Advice on setting up a home network to share broadband

Hi,

My exchange is set to be enabled for ADSL on 1st Sept. At present I have
Home Highway with a 100Mbit switch sitting in the garage serving the other
PCs in the house through CAT5. The other machines all have ethernet cards in
them. The machine with the ISDN card is running XP Home. How can I best
continue this setup when broadband arrives?

I have seen talk of a router. Do I need one of these or can it be done with
my existing switch?

Thanks for your help

Graham

Graham Daniels wrote:

> Hi,
>
> My exchange is set to be enabled for ADSL on 1st Sept. At present I have
> Home Highway with a 100Mbit switch sitting in the garage serving the other
> PCs in the house through CAT5. The other machines all have ethernet cards in
> them. The machine with the ISDN card is running XP Home. How can I best
> continue this setup when broadband arrives?
>
> I have seen talk of a router. Do I need one of these or can it be done with
> my existing switch?
>
> Thanks for your help
>
> Graham
>
>
>
Get yerself a router with built-in firewall - one with a single UTP port
will do as you already have the switch (unless you need the spare ports).

Heading over to ebuyer.co.uk and reading some reviews would be a good start.

Have fun

> Get yerself a router with built-in firewall - one with a single UTP port
> will do as you already have the switch (unless you need the spare ports).
>
> Heading over to ebuyer.co.uk and reading some reviews would be a good start.
>
> Have fun

In the past two weeks have installed 2 x ASR8000 from ebuyer, its a single
poet ADSL modem/router and they installed and worked fine. Not bad for
approx £22.

Dave

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Graham Daniels <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> My exchange is set to be enabled for ADSL on 1st Sept. At present I
> have Home Highway with a 100Mbit switch sitting in the garage serving
> the other PCs in the house through CAT5. The other machines all have
> ethernet cards in them. The machine with the ISDN card is running XP
> Home. How can I best continue this setup when broadband arrives?
>
> I have seen talk of a router. Do I need one of these or can it be
> done with my existing switch?
>
> Thanks for your help
>
> Graham

As others have said, a single port ADSL modem/router/firewall connected into
your existing switch is probably the best bet.

I'm not totally clear as to your current setup. Am I right in assuming that
you have an internal ISDN card and a separate external ethernet switch/hub
(as opposed to an integrated ISDN router with multiple ports)? Is your
current ISDN-based internet connection shared? If so how? Assuming that you
don't have a hardware router, you must already have the equivalent of a
router implemeted in software - maybe using ICS, or software such as
WinRoute?

If so, the least change solution would be to swap your ISDN card for an ADSL
modem and otherwise continue the way you are. This would at least provide a
cheap short-term solution - particularly if you get a "free" ADSL modem as
part of your broadband setup.

I am currently connected using an old W98 PC running WinRoute - into which I
have installed an internal ADSL PCI card which I bought cheap on Ebay. This
has worked fine for several weeks, but I now have a wireless router on
order. This will enable me to turn the old computer off (because that's all
it's used for) and will hopefully(!) allow me to sit in the garden with my
laptop, and surf the net.

Be aware that your ISDN line has to be reverted to a standard PSTN line
before ADSL can be enabled - and that it just *might* fail the line test. I
would advise using an ADSL ISP who offers a managed conversion (such as
PlusNet - but there are others) so that, if the worst happens, ISDN will be
re-installed at no cost to you. [If you want the gory details, see the
thread entitled ("Managed Home Highway to ADSL Conversion" which I started
on 13th May]
--
Cheers,
Tim
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is Black Hole!

I share my ADSL (USB modem £23) and my files and printers, between two
computers using a 3m twisted pair (not patch) cable (B&Q £1.39), one
ethernet card in each machine, using XP's inbuilt ICS programme, (turn off
the XP firewall) and use free firewall software. It's the software that
takes time to set correctly. V simple, v cheap, v good.


> My exchange is set to be enabled for ADSL on 1st Sept. At present I have
> Home Highway with a 100Mbit switch sitting in the garage serving the other
> PCs in the house through CAT5. The other machines all have ethernet cards
in
> them. The machine with the ISDN card is running XP Home. How can I best
> continue this setup when broadband arrives?
>
> I have seen talk of a router. Do I need one of these or can it be done
with
> my existing switch?
>
> Thanks for your help
>
> Graham
>
>
>

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Philip Wagstaff <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
>> My exchange is set to be enabled for ADSL on 1st Sept. At present I
>> have Home Highway with a 100Mbit switch sitting in the garage
>> serving the other PCs in the house through CAT5. The other machines
>> all have ethernet cards in them. The machine with the ISDN card is
>> running XP Home. How can I best continue this setup when broadband
>> arrives?
>>
>> I have seen talk of a router. Do I need one of these or can it be
>> done with my existing switch?
>>
>> Thanks for your help
>>
>> Graham

> I share my ADSL (USB modem £23) and my files and printers, between two
> computers using a 3m twisted pair (not patch) cable (B&Q £1.39), one
> ethernet card in each machine, using XP's inbuilt ICS programme,
> (turn off the XP firewall) and use free firewall software. It's the
> software that takes time to set correctly. V simple, v cheap, v good.
>

That's fine for *two* computers - but needs additional kit (hub etc.) if
there are more than two - as in the OP's case.
--
Cheers,
Tim
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is Black Hole!

Tim,

Yes, you are right, the 'gateway' machine has an ISDN card and a separate
ethernet card connected to the switch in the garage. The ISDN is shared via
Windows ICS.
Swapping the ISDN card for the ADSL modem seems best as the switch is some
distance away and connecting the router to the switch would be difficult
(unless I could use
the CAT5 cable that currently goes form the ethernet card in the gateway
machine to the switch.

I'm still unclear whethter a router would be better than swaping ISDN for
ADSL modem. What does a router do that ICS and a software firewall don't? In
the near future the network will consist of 4 PCs - would every one of these
need a connection to the router, and would the router need to be connected
directly into the ADSL line? (impossible as phone line/Home highway box is
in study whilst router sits in garage)

Rather confused, but thanks for your response,

Graham




"Tiscali Tim" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
> Graham Daniels <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > My exchange is set to be enabled for ADSL on 1st Sept. At present I
> > have Home Highway with a 100Mbit switch sitting in the garage serving
> > the other PCs in the house through CAT5. The other machines all have
> > ethernet cards in them. The machine with the ISDN card is running XP
> > Home. How can I best continue this setup when broadband arrives?
> >
> > I have seen talk of a router. Do I need one of these or can it be
> > done with my existing switch?
> >
> > Thanks for your help
> >
> > Graham
>
> As others have said, a single port ADSL modem/router/firewall connected
into
> your existing switch is probably the best bet.
>
> I'm not totally clear as to your current setup. Am I right in assuming
that
> you have an internal ISDN card and a separate external ethernet switch/hub
> (as opposed to an integrated ISDN router with multiple ports)? Is your
> current ISDN-based internet connection shared? If so how? Assuming that
you
> don't have a hardware router, you must already have the equivalent of a
> router implemeted in software - maybe using ICS, or software such as
> WinRoute?
>
> If so, the least change solution would be to swap your ISDN card for an
ADSL
> modem and otherwise continue the way you are. This would at least provide
a
> cheap short-term solution - particularly if you get a "free" ADSL modem as
> part of your broadband setup.
>
> I am currently connected using an old W98 PC running WinRoute - into which
I
> have installed an internal ADSL PCI card which I bought cheap on Ebay.
This
> has worked fine for several weeks, but I now have a wireless router on
> order. This will enable me to turn the old computer off (because that's
all
> it's used for) and will hopefully(!) allow me to sit in the garden with my
> laptop, and surf the net.
>
> Be aware that your ISDN line has to be reverted to a standard PSTN line
> before ADSL can be enabled - and that it just *might* fail the line test.
I
> would advise using an ADSL ISP who offers a managed conversion (such as
> PlusNet - but there are others) so that, if the worst happens, ISDN will
be
> re-installed at no cost to you. [If you want the gory details, see the
> thread entitled ("Managed Home Highway to ADSL Conversion" which I started
> on 13th May]
> --
> Cheers,
> Tim
> ______
> Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is Black Hole!
>
>

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Graham Daniels <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Tim,
>
> Yes, you are right, the 'gateway' machine has an ISDN card and a
> separate ethernet card connected to the switch in the garage. The
> ISDN is shared via Windows ICS.
> Swapping the ISDN card for the ADSL modem seems best as the switch is
> some distance away and connecting the router to the switch would be
> difficult (unless I could use
> the CAT5 cable that currently goes form the ethernet card in the
> gateway machine to the switch.
>
> I'm still unclear whethter a router would be better than swaping ISDN
> for ADSL modem. What does a router do that ICS and a software
> firewall don't? In the near future the network will consist of 4 PCs
> - would every one of these need a connection to the router, and would
> the router need to be connected directly into the ADSL line?
> (impossible as phone line/Home highway box is in study whilst router
> sits in garage)
>
> Rather confused, but thanks for your response,
>
> Graham
>

Some people certainly extol the virtues of hardware firewalls (incorporated
into hardware routers) rather than using software firewalls. I will leave
them to expand on the details - but one oft-quoted feature is that a PC with
a software firewall is potentially vulnerable whilst booting up, if the
internet connection is established before the firewall is operational. [I
personally believe in using hardware *and* software firewalls - because only
a software firewall will monitor *outgoing* traffic - and check that it's
pukka and not being generated by a trojan.

To come back to your setup, if you want to use a router, you have several
options:

1. Install a mult-port router in place of your current switch, and throw
away the latter. If, because of the constraints of your current wiring, this
means that the router would have to go in the garage, you would also need an
ADSL connection in the garage, near to the router. You would probably have
to run a phone extension to the garage for the purpose.

2. Use a single port router, and install it where your HH box is currently
situated. Use a single ethernet cable to connect this to your existing
switch. This would automatically share the connection with all the PCs
connected to the switch. [If you use the cable which currently connects your
study PC to the switch for this purpose, this PC would no longer be
connected to the switch - PROBLEM! (Solved by Option 3)

3. Install a multi-port router in the study, but use only 2 ports on this -
and use it in conjunction with your current switch. One of the ports would
be connected to the current switch - using the cable which currently
connects the study PC. The other port would connect direct to the study PC,
using just a short cable.

With any of the above, you would need to disable ICS and configure all the
PCs to use the router as their internet gateway.

Hope this removes some of the confusion!
--
Cheers,
Tim
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is Black Hole!

Tim,

With your option 3, would it mean that all PCs on the network could 'see'
each other, share files+printers, play games etc?

Also are there any performance issues for the PCs connecting to the router
through the switch.

I assume that the router therefore has one port connectd to BT ADSL box on
wall, one port connected to study PC, and one port connected to the switch.

Thanks for your help

Less confused,
Graham







"Tiscali Tim" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
> Graham Daniels <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> > Tim,
> >
> > Yes, you are right, the 'gateway' machine has an ISDN card and a
> > separate ethernet card connected to the switch in the garage. The
> > ISDN is shared via Windows ICS.
> > Swapping the ISDN card for the ADSL modem seems best as the switch is
> > some distance away and connecting the router to the switch would be
> > difficult (unless I could use
> > the CAT5 cable that currently goes form the ethernet card in the
> > gateway machine to the switch.
> >
> > I'm still unclear whethter a router would be better than swaping ISDN
> > for ADSL modem. What does a router do that ICS and a software
> > firewall don't? In the near future the network will consist of 4 PCs
> > - would every one of these need a connection to the router, and would
> > the router need to be connected directly into the ADSL line?
> > (impossible as phone line/Home highway box is in study whilst router
> > sits in garage)
> >
> > Rather confused, but thanks for your response,
> >
> > Graham
> >
>
> Some people certainly extol the virtues of hardware firewalls
(incorporated
> into hardware routers) rather than using software firewalls. I will leave
> them to expand on the details - but one oft-quoted feature is that a PC
with
> a software firewall is potentially vulnerable whilst booting up, if the
> internet connection is established before the firewall is operational. [I
> personally believe in using hardware *and* software firewalls - because
only
> a software firewall will monitor *outgoing* traffic - and check that it's
> pukka and not being generated by a trojan.
>
> To come back to your setup, if you want to use a router, you have several
> options:
>
> 1. Install a mult-port router in place of your current switch, and throw
> away the latter. If, because of the constraints of your current wiring,
this
> means that the router would have to go in the garage, you would also need
an
> ADSL connection in the garage, near to the router. You would probably have
> to run a phone extension to the garage for the purpose.
>
> 2. Use a single port router, and install it where your HH box is currently
> situated. Use a single ethernet cable to connect this to your existing
> switch. This would automatically share the connection with all the PCs
> connected to the switch. [If you use the cable which currently connects
your
> study PC to the switch for this purpose, this PC would no longer be
> connected to the switch - PROBLEM! (Solved by Option 3)
>
> 3. Install a multi-port router in the study, but use only 2 ports on
this -
> and use it in conjunction with your current switch. One of the ports would
> be connected to the current switch - using the cable which currently
> connects the study PC. The other port would connect direct to the study
PC,
> using just a short cable.
>
> With any of the above, you would need to disable ICS and configure all the
> PCs to use the router as their internet gateway.
>
> Hope this removes some of the confusion!
> --
> Cheers,
> Tim
> ______
> Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is Black Hole!
>
>

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Graham Daniels <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Tim,
>
> With your option 3, would it mean that all PCs on the network could
> 'see' each other, share files+printers, play games etc?

Yes

>
> Also are there any performance issues for the PCs connecting to the
> router through the switch.

Only that the bandwidth of the internet connection is *shared* - so if
they're all downloading at the same time, they each get only part of the
bandwidth. But that is true however you share it.

As far as your network goes (for sharing files & printers locally) it
doesn't really matter for a small network whether you have one or two
switches (and the router can be considered as an additional switch for local
traffic). The only issue I can think of is if the switch is only 10MHz but
the PCs have 10/100MHz network cards (and a new router would be 100MHz)
local traffic would be faster if the router were the only switch. Other than
that, no difference. Hope that makes sense!
>
> I assume that the router therefore has one port connectd to BT ADSL
> box on wall, one port connected to study PC, and one port connected
> to the switch.

In essence, yes. The ADSL port is a different sort of port, but the other
two are standard ethernet ports.

>
> Thanks for your help
>
> Less confused,
> Graham
>
>
[My 3-Com wireless router arrived today, and I have set it up tonight (so
far for wired only). Because I need to revise my cable layouts, I've
currently got a lash-up with some PCs connected directly to the router, and
some connected via my old hub. No problem whatsoever. Tomorrow (or really
later today, because it's now after midnight) I shall have a go at the
wireless bit - and see if I can get the laptop working in the garden!]

--
Cheers,
Tim
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is Black Hole!