User guide

Ethernet via Hub
Usually, though, ethernet requires that you pur-
chase and install an ethernet hub with ports for
anywhere from 4 to a hundred or more connec-
tions. All of the Macs connected to the hub can
see each other and all of the printers connected to
the hub can be seen by all the Macs. Unless your
Mac is of very recent manufacture, your Ethernet
will use RJ45 connectors and will be limited to 10
Megabits per second. This is usually referred to
as 10BaseT Ethernet. There are a few other sel-
dom seen types of Ethernet cables and connectors
for special applications, such as 10Base2
(Thin)and 10 Base5, (Thick), but the most com-
mon and popular Ethernet connectors are the
RJ45 that look like an enlarged telephone wire
connector. Each Mac or printer has its own ether-
net cable that connects the ethernet hub to the
Mac and most modern hubs have the ability to
recognize the highest connection speed that the
devices are capable of and setting that as the stan-
dard for file sharing. When you have a central
hub in your 10 BaseT network each ethernet cable
is limited to abut 100 meters, or 300 feet.
One of the best applications of Ethernet is its use
when high-speed modems are connected to a
special type of Ethernet hub called a DSL Router.
With this device in your network all of the Macs
you have connected to it, up to 256 of them, can
share the same high-speed internet access for the
cost of one account.
Ethernet components used to be hideously
expensive, but then everything for computers
used to be expensive before home computer sys-
tems became popular and common. Now you can
pick up networking hardware like ethernet hubs
and cables reasonably at every electronics shop. I
prefer to get my networking equipment on eBay.
Cables, routers, ethernet hubs and Etherwaves
appear regularly at bargain prices.
If you aren't sure whether or not you need to set
up a Ethernet network in your home then you
probably don't need to. But if sharing a high-
speed internet connection, moving big files
between Macs, sharing a printer among Macs and
PCs, sharing a program between Macs, or play-
ing on-line games is on your agenda now or in
the near future, then get ready to learn about how
Ethernet can expand and extend the reach of your
Macs.
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Ethernet Hub