Networking......

[Pearl Jammzz]

Well, I just ordered my new PC today and it should be here soon. SO in order to have DSL on that, I need to know the best way to share the connection between the 2 computers. Preferably wireless as long as it wont bottleneck anything.

So how should I set this up guys?

 

[Gallstaff]

I thought you were building your own

 

[MasterAkumaMatata]

Use a DSL/cable router.

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

If you connect your dsl through the ethernet port, does it require software to be run to activate it? if not then just about any router will do you. You can get a wireless router and a wireless card (prolly 802.11g would be what you want), or you can get a normal router, a wireless bridge, and a wireless card (also 802.11g (or B)). The first option is cheaper. How far is your new pc going to be from the wireless router/bridge? If it's going to be several rooms away you may experience dropped signals and low signal quality. Wired is always the way to go unless you aren't able to run cables for some reason.

 

[Pearl Jammzz]

umm......30 feet maybe? not all that far. with the DSL/Cable router all I do is plug in my DSL modem in to that, then I plug the 2 comps to the router?

Security issues: I wont be using the old comp. anymore soI wont be able to get rid of any virus that mayb get on that comp. is there anyway it could get to my comp through the router? or is the router a one-way thing?

Noise issues: are these routers loud at all? it'll prob. be in my room.....so I dont want it to be insanely loud ya know?

Price issues/reccomendations: how much? and what brand to get?

OH! BTW, no software is required to run the DSL connection.

 

[Dyne]

im finally getting dsl again so ill help out. definately get a lynksys router. ive used them before and am using them again. i think they sell the 4 port ones for around $50. and they make as much noise as your dsl modem (ie none). and as far as i know you cant send a virus from one pc to another on a network unless you actually send it yourself to one or send an infected file along the network. not quite sure of your question tho.

 

[gameboy900]

Well if you got shared drives on a network there is nothing stoping the virus from spreading onto those shared drives. Assuming of course they have write access for them.

Anywho, I would recommend getting a Linksys 802.11G (the G is important, you DON'T want B or A) wireless router and a single wireless (again 802.11G) PCI card. You connect the DSL modem to the router using an ethernet cable. Then you connect one of the two PC's (whichever is closest/easiest) to the wireless routers switch ports using another ethernet cable. The other PC gets the wireless card.

Make sure you enable WEP and hard assign only the specific id of the wireless PCI card to have access to your router. (It's all in the manuals so don't worry.) Highly recommend searching google for wifi security tips.

As for cost. The wireless router would go around $80-100 depending on discounts or rebates. The PCI card $70ish. DO NOT get fooled into buying the cheaper 802.11B stuff that's out there. It's alot slower than the G stuff and the cost would save you very little really. Once you get some more cash. Getting another wireless PCI card for the second pc would be nice since you could then just hide the dsl modem and router out of the way. Keep in mind that wireless will not get you 100baseT speeds. But it should be more than fine for internet games and downloading. File transfers between the PC might be slower but it's not something you'll die over.

 

[antime]

Worms will quite happily propagate on the same network. You can help prevent them from getting into your network by configuring your router to use NAT but if you bring one into your LAN (eg. by manually executing an infected program) most cheap routers are helpless.

 

[dnguyen800]

you should also remember that if a 802.11b device connects to your 802.11g router, every wireless device connected to the router will be as slow as 802.11b. That's what I heard from other people but I never tested it myself. If you want to save money, you should REALLY check out bargain sites like slickdeals.net, fatwallet.com, techbargains.com, or savesome.net. There's a deal for a Linksys WRT54G (Wireless G) router for $67 after $10 rebate with free shipping at techbargains.

 

[gameboy900]

All devices won't slow down to B speeds if you have a B device on a G setup. But they will have to share the badwidth. So basically you'd be loosing a portion of the bandwidth. But not necessarily all of it. If the B devices stays quiet then the G devices have more of the bandwidth to play with. If the B device starts doind stuff then the G devices have to slow down. This generally won't be a problem unless you do in fact use mixed B and G devices.

 

[Pearl Jammzz]

Well, I ahve decided to go wired after I saw the price difference. Here is what I am thinking of getting. It's not the cheapest but looks good. What ya guys think?

Linksys EtherFast® Cable/DSL Router w/ 8-Port Switch, Model BEFSR81

 

[NR Pickle]

That would be a good one. I have the BEFSR41 model, which looks like the same thing with 4 ports instead of 8 from my quick look. Unless you really think you'll use more than four I'd save some cash and go with the 4 port model.

 

[Curtis]

It's probably worth nothing that in practice, 802.11g speeds aren't that much better than 11b. While theoretically capable of 54Mbps, you'll really only achieve about 11-12Mbps compared to 11b at maybe 6Mbps.

If you have an old PC, get a linux distro like Smoothwall to do firewall/routing duties. Super simple to setup and has a good community support network.