Bit of network hep


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hey i just posted the below thread in the "Internet, Network and Security" forum.

Hello all.

Right basically I have my Pc which is upstairs in my own room and I have my sisters PC downstairs.

I have 512K (soon to be updated to 1MB) Bt Openworld Broadband which I think is ADSL. It is connected to the PC through USB.

Well, I would like to know how to network and share the internet through these 2 PC's together? What software or any additional Hardware do I need?

Also I am running Windows XP, if that would help!

Thanks all.

Basically i got further responses saying that if I wanted to add additonal devices to the network I would have to purchase a Router.

In this case I hope to be getting a Powerbook. If i did want to add the powerbook to a the network what would I have to do?

I would be very grateful especially since i have very little knowledge of the Panther OS.

Thank you very much :)

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First of all, you should never ever use USB ADSL or Cable modems as it creates one point of failure. You end up having to have that one box act as firewall and router which is very dangerous and the entire network collapses if that box goes down.

Look into getting an ADSL modem with ethernet out. Now your service provider might fight you on that because they don't want you sharing your connection with several computers. :D Next you will have to get an internet router/firewall. There are several good ones out there including a four port model from netgear for under a hundred USD. The dedicated device will handle all of the NAT (network address translation) and DHCP to give your an automatically assigned internal IP as well as handling the internet traffic firewall. There are some models that have a built in parallel or usb printer port as well.

To setup the machines on the router, you would set them all up for DHCP to get their IPs in the network prefs and then log into the web interface of the router to input your username and password for your ADSL service.

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wait a second, reading that you advise me to get 2 new boxes, can't i just use my own Modem and then get the Internet Router/Firewall.

Also its not clear how to connect the Powerbook to the network?

thanks :)

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Buy a linksys ADSL / Modem / WAP from dabs....

They are about ?100...

This will allow you to use Airport / Airport Extreme wireless as well as wired LAN.

It also removes the useless USB modem, and means only the router needs to be on for internet access...

Once the router is setup (about 5 mins in a browser), all you need is to tell your machines what IP's you want to give them (or use DHCP....)

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right now you've got a network that looks like this:

***INTERNET*** -> modem -> PC ->other computer

AD is saying that adding a powerbook after "other computer" is a bad idea because if either of those two computers go down the powerbook is without internet access.

he's recommending something like this:

**** THE INTERNET ****
          ||
          \/
   [ Router ]   ==> Powerbook
   ||       ||
   ||       ||
   \/       \/
 PC #1   PC #2

That way any computer can go off and all the others will maintain conenctivity. The router could go down but:

1) they're cheap enough that you can keep a spare on hand.

2) they're extremely reliable - unless the power goes out it should keep running without issue (computers aren't as nice)

This will obviously require that your ADSL modem can be connected to your computer via ethernet. If it's USB only you're going to have to go with the first example (which will work). I'm not familar with any ADSL modems but I can't think of a good reason why they wouldn't have an RJ-45 plug on the back so this hsould be a non-issue.

If I were you I'd recommend using an 802.11G wireless router. They typically have 4 or 5 ethernet ports for cabled computers and also allow wireless access. You're missing 90% of the goodness if you've got your powerbook connected via cable to your network so get an Airport Extreme card.

You shouldn't need any software, and the router should cost anywhere from $40 to $300+

I'd recommend the Apple Airport Extreme Base Station if you've got money to burn, and the Linksys WRT54G if you want to save a few pennies (the linksys kit can also be hacked to run your own installation of linux!)

---

In the off chance that you absolutely _have_ to chain the internet through the other two computers you can just use the Internet Connection Sharing utilities in Windows. You'll require the second computer to have 2 network cards and and arrange it like this:

*** the internet *** --phone cable-> Modem --USB--> Computer 1 ---ethernet cable---> computer 2 ---ethernet cable---> powerbook

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