Migration of LAN - BNC -> RJ45

Background: I have solid Windows, Linux & networking experience and
run a /29 subnet of globally addressable IPs on my LAN at home, using
a Vigor2600 router.

I *think* this is a pretty dumb question, but I have no hands-on
experience of BNC networking, as hubs were just becoming affordable
when I started a few years ago.

My girlfriend's father has a small company with a dozen or two
employees in a narrow building on 5 floors. He set up the office
network himself some years ago using BNC which, as I understand it,
effectively snakes through the building, underneath the floorboards &
so on with a T-connector for each PC. He gives his reason for wishing
to upgrade that he finds it hard to buy new PCs with BNC network
cards: I've pointed out that these are easy to obtain 2nd-hand, but
there are other valid reasons for wishing to add in 10base or
10base100 hubs to the network.

My own inclination would be to rip all the cabling out & replace it
with CAT5 cable & cheap 10base100 network switches (perhaps one in
each room to reduce cabling runs), but the lease runs out on the
building in a couple of years, and it's an old building too, so he
wants to disturb the current cabling as little as possible. He's
perfectly happy with 10mBit, and I can see that that there's no point
in fixing something that's largely not broken.

So I've had a think about this, and it seems to be what would be
perfect for him is one or two network hubs, each with a few RJ45
ports, and TWO BNC connectors, so that they could just go inline with
the current BNC network and allow CAT5 expansion. Does such a beast
exist, currently on the market..?

Alternatively, it seems to me that a pair of network hubs, each with 1
BNC port could be stacked and connected by cross-over RJ45. Again,
this pair could be placed anywhere in the middle of the BNC
network-snake. Can anyone confirm for me that this understanding is
correct..?

Has anyone else performed any kind of network upgrade like this..? My
g/f's father was considering Wireless LAN, but considering his network
security I consider this vastly inappropriate, not withstanding the
cost per PC and the number of WLAN base-stations he might need to
accommodate the building's thick walls.

Many thanks for everyone's time & bandwidth, and TIA for any replies
or comments,

Stroller.

In article <(E-Mail Removed)> ,
(E-Mail Removed) says...
> Background: I have solid Windows, Linux & networking experience and
> run a /29 subnet of globally addressable IPs on my LAN at home, using
> a Vigor2600 router.
>
> I *think* this is a pretty dumb question, but I have no hands-on
> experience of BNC networking, as hubs were just becoming affordable
> when I started a few years ago.
>
> My girlfriend's father has a small company with a dozen or two
> employees in a narrow building on 5 floors. He set up the office
> network himself some years ago using BNC which, as I understand it,
> effectively snakes through the building, underneath the floorboards &
> so on with a T-connector for each PC. He gives his reason for wishing
> to upgrade that he finds it hard to buy new PCs with BNC network
> cards: I've pointed out that these are easy to obtain 2nd-hand, but
> there are other valid reasons for wishing to add in 10base or
> 10base100 hubs to the network.

I think you mean 10BaseT or 100BaseTx there (that's Cat5/Cat5e with
RJ45).
>
> My own inclination would be to rip all the cabling out & replace it
> with CAT5 cable & cheap 10base100 network switches (perhaps one in
> each room to reduce cabling runs), but the lease runs out on the
> building in a couple of years, and it's an old building too, so he
> wants to disturb the current cabling as little as possible. He's
> perfectly happy with 10mBit, and I can see that that there's no point
> in fixing something that's largely not broken.
>
> So I've had a think about this, and it seems to be what would be
> perfect for him is one or two network hubs, each with a few RJ45
> ports, and TWO BNC connectors, so that they could just go inline with
> the current BNC network and allow CAT5 expansion. Does such a beast
> exist, currently on the market..?

Probably not, but you don't need it - a 10BaseT hub with a single BNC
port can be connected to the existing network just like the PCs that are
in it already. Alternatively you could fit a 10/100baseT card to one of
the existing PCs and use it to bridge to a standard RJ45-only hub.
>
> Alternatively, it seems to me that a pair of network hubs, each with 1
> BNC port could be stacked and connected by cross-over RJ45. Again,
> this pair could be placed anywhere in the middle of the BNC
> network-snake. Can anyone confirm for me that this understanding is
> correct..?

Sounds a bit mad to me :-)

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
(E-Mail Removed) says...
> During a perfect moment of peace at 20 Aug 2003 08:18:06 -0700,
> (E-Mail Removed) (Stroller) interrupted with:
>
> >He gives his reason for wishing to upgrade that he finds it hard to buy new PCs with BNC network cards
>
> I've not seen 10base2 cards for a long time. Given 10baseT cards are
> ~£10 and hubs/switches < £100 they can upgrade cheaply.

I guess you didn't read the bit about the cabling then?

> Plus they are probably running at 10Mb/s half duplex,

What else _could_ they be running at?

Bernard Peek <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<ZK2Jr2h2B6Q$(E-Mail Removed)>...
> In message <(E-Mail Removed)> , Stroller
> <(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>
>
>
> >So I've had a think about this, and it seems to be what would be
> >perfect for him is one or two network hubs, each with a few RJ45
> >ports, and TWO BNC connectors, so that they could just go inline with
> >the current BNC network and allow CAT5 expansion. Does such a beast
> >exist, currently on the market..?
>
> You don't need two BNC connectors. You only need one and most old 10Mb
> hubs had one. Just position the hub somewhere convenient, fit a T
> connector to it. Break the existing snake somewhere and connect each
> side of the snake to the T connector. Then all of the other ports on the
> hub are part of the same segment. You may find a 10Mb switch somewhere,
> probably a dumpster.

Perfect! This is EXACTLY the information I was looking for. My father
has 2 of these hubs in stock.

Thanks for your help,

Stroller.