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Only asking because I know there are a few people here who know thier stuff.

Looking to set up a LAN on my sis's DSL. Preferably wireless but she has a basement so drilling holes in the floor is no huge deal.

Needs are as follows:
#1 CHEAP! cost is definatly a factor.

#2 3 puters total on the LAN. The main would be a 2.7GIG pen 4 system, my puter is an 866 pentium 3, my nephews is a 1.7 gig Pen4, ALL have at least 1 open PCI slot(would rather not use the USB ports but if we have to I guess it's ok).

#3 does the provider have to know anything about it? do they have to change something and thus add a monthly or start-up cost?

#4 Simple, I dont know much if anything about networking and I would be the one setting it up.

Thanks ahead of time for any responses

"We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would harm us". George Orwell

Fighting For Justice With Brains Of Steel !
<img src="http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/atengun2X.GIF" border=0>

_________________
The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

Just set one up mayself. What you need is a router and a wireless access point as well as newtwork cards for each machine. I use Linksys and I highly recommend them. I'd bet you can get it all for under 200 bucks. Let me know...

ATTACK!!!!!!!

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
Only asking because I know there are a few people here who know thier stuff.

Looking to set up a LAN on my sis's DSL. Preferably wireless but she has a basement so drilling holes in the floor is no huge deal.

Needs are as follows:
#1 CHEAP! cost is definatly a factor.

#2 3 puters total on the LAN. The main would be a 2.7GIG pen 4 system, my puter is an 866 pentium 3, my nephews is a 1.7 gig Pen4, ALL have at least 1 open PCI slot(would rather not use the USB ports but if we have to I guess it's ok).

#3 does the provider have to know anything about it? do they have to change something and thus add a monthly or start-up cost?

#4 Simple, I dont know much if anything about networking and I would be the one setting it up.

Thanks ahead of time for any responses

"We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would harm us". George Orwell

Fighting For Justice With Brains Of Steel !
<img src="http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/atengun2X.GIF" border=0>
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

Super easy.

If you want wireless, it'll cost a little more for all the stuff. For each computer on the net, you'll need a wireless PCI adapter card, which you can get for about $50 (Linksys) each. Additionally, you'll need a wireless access point. Depending on what you want, they can be relatively cheap or pretty expensive. If you already have a modem, all you need is a wireless router. The basic 802.11b (11Mbps) router will run you about $55 or so (Linksys) with the .11g running about $10-15 more. The ISP needs to know nothing about it as it doesn't involve them. There should be no startup or connection costs besides the purchasing of the required equipment.

If you want go wired, it'll be significantly cheaper. You can get the standard home 10/100 router for about $40 or so (Linksys again). You'll need adapter cards for each of the computers (most newer computer have this built into the motherboard already). A standard 10/100 card will run you about $15. The cable to connect it all is also pretty cheap. You can buy it by the 3, 5, 6, 10, 15, 25, 50, 100 etc ft lengths.

Personally, I use wireless simply because I use several laptops and don't want to be stuck in a single place in the house. But that's a personal choice. Realize, though, that there are security problems with wireless. For example, if you don't properly secure your wireless network, it may be possible for others to feed off of your internet connection.

If you need any help finding equipment or other things, let me know. I run a computer company on the side.

TG you got me that controller card for my zip drive last time, if you want to quote me some prices for the wired router and 3 cards I think we can do buissness.

Some more info, this set-up WILL let us all access the internet simultaneously right?

Also, the broadband set-up on my sis's puter uses 2 cables from the router/MODEM thingy, one to a USB port and one to an RJ-45 (?) jack.

in her "Connections" screen it has 2 connections one for 12MBs and one for 100MBs. I dont understand any of this as I never thought I would be on a LAN and thus never read the various articles in magazines and stuff.
Thanks for all the help

"We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would harm us". George Orwell

Fighting For Justice With Brains Of Steel !
<img src="http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/atengun2X.GIF" border=0>

_________________
The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

Everyone should have no problem connecting to the internet at the same time. Before I look at equipment for you, I need you to look at the three computers and determine if they already have 10/100 (or even 1000) Mbps RJ45 connections on then. Many new motherboards (I think you mentioned two relatively new computer) already have LAN installed on them. If it's already there, that will reduce your costs.

Normally, you only need one connection to your modem (either RJ45 or USB). Write me back at my home email (tinygiant@earthlink.net) with more info and I'll let you know what I can find.

Also, if you want to know which wire controls which connection, unplug one and see which one disappears. I have a guess.

We've been having slow connection spasms this week sometimes it's fast sometimes it's actually slower than dial-up so I been messing with it ever so slightly. Unplugging the USB as I recall disabled the 12MB connection. Hopefully the speed problem will get fixed this week (it aint spyware or virus according to scans).

This puter (my sis's 2.7 gig)has the RJ-45 right on the motherboard. I know for sure that my puter doesnt have the jack or an ethernet card, I will check on the other puter (my nephews) after his slacker butt gets out of bed around noon lol. Thanks again TG you will be hearing from me shortly via Email.

"We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would harm us". George Orwell

Fighting For Justice With Brains Of Steel !
<img src="http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/atengun2X.GIF" border=0>

_________________
The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

Realize that running your broadband through a router will result in slower connection data rates if you use multiple computers at once. It's like a garden hose: If you hook up an extra sprinkler you just won't get as much pressure. Probably not a huge factor unlss you have 3 or 4 machines downloading files at once.

One other thing: I use the newest Wirelss G technology runs at 54MBps. The old B technology runs at 11MBps. Most broadband internet connections don't achieve data rates above about 3 MBps, so unless you plan on transferring lots of data between your machines you can get by with 802.11b vs 802.11g. Most 802.11g hardware is backward compatible to 802.11b. (There's also 802.11a technology which is, oddly, newer than 802.11b. It's used mainly in business applications). I have an 802.11b/g WAP running through a separate firewall/router. It's all tied to my Pioneer TIVO DVR (802.11b), a Linksys game adapter for Playstation 2 online, and a Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop.

TG is very right about security. All wireless hardware is configured with all security measures turned-off to make it basically "Plug and Play". Most folks are so happy that they plugged it all in and it worked that they don't secure it. My brother drove home from work one day with his laptop in the passenger seat and it found 13 wireless LANs, 11 were unsecured. If someone (a neighbor, especially if you live in tight quarters like an apartment) downloads illegal material using your IP address, you are responsible. So if you go wirelss, take the time to have someone show you how to secure it. July (maybe Aug) PC Magazine has a great article about it.

TG, am I on target with what I said?? I only pretend to know what I'm talking about some of the time...

ATTACK!!!!!!!

Yep, that's about right. They call it WarDriving. People drive around with laptops looking for open networks. Normally, those that do so aren't the ones that cause the problems, the ones that cause problems are the neighbors that use your internet connection to run illegal sites or download illegal materials. I have a wireless (b) network at home, but since I'm away on "business" I have the wireless function shut off until I return with my laptop.

You are also correct about the downloading aspect. However, with the number of computer he's using, it shouldn't be a problem. I have 3 on my network at home and have been able to get maximum download speed to all three at the same time. Of course, every setup's different, and there shouldn't be any slowdown if you plan on using the network for playing games on your network.

Wireless security is usually a piece of cake. You can make it a closed system, where all members must know the SSID (not part of the standard), or you can just encrypt all transmissions (usually up to 128-bit) and only computers with the correct key can decrypt.

hey war driving can be a blast, just to see how bad peoples security is. Lets just say for a project with my company to prove the city has ample wifi to connect to for emergency responders. We found thirty open next works in one city block. Did break in.

But damn it if your gonna run wireless secure it and change the default use and password.