RollyShed wrote: ⤴Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:55 pm
djph wrote: ⤴Thu Jan 27, 2022 6:03 amNah, there's nothing stopping anyone from just plugging a PC directly into a modem. Heck, I did that for years when I was using some old Debian box for routing...
You miss the point totally.
Yeah taking the quote out of the context of our earlier few points would certainly make it seem that way, wouldn't it.
For the sake of clarity, I am going to write "
router*" in this post to refer to a standard many- / all-in-one residential gateway device (colloquially referred to simply as "router" or "wifi router") that can be picked up at nearly any store with an electronics department; comprised of at least one marked "WAN" and several marked "LAN" ports. The device may or may not also include wifi and/or a cable/xDSL modem. It's the best I could come up with off the cuff to try and keep some form of clarity.
RollyShed wrote: ⤴Thu Jan 27, 2022 3:55 pm
It appears his router only has one socket, which tends to indicate it is old, very old. The OP does not have a problem getting on the internet, the problem is changing from one computer to the other,
easily.
Thing is, what you keep calling his router is only a modem (emphasis mine).
chazb wrote: ⤴Mon Jan 24, 2022 11:45 pm
There is only one place to plug in, in the
Modem. The
Modem being the connection to my ISP.
This mentioned problem reinforces that the device is just a modem, and not a
router*.
chazb wrote: ⤴Sun Jan 23, 2022 4:46 pm
My problem is with the switch I bought is,,, every time I would switch from one computer to the other I had to reset the modem, every time.
This behavior is completely in-line with an ISP setup that allows one (1) registered MAC address per customer's account. It's pretty normal stuff with cable and xDSL based services.
Now, in a different post, he did mention an older D-Link
router* in his possession; however, given the facts available in this thread:
- He went out and bought this mechanical switch
- He loses connectivity until rebooting the modem when utilizing the mechanical switch
- That older D-Link has multiple LAN ports, rendering the purchase of this mechanical switch unnecessary (given there are only two PCs in play)
We can surmise that this D-Link
router* is currently not an active part of his network.
Therefore, he needs to put a
router* into the mix -- ideally something new (supported), but even that EOL D-Link would "work" for the purpose.