How to setup a network switch

If you run a small business or have a large house – sometimes a wireless network just won’t cut it. By the time all devices have been connected, speed can be a real issue. Connecting all your devices via LAN is the preferred option to maintain and guarantee speed throughout your network. “Great” you think, beautiful and fast gigabit speed throughout…. or so you thought. What’s that you say? Your router only has 4 LAN ports? What? Now what do I do? Well the quickest and cheapest option is to add a network switch to your setup. A network switch will take a connection from a single LAN port on your router and then provide a connection to the number of ports your switch has. So, if you have purchased a network switch with 8 ports, we take a single port from your router to the switch and then you can connect another 7 devices from the 7 remaining ports on your switch! It’s easy – this is how:

1. Connect an Ethernet cable into an outgoing port on your modem or router – sometimes marked as a “WAN” port (on a router – any port will do)
2. Take the other end of the Ethernet cable and plug it into any port on your switch
3. Now plug another Ethernet cable cable into another port on your switch
4. Plug the other end of the Ethernet cable into your device
5. Voila – you have internet access!