Yet another networking query

A friend of mine is getting Freeserve broadband and would like to share his
broadband connection with all the PCs in his house.

He has already bought a Netgear RP114 router and hopes to use this to share
his connection. His PCs aren't networked at present and I don't mind
admitting that I'm well out of my depth here.

From what I understand (and have picked up here), a Freeserve USB modem
isn't a great start (but there's not a lot I can do about that). Given that
it will have to plug into one PC, how do I connect the router?

The WAN port seems to be designated for connection to one's internet
connection device and as far as I can see, that doesn't seem to mean a PC +
modem, rather, directly to a modem (which ain't going to work with a USB
modem as far as I can see).

Once (?if) we get broadband working on one PC, is it simply a question of
setting up internet connection sharing and connecting the other PCs to the
router? File/printer sharing is a lower priorty at the moment.

Apologies if these seem terribly naive questions. I realise that there are
many better ways to do it but my friend is not keen to ditch his current
hardware for something more sensible like a combined router/adsl modem until
I've torn all my hair out trying to make it work.

TIA

Tim

--
Remove the obvious to reply by email.

Tim Downie <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> A friend of mine is getting Freeserve broadband and would like to share his
> broadband connection with all the PCs in his house.
>
> He has already bought a Netgear RP114 router and hopes to use this to share
> his connection. His PCs aren't networked at present and I don't mind
> admitting that I'm well out of my depth here.
>
> From what I understand (and have picked up here), a Freeserve USB modem
> isn't a great start (but there's not a lot I can do about that). Given that
> it will have to plug into one PC, how do I connect the router?

To the NIC on that machine. But there's not much point, as you'll have
to run routing software and a firewall on that PC anyway, so you might as
well just use a hub/switch to connect the others.
>
> The WAN port seems to be designated for connection to one's internet
> connection device and as far as I can see, that doesn't seem to mean a PC +
> modem, rather, directly to a modem (which ain't going to work with a USB
> modem as far as I can see).

The PC would be acting as a USB-to-ethernet adapter in this case. :-)
You can either connect the PC with the modem to the WAN interface (so
it would provide NAT and filtering to the other PCs, but will complicate
file/printer sharing with the modem PC) or to the LAN interface (in which
case you'd just be using it as a hub). The latter is the easier solution
if your mate is convinced that he wants to use this hardware.
>
> Once (?if) we get broadband working on one PC, is it simply a question of
> setting up internet connection sharing and connecting the other PCs to the
> router? File/printer sharing is a lower priorty at the moment.

Yes, you can do it that way.
>
> Apologies if these seem terribly naive questions. I realise that there are
> many better ways to do it but my friend is not keen to ditch his current
> hardware for something more sensible like a combined router/adsl modem until
> I've torn all my hair out trying to make it work.
>
You can make it work easily enough, but it's going to be a bodge.

Rob Morley wrote:
> Tim Downie <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>>
>> The WAN port seems to be designated for connection to one's internet
>> connection device and as far as I can see, that doesn't seem to mean
>> a PC + modem, rather, directly to a modem (which ain't going to work
>> with a USB modem as far as I can see).
>
> The PC would be acting as a USB-to-ethernet adapter in this case. :-)
> You can either connect the PC with the modem to the WAN interface (so
> it would provide NAT and filtering to the other PCs, but will
> complicate file/printer sharing with the modem PC) or to the LAN
> interface (in which case you'd just be using it as a hub). The
> latter is the easier solution
> if your mate is convinced that he wants to use this hardware.

Not convinced I don't think, just loath to admit that he might not actually
need it. ;-)

From what you've said (and bearing in mind that the Freeserve modem is a
freebie) would it be better to pursuade him to buy a "proper" adsl modem
that will plug directly into the WAN port? Would this give all his PCs
independant access to the net? If so, any suggestions as where to get such
a thing? I know I shouldn't admit to this but I've never seen anything but
usb modems in the likes of PC World.

Many thanks.

Tim
--
Remove the obvious to reply by email.

Tim Downie <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Rob Morley wrote:
> > Tim Downie <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >>
> >> The WAN port seems to be designated for connection to one's internet
> >> connection device and as far as I can see, that doesn't seem to mean
> >> a PC + modem, rather, directly to a modem (which ain't going to work
> >> with a USB modem as far as I can see).
> >
> > The PC would be acting as a USB-to-ethernet adapter in this case. :-)
> > You can either connect the PC with the modem to the WAN interface (so
> > it would provide NAT and filtering to the other PCs, but will
> > complicate file/printer sharing with the modem PC) or to the LAN
> > interface (in which case you'd just be using it as a hub). The
> > latter is the easier solution
> > if your mate is convinced that he wants to use this hardware.
>
> Not convinced I don't think, just loath to admit that he might not actually
> need it. ;-)
>
> From what you've said (and bearing in mind that the Freeserve modem is a
> freebie) would it be better to pursuade him to buy a "proper" adsl modem
> that will plug directly into the WAN port? Would this give all his PCs
> independant access to the net?

It would, but there's not much point - there's more choice of combined
modem/routers and they hardly cost any more than a modem on its own.

> If so, any suggestions as where to get such
> a thing? I know I shouldn't admit to this but I've never seen anything but
> usb modems in the likes of PC World.
>
www.ebuyer.co.uk are about as cheap as they come - just search for adsl
on the first page.

"Tim Downie" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bpbe6f$1lv7s0$(E-Mail Removed)...

> From what you've said (and bearing in mind that the Freeserve modem is a
> freebie) would it be better to pursuade him to buy a "proper" adsl modem
> that will plug directly into the WAN port? Would this give all his PCs
> independant access to the net? If so, any suggestions as where to get
such
> a thing? I know I shouldn't admit to this but I've never seen anything
but
> usb modems in the likes of PC World.

Just done a bit of browsing. Is an ethernet adsl modem what I'm after?
From what I can make out, they're very nearly as expensive as combined
router/modems. (I guess there's relatively little demand for standalone
network modems with the plethora of combined units now).

What are the best deals on ethernet modems and modem/routers?

Cheers.

Tim
--
> Remove the obvious to reply by email.
>

"Rob Morley" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) .com...
> Tim Downie <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > From what you've said (and bearing in mind that the Freeserve modem is
a
> > freebie) would it be better to pursuade him to buy a "proper" adsl modem
> > that will plug directly into the WAN port? Would this give all his PCs
> > independant access to the net?
>
> It would, but there's not much point - there's more choice of combined
> modem/routers and they hardly cost any more than a modem on its own.
>
> > If so, any suggestions as where to get such
> > a thing? I know I shouldn't admit to this but I've never seen anything
but
> > usb modems in the likes of PC World.
> >
> www.ebuyer.co.uk are about as cheap as they come - just search for adsl
> on the first page.

Many thanks. Usenet at its best!

(Please ignore my other post. I sent it seconds before you post your
reply).

Tim

On Mon, 17 Nov 2003, "Tim Downie" wrote:

>What are the best deals on ethernet modems and modem/routers?

Dabs, Ebuyer, or perhaps (at own risk) Ebay. 50 quid should get
a 4 port router/ASL modem. There seem to be lots of Netgear (and
other) routers advertised on Ebay so double check if you see ADSL
with a manufacturer web site, if possible, or ask seller, to be
100% sure, as some are routers for users of cable modems. PGM