Hacker News Reader

Comment by thaumasiotes | Hacker News Reader

> when assignments are due, we often run out of ethernet cables. I had just mentioned I would bring a switch with me the next day

As I understand it, a switch will solve a shortage of ethernet ports, but will make the cable problem worse by requiring one extra cable. What's the purpose of the switch here?

View on HN

I think they mean out of ethernet-cables-that-are-usable-to-get-network-access. So there's loose cables aplenty, but a shortage of cables that work in the sense of the far end being plugged in, due to a shortage of ports.

From the perspective of a student walking into the room with their laptop, that's a shortage of cable-ends that they can plug into their laptop to gain network access.

Either way, I'm surprised port security isn't enabled in an educational environment like this.

It probably is and they just don't know or the policy is lax enough to allow it but triggers an alarm in OIT.

Why should it be, or even be detectable if OP attaches a switch? Afaik, those don't even have different MACs and even if they do, it is unlikely that the university has all the students laptops MACs.

Switches have MAC addresses.

Running out of cables may actually mean running out of ports. Spare cables with no place to plug in are useless.

They might have people in a couple of different rooms, and plenty of short Ethernet cables but not enough long ones. So a switch allows them to run one cable between rooms and use a bunch of shorter cables within the room.

I'd presume anyone bringing a network switch with them to class would also have some Cat5e kicking around. Otherwise, what good is the switch doing them?

So bringing a switch solved the cable problem because the cables were in the same box?

Sure? lol

switches route traffic to other machines on the same switch lowering network congestion between those machines and the rest of the network right ?

Yes. They also minimize the broadcast storm domain.

...no they don't. STP will help prevent broadcast storms, but a switch does nothing in and of itself to stop them.

shorter total cable length and a less cluttered environment?

Sure, but that doesn't solve the problem of shortage of ethernet cables

If the shortage is not of cables in general, but of cables that are long enough to reach the current connection point, then a switch would help.

Maybe they have plenty of short cables, but not enough long cables to get to each person from the main network switch.

Adding a switch closer to you means multiple people can share the one long cable.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com