I have nearly an identical setup. 1) Plugging the 10baseT hub into the dual speed hub will require a crossover cable unless the hub has one of those toggle switches to turn the last port (4, in your case) into a crossed-over port. 2) Plugging the 10baseT hub into the dual speed hub will drop the whole network down to just 10 TX, any devices that cannot do 10 TX will not be able to get on the network. I also have the 3Com Home Wireless Gateway, which has 3 switched ports plus one DMZ port. You can plug you plug the DSL modem into the DMZ port of you want to use the gateway/firewall functionality. Or, you can do like I do, plug the cable/DSL modem into the first switched port, the 8 port dual speed hub in the second via a homemade crossover cable, and the four port 10baseT hub in the third port. Then get a wireless PCMIA card for your laptop and enjoy the roaming freedom. -David > -----Original Message----- > From: tclug-list-admin at mn-linux.org > [mailto:tclug-list-admin at mn-linux.org]On Behalf Of Mike Bresnahan > Sent: Monday, December 10, 2001 9:48 PM > To: Tclug-List at Mn-Linux.Org > Subject: [TCLUG] Home networking question > > > I'm hoping someone can help me with some home networking. My apartment is > pre-wired with CAT5 cables. There are 2 RJ45 connections in the > living room > and one in each bedroom upstairs. All 4 RJ45 have cables attached to them > that lead to the closet downstairs. In the closet are 4 RJ45 > connectors on > the opposite end of the cables. In one of the bedrooms are 3 PCs and a > Cisco 675 DSL modem and there will be one PC downstairs. I have > 10 7' CAT5 > cables, 1 8 port 10/100 dual speed, and 1 4 port 10baseT hub. How can I > make this network work? I tried simply putting the 4 port hub in the > closet, connecting it to the 4 RJ45 connections. This works fine > as long as > I don't introduce the 2nd hub, however this configuration only > allows one of > the 4 nodes in the bedroom to be connected because there is only > one jack in > the bedroom. So I tried connecting the 8 port hub into the wall > jack in the > bedroom and connecting the 4 nodes to it, but this rendered my network > useless. The machine downstairs cannot see the DSL router or any of the > other PCs. Can I not connect 2 hubs together like that? If not, how do I > make my network work? Do I need a switch? A router? > > Mike > > _______________________________________________ > Twin Cities Linux Users Group Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. > Paul, Minnesota > http://www.mn-linux.org > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > https://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list