Two Computers Hardwired- 1 Cable Modem?

Ok, I have my desktop PC in my office on a dedicated hard line.
Wifi is in the house but signal is weak (can't even stream Youtube) out in the office over wifi.



In the "old days" cable modems had more than 1 port on them, I remember my brother in law coming over and he could plug his laptop in and we would both be rocking off the same modem- both hard wired (My desktop and his laptop.)

New modem only has 1 Ethernet port on it. I would like to run my laptop and Desktop PC off this one modem (hard wired for both)

Would also be nice if when I bring my work laptop home I could just unplug personal laptop off hardwired connection and run my work Laptop off that connection.

Any tips?

https://www.google.com/search?q=ethe...nt=firefox-b-1

One of the first on the list is $19.79
The 5-port 10/100 Desktop Unmanaged Switch enables the instant connection of up to five Ethernet devices at speeds up to 100 Mbps. Its compact size and durable metal case allow for easy placement anywhere. It is backed by a lifetime warranty.
https://www.neweggbusiness.com/Produ...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

Highlights in red >> Is the 2nd one cheaper AND twice as fast??

Or the next one is $5.00 cheaper at $14.99
The DES-105 5 Port 10/100 Unmanaged Metal Desktop Switch provides a quick, easy and economical way to add high speed networking to home offices, small and medium businesses. With data transfer speeds of up to 200 Mbps the DES-105 is ideal for fast file transfers. It provides five ports for easy expansion of your network for connecting printers, scanners, storage, and backup devices to any network.
Access Denied

Thanks John! Going to do some reading!

Well the wifi is in the house. We have 2 drops from the cable company- 1 modem inside house and wifi in the house, and 1 dedicated drop thus 1 modem to the garage (office)
This will sound absurd, but my house is clad in aluminum siding, which then creates some "anti-alien, tinfoil hat" type force-field in which wifi signals do not want to penetrate?!
When I got mad and wanted to cut cable all together I bought two antennas for the house tv's they worked AWESOME if I hooked them to the TV and then held them out the window! Pull them inside- nada!

I've read that if you go- modem, to switch, to dual PC's via Ethernet cable, that the cable company will shut it down as somehow now you are not allowed to split the signal from the modem. It will ping back to the cable company and they know it (probably the reason now that you have to have those stupid little boxes on EACH tv to watch tv) they now scramble service without the converter box.. truly maddening!

I own both my modems (not paying some dang rental fee after they nail me as hard as they do already)
I do have Comcrap err Comcast.

Hoping this should be a fairly simple fix- one Ethernet line in and multiple lines out just to add a Laptop to an existing Desktop set-up. What was odd was that I initially had just taken the line that connected to my desktop, plugged that ethernet cable into the laptop and I couldn't get a connection at all. Thought "that is odd" plugged it back into my desktop- worked fine again. Wondered if the modem said "wait a minute- different PC- you'll need to update it with comcast" That seems to be how evil Comcast has been as of late. I should be able to do what I want with the service I am paying for- my modem, my equipment, but I don't think Comcrap see's it that way!

Update:
Ok so I had a D-link 16 DSS 16+ laying around. Doing some testing.
Modem Ethernet to DSS
Ethernet to Desktop- OK
Ethernet to Laptop- Not working. Apparently the laptop Networking connection isn't working (hardware issue.) Tried to enable and it won't even though on a troubleshoot it says it is fine- nothing.
Since I have a number of desktops in-house for wiping hard drives, I am now testing with one of those.

Only oddity is that my modem which usually shows a Blue Blinking "activity" light is now red- connections seem to work, but don't think it is 100% at this point. I'll keep you all posted. May have to reset the modem??

Looks like I may need the router. The Laptop- I was able to get the connectivity working (in a way) I could find the laptop on a search from the desktop, but it wouldn't allow it to connect to the home group. I still have internet access on Desktop and cannot seem to get connectivity on the laptop. Defaults to Wifi, and can't get a hard line LAN connection. GRRR.

It isn't that big of a deal, but with a "switch" they SAY you should be able to plug and go.. yeah.. well we know that is some bull honky now don't we!

Originally Posted by jimicrk

If you unplug your desktop pc will your laptop work if you plug it in?

I tried that first, and it did not, but I have dinked around with some of the laptop settings so I may try that again.

My goodness.. I'm REALLY good at tearing apart computers.. but this is a pain in de arse! HA!

Got to buck up and buy a router me thinks. Didn't plug in the laptop direct. Probably ought to do that huh?!

Sledge, a switch was not the way, a router is the way that you will get the plug and play aspect. you might have to do some setting changes on the router but there is no need to have the switch if you are only doing less than 4 computers. Don't waste your money on a 10/100 router, get the gigabit type, comcrap should be suppling the gigabit service and hopefully your modem will allow it.

Your problem with the signal strength, when I had them, their equipment was terrible, could not get wifi unless I was in the same room, added my own access points and no problem out in the backyard. So you could get away with 2 access points bridged, one at a window in the house, the other in the garage by a window. That would allow you to get rid of one of your drops. If you want, I might have some cisco AP's and POE injected power sources to power them. I could send them.

Ok, turned off Wifi, plugged directly into laptop from modem (pulled line from desktop and placed into Laptop)
Connectivity says "Unidentified network- No Internet Access"

Called Comcast- no dice, went through a bunch of troubleshooting. I think it is the laptop. Oh well, it was a used "pickup" laptop. Maybe I'd have better luck with not being a cheap-o and buying a new one! HA!