I am thinking a 4 port router and two 4 port hubs
Here is what I am thinking... (currently I only have 2 switches... so if you know how to lay this out using those that would be cool... but our DSL is not assigning enough IPs so I need a piece of hardware that is smart enough to assign IPs)

Internet
|
| One WAN network address given by DSL
|
|-------------router-----------HUB1------PC1, PC2, PC3
|
|-------------router-----------HUB2------Mac1, Mac2





Router
http://www.netgear.com/products/prod_detai...rodID=131&view=


HUB
http://www.netgear.com/products/hubs/duals...eed.asp?view=sb
I am thinking I will use a DS104 ... but since all 5 computers are in the same room you
can always use only one hub like a DS108 and run just that from the netgear router.
I heard that I might want to keep the macs and pc's on different hubs... ideas? opinions?

Question: why do you need the two routers? Is it there for convenience (the cables won't reach the first router, e.g.)?

2 routers are there to keep the PCs and Macs separate.... Is this unnecessary? Is getting a larger router (we have 5 computers) a better route then 2 individual routers?

I have a home network with four computers (3 PCs, one Mac) using a 4 port router and a switch.

Our setup looks something like this:

Internet
|
| One WAN network address given by DSL
|
|router-----------PC1
|
|
|switch-----------PC2, PC3, Mac

(The switch is connected to the router itself).

So I doubt, in your case, that the 2 routers are necessary. One 4 port router (to hook up the switch and the three PCs...hook up the Macs to the switch) should work fine, assuming you have the cables to do so.

You should be able to set it up like this:

Internet
|
| One WAN network address given by DSL
|
|router-----------switch-----Macs
|
|PCs

Rearrange, as necessary, of course.

EDITED for Formatting...

hmmm... that could work... my question would be if the pc is directly connected to the router then
there could be issues with it grabbing an not releasing ip addresses.

If that's the case, then use the second switch.

Are there any concerns with grabbing and not releasing IPs?

I have had issues in the past... but since this is a home network it should be ok...

Thank you so much for helping me!! I really appreciate it! Looks like I have my Saturday project ready to go

Hooray!

And, of course, feel free to ask any more questions if you need to!

If you already have the switches I see no reason to get a router with more than 4 ports, unless the price difference is minimal or of no concern.

I agree with ungsunghero and his layouts. You don't need 2 two routers. One router, one switch and you should be good to go.

You can connect the two switches you have to the router, but that's not necessary unless you add more computers and are running out of ports.

The router will be assigned a WAN IP Address from the DSL modem. The router also acts as a DHCP server. Each computer will be assigned an internal IP address by the router which will also keep track of the addresses it assigns. There shouldn't be any problems.

why am I always a day late and a dollar short!!!????

good work guys!!!

Nothing to add here but to day, ungsunghero and alan, are my new best networking friends.

Short, sweet, and right to the point.

Hop

PS If you can ever avoid it, please do not use a hub for anything. Get a few more bucks in your pocket for the switch. A hub is good, but if you're going to use it with the hopes of seeing full bandwidth to each pc, it isn't going to happen. A hub, if my memory serves correctly, loses bandwidth directly proportional to the quantity of ports it has. So if you're looking at a 1Mbps download through your switch, and you've got 4 ports to your hub, you'll get a max of 256Mbps bandwidth through each port.

And for the love of all that is good and wireless... at minimum, 802.11b is your friend. BEFW11S4, or similar for all of your Wireless AP + Cable/DSL Router w/4-Port Switch needs (or something similar).

Aw gee, thanks

For anyone interested, here are a couple of links to help explain the difference between hubs & switches (in plain english):
Ethernet Hubs and Switches Explained
Router? Bridge? Switch? Hub? What's the difference?

Aw shucks...

Though I'd probably direct all my future networking questions to Alan...he's much more compu-inclined than I .

You hold your own pretty well Ung