I would like to connect one Ethernet wire to two devices. A computer and streaming device. Any ideas what kinda gadget I need to do this? Will hooking up two devices to the same Ethernet wire compromise internet speeds?
WiFi won't work because the two devices are on the other side of the house from the router blocked by a cinder block wall. I have the computer hooked up to the WiFi and I get dial up speeds!
My only other option is to run another cable from one side of the house to the other Meaning drilling holes in the ceiling and pulling a cable all the way from one side of the attic to the other. I did that once and really don't want to do that again!
I just picked these as an example so you know what I'm talking about; they are by no means a recommendation. You need not worry about speed in your setup. A Cat-7 Ethernet cable (for example) is much faster than most Internet connections (it's designed for 10.000 Mbit/s... for comparison, to stream a 4K Video fluidly you should have about 50Mbit/s), so having several devices on one cable should not be a problem.
I use ethernet switches for this a lot. Web searches with bring up various makes, though I've settled on both Belgin and Netgear variants these days. Look for one with gigabit speed so you have a bit of future proofing. The minimum number of ports is normally five, but one of those is used to connect your internet to, so four other devices could be wired up to that same internet connection.
I'm glad you went with the network switch. That splitter is just wrong. At least the store listing noted that two devices cannot be used at the same time.
Ethernet is a digital protocol, with "handshakes" and other peer-to-peer identification. That is, it cannot simply be split like analog audio with a "Y-splitter."
Actually, there are older devices known as "Ethernet hubs" that are almost like a distribution amp. But you are unlikely to find them in any stores these days. The unmanaged "network switch" is the slightly smarter successor to the hub. A switch will actually pass data "packets" to the client that needs it, rather than broadcasting it to everyone (like a DA).
