NIC connection problems to Netgear WGT624 w/cable

[Harry Kuhman]

From what I gather then, unless I can turn off the 'router' portion of the netgear WGT624 specifically, I'm stuck and should look really to buy a switch?

There are issues running double NAT. It can make it hard for some systems that automatically bypass a NAT firewall to work (Skype, Hamachi, Gtalk for example) and may conflict with some on-line games. You local network likely will not work properly between things on the second router and computers on the first (in you case it sounds like everything is connected to the second). As I said, some people live with double NAT and it should work OK for simple web browsing, but I avoid it myself. I don't want to discourage you from tryiong to get what you have working, just want to let you know there are some issues.

If so, any specific switch better than others, or is it just the cheaper the better?

Pretty much any small inexpensive unmanaged switch intended for home use should do it. A simple 10/100 5 port switch can sometimes be found for around $10. Switches with more ports tend to be more expensive, do about the same except provide more ports. A hub will also do the job but hubs are older technology and should be avoided unless you have specific use for one (like packet sniffing) or you can get an old one free.

If I stick a switch in, any issues getting it up and running in linux?

A simple unmanaged switch (you don't want to be buying an expensive managed switch for industrial use) just expands the number of ethernet ports available. While it has some smarts to it (it automatically builds it's own routing table and knows which devices are on which ports), it does not have it's own IP address and is basically transparent to the network. So if you plug a switch between the DSL modem (with internal router) and the computer, that computer will get it's DHCP setup from the modem/router and should get an IP address in the range that the modem/router is handing out. Other devices plugged into the switch will also do DHCP with the modem/router and get their owm IP addresses. So your network with a switch should work just as it did if you plugged the computer into the modem. This would also be the case if the wireless router had an option to run as a switch.

Of course, there is still the issue of the wireless side of the new router. If you want to connect wirelessly you'll need to use that router, or get an "access point". If you plan on using the wireless router then I expect that you would be better off with all computers behind the second router (double NAT) than some computers on a switch and one or two on a wireless connection and only them behind double NAT)