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I have hard wired ethernet in my new home. I have one ethernet connection in my office but need to connect up to 5 devices to ethernet. I have wifi in the house as well but need the speed of the hardwired connection. I have seen different information about using a switch and have been told that a switch will not allow all 5 devices to share the hardwired ethernet connection. My wireless router is connected in a separate location because of the house being hardwired. Besides another router, what options do I have to get ethernet to all the devices in my office.

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There is no reason I know of why a switch won't work. You're not trying to share any single network connection, you're extending a LAN. – David Schwartz Jun 20 '12 at 13:08
One connection on the switch needs to go to your router. So technically on a 5-port switch you can only have 4 PCs, for example, connected to it. The router must be plugged into the 5th port. – ultrasawblade Jun 20 '12 at 13:39

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Agreed, a switch is designed for this purpose and works fine at home or work. But one comment after doing the same thing - I also needed 5 additional connections at a remote spot, and then found the 8 socket switch would have been a better investment. They come in either 100 and 1000 (aka Gigabit) speeds. If the devices are communicating among each other moving large files (like multimedia) then gigabit might be worth the cost. For small files, 100mbs works fine.

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Great answer. Note: in order to use gigabit speeds, the connected devices must have gigabit capable network cards. – CharlieRB Jun 20 '12 at 13:42
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Definitely get more switch than you think you need. You'll be happy you did. Also, definitely don't get another router. It will overly complicate your setup, and is not necessary. – JoshP Jun 20 '12 at 15:49

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