What is a switch? How does it work? Where can I get 1?

A switch just stops the connection from one thing to another. Clarify; what do you need the switch for?

A switch just stops the connection from one thing to another. Clarify; what do you need the switch for?
I want to connect my xbox360 and laptop without having to run another line from the router

If you just want to connect your xbox to your laptop without any network connections you could just use a cross over cable. Your options: Hub, Router, or a cross over cable.
Obviously the cross over cable is cheaper. Good luck

For that to work, you have to turn on Internet Connection Sharing on the laptop, too. Otherwise, the xbox won't have an IP address and will be on a different physical network.

Like I said in my other note most broadband routers have a built in switch. Switches are network devices that manage data packaets that are sent across a LAN. A switch knows which network device the packets are addressed to so it sends them directly. Unlike a Hub which just broadcasts the packets and leaves it up to the device to determine whether it belongs to it.

I think what you are really asking is that you have one line running a distance to your PC and you also want to connect your XBox to that same line. So you can daisy chain the switch. Get another small switch (a 5 port model can cost about $30) and plug the cable coming from your router into the uplink port. Then connect your XBox and PC to the switch.

That's assuming that the laptop is using wifi to connect to the router/internet. Otherwise you would need a second nic on the laptop to get back to the router. Using ICS also means that while you are on the xbox the laptop has to be on.

If your laptop is in a different room than your router and you only have one line in the room the simplest thing to do (IMO) is to pickup a cheap wired router and plug both devices into that. You can get cheap ones for $30 or less.

There are ways of making the connection wireless from the router even if the router isn't wireless. Kind of expensive, but it works. If you already have wireless thenit's half as expensive.

Idea is to set up a wireless bridge between the router and the location. If it's very high spped you want you may have limited options. 54* 0.8 mbps is easy.

I was thinking that the laptop was connecting wirelessly already. And since almost all laptops have a built in RJ45 jack nowadays, that he could enable ICS on the wireless connection, and use the Wired one to go to the xbox.

Now I realize that we don't quite know how his current network is set up... So,

Dewurite:

What is your network set up like right now? Is the laptop on wireless, or is there a network cable? Does your laptop HAVE wireless, and is it a wireless router?