Hello

This is phani .I recently bought a splitter to share my internet to two laptops at a time so that me and my friend can use the internet at time instead of multiple plug and unplugging of Lan cable.But my problem is when I connect two lan cables and live internet cable... the two laptops showing an dialogue box showing an error
"Network Cable Unplugged" but when I unplug on of the two laptops cable I'm able to browse internet without any problem... so finally what I mean to say is with the splitter I can only connect only one laptop but not two

Kindly suggest me how to share the internet to the two laptops without getting the error

""here is the image of the splitter i bought ""
(http://www.newcomputerperipherals.co...plitter_lg.jpg)

And I use CAT5 cables to connect the laptops


2.Another question is .Can I connect two laptops to a wi-fi router to share internet or I'll get the same error like the splitter .Kindly suggest me a best way to connect the laptops to a single internet connection

I'm a student and I can't afford more money on routers so suggest me a less expensive solution for my problem


Thanking You

Ethernet is not designed to be "split" using twisted pair wiring. Most of the devices like the one you have pictured are designed to work in pairs to reduce what would typically be two cabling paths to a single cabling path in situations where it is desired to add a second computer but only one network drop exists. And, the Ethernet Splitter website with the picture you linked explains this. If you wish to pursue using these devices, try using crossover cables at one end to connect either the router or the laptops.

A more traditional way of connecting devices is to obtain a switch (example: Netgear 5 Port Gigabit Switch) and connect the two laptops and router to it using the CAT5 cables. Another option is to obtain just a wireless router with an integrated switch. Most consumer grade routers designed for cable or DSL have integrated switches. If you already have the wi-fi router, check to see if it has an integrated switch, you may already have everything you need to connect the laptops.