Ethernet 10base T splitter

[John]

Nicholas Evans wrote:

> Hello,
>    I've just spent the past four hours trying to get my two computers 
> to use the one ethernet port on the back of my 2wire Home portal, 
> which serves as a router and DSL modem. I bought a 10base T splitter 
> from radioshack, brought it home, and hooked it up. After a bit of 
> tinkering, I got my old computer to work, but my new one wouldn't. 
> After four hours, I've tried every trick I can think of, and some I 
> didn't think of, to no avail. My new computer /refuses/ to work when  
> I use the splitter. I've tried switching the wires around, re-adding 
> the ethernetcard 5 or 6 times for each compter, played with the 2wire 
> settings, played with the hosts, route, and network services. Is there 
> something I'm overlooking? Do I need some exotic network service? Or 
> is the splitter just crappy?
> <snip DHCP log info>
> Help?
> Thanks,
> Nicholas Evans

Unless I'm mistaken, a 10BaseT splitter does nothing but put merge 2 
ports on one end of the cable, only so thatt they can be split back into 
two ports at the other end of the cable.  It does this by putting the 
second port on a pair of wires that are unused by the first port.  In 
this case, the DSLModem/router isn't looking for a second system on 
those unused wires, and thus fails.  In essence, the  "splitter" you 
refer to, does nothing more than allow you to run 1 cable rather than 2 
for two systems, requiring a "splitter" at each end of the cable.

The only way you can get two systems to work with a 1 port router/DSL 
modem, is to connect a hub or a switch to the router/modem, and connect 
the systems to the hub/switch.
HTH,
John