Bridging or connecting 2 routers.

[Sean]

At my next lan i want to have atleast 5 ports open for ppl to use. I have a Linksys 4 port router. And that works, but i will like more ppl to be able to connect. Is it possible to connect another router into the mix, with a patch cable between the upload port of the 2nd router and one of the 4 ports on router one? Or can i use a switch instead. Sorry im kinda confused, heres a visulisation of waht im thinking. It took 2 minuents to make in paint, bare with me.
YELLOW is the patch cable and the barley legible I is the upload port on the router, the one you ussualy connect the cat5 cable from your modem to.

 

[Nodsu]

Yes, you can use another router, but a switch or a hub is the correct way to do it.

Using the uplink port on the second router is a bad idea.

 

[Sean]

Thanks for your input, but then would i use just a regular cat5 cable or a patch cable? And woul i need to adjust or tweek any settings? Any input is appreciated.

 

[Nodsu]

A regular CAT5 cable with RJ45 plugs is a patch cable. The alternative is a crossover cable.

Traditionally you use a crossover cable to link networking devices, but consumer devices usually don't care what kind of cables you connect. Use crossover to be safe, patch cable can be used if one of the devices has MDI/MDI-X capability or there is a special "uplink" port on the hub or switch.

Switches/hubs usually Just Work (TM). You should check that none of the connected computers have their ethernet link speed/duplex set wrong manually (the default is automatic).