wiring question

I live in a 75 year old house - we have the cable modem/wireless
router (with 4 ports) on the main floor. We're in the process of
remodeling 600 sq feet of the basement area... I want to put in two
computer outlets down there: one next to where the cable tv hookup
will be and one in another section. I prefer a wired configuration
because wireless just doesn't work well in this house (weak signal).
At this point, there is no desire for the computers to "see" each
other or share a printer (well, maybe eventually the two downstairs) -
so no real networking is involved. My main concern is how to share
the router.

Is there a website I can go to that will explain this wiring? Do we
use the ports as if the computers were in the same room (seems
bulky)... is there a hub we'd install somewhere that the wiring starts
from? As it is, we can plug into the router, but I'm not visualizing
how to expand it to other rooms. How is it done in new homes that
come with cat5 wiring installed? The walls are open, I have a great
opportunity to do something right and I don't want to blow it!

This all boils down to: How do multiple computers in multiple rooms
share a single IP address without resorting to a wireless router?

TIA

http://www.wown.com/
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/

See the guides and tutorials at these sites.

--
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* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
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"sf" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>I live in a 75 year old house - we have the cable modem/wireless
> router (with 4 ports) on the main floor. We're in the process of
> remodeling 600 sq feet of the basement area... I want to put in two
> computer outlets down there: one next to where the cable tv hookup
> will be and one in another section. I prefer a wired configuration
> because wireless just doesn't work well in this house (weak signal).
> At this point, there is no desire for the computers to "see" each
> other or share a printer (well, maybe eventually the two downstairs) -
> so no real networking is involved. My main concern is how to share
> the router.
>
> Is there a website I can go to that will explain this wiring? Do we
> use the ports as if the computers were in the same room (seems
> bulky)... is there a hub we'd install somewhere that the wiring starts
> from? As it is, we can plug into the router, but I'm not visualizing
> how to expand it to other rooms. How is it done in new homes that
> come with cat5 wiring installed? The walls are open, I have a great
> opportunity to do something right and I don't want to blow it!
>
> This all boils down to: How do multiple computers in multiple rooms
> share a single IP address without resorting to a wireless router?
>
> TIA
>
>

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 16:30:16 -0700, sf wrote:

> This all boils down to: How do multiple computers in multiple rooms
> share a single IP address without resorting to a wireless router?
>
PS: howstuffworks.com talks about using phone lines or power wiring
for this. Is it a better plan? I see also that cat5 is used for
phones too. Didn't know that.

sf wrote:
> I live in a 75 year old house - we have the cable modem/wireless
> router (with 4 ports) on the main floor. We're in the process of
> remodeling 600 sq feet of the basement area... I want to put in two
> computer outlets down there: one next to where the cable tv hookup
> will be and one in another section. I prefer a wired configuration
> because wireless just doesn't work well in this house (weak signal).
> At this point, there is no desire for the computers to "see" each
> other or share a printer (well, maybe eventually the two downstairs) -
> so no real networking is involved. My main concern is how to share
> the router.
>
> Is there a website I can go to that will explain this wiring? Do we
> use the ports as if the computers were in the same room (seems
> bulky)... is there a hub we'd install somewhere that the wiring starts
> from? As it is, we can plug into the router, but I'm not visualizing
> how to expand it to other rooms. How is it done in new homes that
> come with cat5 wiring installed? The walls are open, I have a great
> opportunity to do something right and I don't want to blow it!
>
> This all boils down to: How do multiple computers in multiple rooms
> share a single IP address without resorting to a wireless router?
>
> TIA
>
>
It's done via switches (or hubs, but switches are so cheap now
there's not much call for hubs) and routers. The NAT (network
address translation) function generally present in routers
implements the address sharing mechanism.

Put a switch in each room, connect the computers in that room to
it, and also run a single Cat5 cable from each room's switch to
the router (if there's only one computer in a room, skip the switch).
Configure everything appropriately and presto!

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.

sf wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 16:30:16 -0700, sf wrote:
>
>> This all boils down to: How do multiple computers in multiple rooms
>> share a single IP address without resorting to a wireless router?
>>
> PS: howstuffworks.com talks about using phone lines or power wiring
> for this. Is it a better plan? I see also that cat5 is used for
> phones too. Didn't know that.

IMHO Cat5 is generally a better option if it can be run at reasonable cost.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.

sf <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I live in a 75 year old house - we have the cable modem/wireless
>router (with 4 ports) on the main floor. We're in the process of
>remodeling 600 sq feet of the basement area... I want to put in two
>computer outlets down there: one next to where the cable tv hookup
>will be and one in another section. I prefer a wired configuration
>because wireless just doesn't work well in this house (weak signal).
>At this point, there is no desire for the computers to "see" each
>other or share a printer (well, maybe eventually the two downstairs) -
>so no real networking is involved. My main concern is how to share
>the router.
>
>Is there a website I can go to that will explain this wiring? Do we
>use the ports as if the computers were in the same room (seems
>bulky)... is there a hub we'd install somewhere that the wiring starts
>from? As it is, we can plug into the router, but I'm not visualizing
>how to expand it to other rooms. How is it done in new homes that
>come with cat5 wiring installed? The walls are open, I have a great
>opportunity to do something right and I don't want to blow it!
>
>This all boils down to: How do multiple computers in multiple rooms
>share a single IP address without resorting to a wireless router?
>
>TIA
>

What I would do is to purchase a small 10/100 hub - 5 port models are
available at very reasonable prices.

Put the hub in the basement and run a single Cat5e cable to connect
the hub to one of the router ports upstairs. Then run additional
Cat5e cables from the hub to the two downstairs computers.

This assumes that you have an unused LAN port on the router than can
be used to connect the hub.

An alternative, if you have 2 unused LAN ports on the router, would be
to run a pair of CAT5e cables from the router, one to each of the
downstairs computer locations. That would save the cost of the hub,
but the additional cable might cost almost as much. And it would
limit the number of available connections.

By using a hub downstairs you have the ability to add more than 2
computers downstairs and you also have one more available LAN
connection on the router for an additional upstairs computer (or
another hub).

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

Many Thanks!

sf
```````````

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 00:34:10 GMT, Ron Martell wrote:
>
> What I would do is to purchase a small 10/100 hub - 5 port models are
> available at very reasonable prices.
>
> Put the hub in the basement and run a single Cat5e cable to connect
> the hub to one of the router ports upstairs. Then run additional
> Cat5e cables from the hub to the two downstairs computers.
>
> This assumes that you have an unused LAN port on the router than can
> be used to connect the hub.
>
> An alternative, if you have 2 unused LAN ports on the router, would be
> to run a pair of CAT5e cables from the router, one to each of the
> downstairs computer locations. That would save the cost of the hub,
> but the additional cable might cost almost as much. And it would
> limit the number of available connections.
>
> By using a hub downstairs you have the ability to add more than 2
> computers downstairs and you also have one more available LAN
> connection on the router for an additional upstairs computer (or
> another hub).
>
> Good luck
>
>
> Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada

Wow, that sounds simple! The easier, the better IMO.

``````````````````````

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 00:31:50 GMT, CJT wrote:

> It's done via switches (or hubs, but switches are so cheap now
> there's not much call for hubs) and routers. The NAT (network
> address translation) function generally present in routers
> implements the address sharing mechanism.
>
> Put a switch in each room, connect the computers in that room to
> it, and also run a single Cat5 cable from each room's switch to
> the router (if there's only one computer in a room, skip the switch).
> Configure everything appropriately and presto!