Ethernet Hub Information
In order to connect more computers to the St. Olaf network than a room is wired for, you will need an Ethernet hub. If you are in a room with more residents than wall jacks, you can obtain a hub from your Area Coordinator. If you are purchasing a hub, IIT recommends a particular type of reliable, inexpensive hub/switch for student use. The recommended hub/switch is from Netgear. Netgear offers a number of hubs and switches that are inexpensive, usually with 4 or 6 ports/connections.
These hubs cost in the range of $25 to $45. A good general-purpose hub would come from the Netgear unmanaged desktop switches series such as:
| Summer 2006 Hub/Switch Prices | |
|---|---|
| FS105 5 Port 10/100 Desktop Switch | $28.99 |
| FS605 5 Port Fast Ethernet Switch | $25.99 |
Any hub/switch purchased should be compatible with a 10BaseT network, which is what St. Olaf uses. One of the ports is used for the connection to the wall jack, giving you four Ethernet ports. You will need a standard RJ45-45 cable for the connection from the hub/switch to your computer and either an RJ45-45 or RJ45-11 cable (depending on which hall you live in) to connect the hub to the wall jack. If you don't know which cable your hall uses, see the cable-type page. Cables can be purchased from the St. Olaf Bookstore.
Several companies carry these hubs/switches, but IIT doesn't recommend a particular company.