home network on a budget: beginers question.

Hi

I'm about to try and set up a network for my two computers and possibly my
laptop. I don't have broadband yet but plan to do so in the future and would
want shared internet access for all machines. I would want MSN and email to
work from all machines, share printers, possibly a scanner and share files.
From reading the net it seems I will need a router rather than a switch.
Looking around the Netgear RP614 Broadband Router + 4 port 10/100 Switch
seems to be reasonably priced and has a firewall. Will it do what I need?

Thanks for any help given

Dave

Dave wrote:
> Hi
>
> I'm about to try and set up a network for my two computers and
> possibly my laptop. I don't have broadband yet but plan to do so in
> the future and would want shared internet access for all machines. I
> would want MSN and email to work from all machines, share printers,
> possibly a scanner and share files. From reading the net it seems I
> will need a router rather than a switch. Looking around the Netgear
> RP614 Broadband Router + 4 port 10/100 Switch seems to be reasonably
> priced and has a firewall. Will it do what I need?
>
Yep , you do need a router.
Will you be getting ADSL or Cable broadband?

--
Alex

"We are now up against live, hostile targets"

"So, if Nick LeLievre should show up with computer parts and a promise
, I expect you to chin the bitch! "

www.drzoidberg.co.uk

yes a broadband router will do but the cheaper option is to have the primary
computer wuth the broadband cable router with tweo network cards (one to the hub
the other to the broadband modem) and use Windows ICS


On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 09:27:15 +0100, "Dave" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Hi
>
>I'm about to try and set up a network for my two computers and possibly my
>laptop. I don't have broadband yet but plan to do so in the future and would
>want shared internet access for all machines. I would want MSN and email to
>work from all machines, share printers, possibly a scanner and share files.
>From reading the net it seems I will need a router rather than a switch.
>Looking around the Netgear RP614 Broadband Router + 4 port 10/100 Switch
>seems to be reasonably priced and has a firewall. Will it do what I need?
>
>Thanks for any help given
>
>Dave
>

On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 15:10:31 +0100, Linux Penguin
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>yes a broadband router will do but the cheaper option is to have the primary
>computer wuth the broadband cable router with tweo network cards (one to the hub
>the other to the broadband modem) and use Windows ICS
>
>
>
With XP ( i'm using XP Pro) you don't even need a Hub. I've got 2 x NICs in
this PC connected to 2 clients via crossover using ICS and using the `network
bridge' function in XP. It all works wonderfully well.

Clansman

if only two computers are to use the internet connection - no need for the hub.
a crossover cable does the job


On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 19:39:50 +0100, Clansman <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 15:10:31 +0100, Linux Penguin
><(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>yes a broadband router will do but the cheaper option is to have the primary
>>computer wuth the broadband cable router with tweo network cards (one to the hub
>>the other to the broadband modem) and use Windows ICS
>>
>>
>>
>With XP ( i'm using XP Pro) you don't even need a Hub. I've got 2 x NICs in
>this PC connected to 2 clients via crossover using ICS and using the `network
>bridge' function in XP. It all works wonderfully well.
>
>Clansman

Dave wrote:

> Hi
>
> I'm about to try and set up a network for my two computers and possibly my
> laptop. I don't have broadband yet but plan to do so in the future and would
> want shared internet access for all machines. I would want MSN and email to
> work from all machines, share printers, possibly a scanner and share files.
> From reading the net it seems I will need a router rather than a switch.
> Looking around the Netgear RP614 Broadband Router + 4 port 10/100 Switch
> seems to be reasonably priced and has a firewall. Will it do what I need?
>
> Thanks for any help given
>
> Dave
>
>

If budget is important a Conexant chipset 4 port adsl modem router will
more than fill the bill and be cheaper at around 45 pounds (see
http:///www.pless.co.uk who sell it branded "Mentor") it has built in
DCHP and NATS firewall, it also has a usb network interface which might
make connecting with a laptop easier.

Sharing a scanner unlike a printer dosen't really work well has it has
to be loaded locally anyway -- what you do is share the directory the
image files go into.

Linux Penguin wrote:

> yes a broadband router will do but the cheaper option is to have the primary
> computer wuth the broadband cable router with tweo network cards (one to the hub
> the other to the broadband modem) and use Windows ICS
>
>
> On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 09:27:15 +0100, "Dave" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
>

It not a cheaper option --- wires only ADSL + a Conexant router is
slightly cheaper and much more reliable than the nasty USB ADSL modems
supplied by ISPs such as BT and Freeserve. The Alcatel frog in
particular dosen't get on well with Via chipset motherboards (even
fairly recent ones with up to date drivers, the usual cure for this is
to add a PCI USB card but not a card with the Via USB chipset !
And of course the router also has a built in NATS firewall -- an extra
layer of protection.

The added bonus is a router modem dosen't use the host PCs cpu time for
signal processing --- not a major consideration for most browsing but
some internet sites can put a continuous heavy load on the processor
-- not just those that have streaming media but the eBay auction pages
for example.

A word of warning to anyone signing up for an ADSL "with modem" package,
if the packaging appears to have been opened send it back straight
away, one big ISP in particular isn't checking units returned as
deffective but is just sending them straight back out to new customers.