel' to map all the cables more intelligently than just a wad of wires. If the extra four wires were 'patched' into a separate jack in this server room, then a splitter would work, as these extra four wires now connect to something on the other end. It WON'T work with any standard Ethernet equipment, though.
Finally, 'Gigabit' Ethernet, or 1000Base-T, uses all 8 wires, and using such a 'splitter' would break Gigabit compatibility, forcing any computers connected this way to drop to 100 Mbit speeds. (Or worse. I have seen techniques like this used that even breaks 100 Mbit speeds, forcing computers to drop to 10 Mbit.)
USB hub won't work, either.
And a USB hub won't allow you to connect more than one printer to the AirPort Extreme (or Express,) either.
There is no long fancy technical explanation. Apple just doesn't support it.
(Apple officially says no, and just to check, I tried. It only recognized one printer, even though each would work fine when connected individually.)
And a USB hub won't allow you to connect more than one printer to the AirPort Extreme (or Express,) either.
There is no long fancy technical explanation. Apple just doesn't support it.
(Apple officially says no, and just to check, I tried. It only recognized one printer, even though each would work fine when connected individually.)
ehurtley said:
That was really great! Thank you for the summary!
I didn't understand that this is what the splitters did. I thought it was strange that it emphasized that you needed to use them in twos, but now it makes much more sense.