My hub died.

[pseydtonne]

I always like to think I know things. For example, I thought the switch I owned was a router. No, it's a hub. All my fellow geeks my laugh at me and point.

For you non-geeks: a hub is slightly more than splitter for ethernet cables. When you use one and have three computers, you need three separate IP addresses for each. This has been costing me $7 a month for the two extra IP addresses.

A router, on the other hand, creates a substation of masquerading IP addresses (submasks, they're called) that each computer attached to it may use. I knew that's what a router did, but I didn't realize I didn't own one.

The cable modem level one tech was right as rain when he diagnosed that. I threw a temper tantrum. Then my coworker Dave told me to run a couple other tests to make sure it wasn't the wires.

The wires work fine. The hub is dead. So it's time to buy a router. I'm heading off to a local geeking store in the morning. I'm thinking Linksys, even though I just burned out a Linksys (hey, it was good to me for two years). Anyone have advice on brands or features I should check out?

-or mebbe Netgear, Dante

By the way: I just blew several hours playing with the video on demand now that it's working. They shoved a bunch of Flash short subjects in there. Kinda weird to see "Behind the Music that Sucks" and "Queer Duck" on a television. More later...

Comments

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

A router, on the other hand, creates a substation of masquerading IP addresses (submasks, they're called) that each computer attached to it may use. I knew that's what a router did, but I didn't realize I didn't own one.

umm. that is not *quite* what a router does. what you are referring to is a "masquerading firewall".

a router is a box that routes packets. that is, it contains more than one network interface, and decides whether to transmit packets received on some interface out again on some other interface.

a masquerading firewall *is* routing packets, but it's doing something else besides, when it rewrites the ip addresses to do the masquerading. *most* routers don't rewrite ip address information.

for example, as this post goes from my box here to livejournal, it will pass through 21 different routers (thanks, traceroute!) -- but each router will copy the packet with the original ip address intact. these routers are not doing any masquerading. (that's why the lj thingy to "log your ip address" does in fact do something vaguely kinda sorta meaningful maybe :)

just fyi....

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

oh, and that reminds me -- since i upgraded cub i have some old hardware you might want. (no hubbage, alas, but random cruft.) let me know if you want to come by sometime and scrounge?

[pseydtonne.livejournal.com]

Thank you for that clarification! Like I've said, I'm a youngin' when it comes to geekin'. I blew too much of my youth analyzing the Western Canon and contrasting canons.

Are you around at all on Thursday (tomorrow)? Email me. It's my day off, so I could walk over in the evening and plunder your electronic bounty. I'll remember to grab some chocolate for you and the elf to savor, maybe...

-bows but would rather curtsey, Dante

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

hi! it's not my day off today -- i've been on the road since 7am -- but i should be home maybe 8:30 or so. ping me if you want to come over, chocolate or no :)