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When a router runs out of Ethernet ports for devices like smart TVs, consoles, NAS drives and desktop PCs, the fix is an inexpensive plug-and-play Ethernet switch rather than a router upgrade. The switch connects to one of the router's LAN ports and instantly adds four, seven, 15 or more wired connections to the network.
Buying guidance for home network switches highlights two key factors: how many ports you'll actually need after accounting for the router connection, and matching switch speed to your router, internet plan and devices. A switch slower than your router or fastest devices becomes a bottleneck, negating any upgrades elsewhere on the network.
Amazon has discounted the HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 Dock to $319.99, an $80 cut from its $399.99 list price, matching its lowest price to date. The dock combines a Thunderbolt 5 hub with a built-in M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure, letting users store files directly inside the unit rather than using a separate external drive.
Standard Ethernet installations are capped at a maximum total run of 328 feet, a figure set by networking standards to account for signal loss, interference and timing errors rather than an absolute cutoff. That distance typically breaks down into 295 feet of solid-core cable plus up to 33 feet of flexible patch cables at each end. Within that range, Cat5e or Cat6 cabling reliably supports 1 Gbps speeds, and everyday runs of 10 to 100 feet won't cause any slowdown.
A tech explainer clarifies the difference between a router's WAN port, which connects to a modem or ONT for internet access, and its LAN ports, which link wired devices like PCs, consoles, TVs and NAS units inside the home. It notes that combo router/modem units skip the WAN port entirely, while some routers use flexible WAN/LAN or auto-sensing ports instead of clearly labeled ones.
Franklin "Frank" Kuo, who helped build the University of Hawaii's ALOHAnet system in 1971, has died at age 91. ALOHAnet was the first public wireless packet data network and served as a direct influence on Robert Metcalfe's later creation of Ethernet.
A technical blog post offers a hands-on, browser-based walkthrough of the spanning tree protocol (STP), the networking standard that keeps Ethernet switches from forming loops that cause broadcast storms. Using a playful office scenario with redundant cables and an accident-prone coworker, it demonstrates how STP blocks extra links to form a loop-free tree and automatically rebuilds it when a connection fails.
Ethernet cables with four twisted pairs can be divided by passive splitters into two two-pair connections, but this only works for older 10/100Mbps standards that don't use all four pairs for data. A functioning setup requires two splitters, one at each end, since a router's single RJ45 port cannot talk to two separate devices at once. Switches, unlike splitters, actively manage multiple full-speed connections through dedicated hardware.
Amazon has discounted the TP-Link Litewave LS1005G, a 5-port unmanaged gigabit Ethernet switch, to $9.98 for a limited time. The compact, fanless device adds four extra wired ports to an existing router setup without any configuration required.
A technical note explains how to move large files directly between two computers by connecting them with a standard Ethernet patch cable, manually assigning IPv6 addresses to each machine's interface, and piping data through tools like socat and dd. The author reports this setup can reach roughly 900 Mbits per second on ordinary hardware, translating to about 6.7 GB per minute, far outpacing USB drives or cloud uploads for nearby machines.
Most routers include a single WAN port alongside multiple LAN ports, and although the connectors look identical, they perform very different jobs. The WAN port links your router to the internet, while LAN ports connect local devices like PCs, TVs and consoles so they can talk to each other and share that connection.