Silly Networking Question

I wouldn’t ask this here except there was no other place I could locate.

My friends and I got DSL service. Problem is that they gave us one DSL modem and we have 5 computers (w/Ethernet connections) in the house. Can we split the lines using an Ethernet Hub or Switch?

We have DSL hooked up at our house. There are a couple of ways you can do it; for us we went ahead and paid a bit extra so our two computers could each have their own IP addresses (this is assuming all of your PCs have ethernet cards in them). You can set up your own subnet system, or buy one of those phonenet systems that network your computers together through your phone jack…

I believe your computers need NICs (network interface cards), though.

Some folks swear by the LinkSys Router

My suggestion is for you to go and take a look at places like EverythingDSL.com (they hae a good message board there as well).

One interesting site is at DSLReports.com where they have different people posting all of their individual DSL networking configurations at home. I suspect you can find something like your own configuration at that page.

The links from Baglady are good. In a nutshell, there are three options:
a) Get multiple IP addresses from your ISP (This will probably cost extra per month, but will have the advantage that each computer in your house can be a host that you could get to from elsewhere on the Internet if necessary),
b) Get a router that supports NAT from your ISP (if they offer it; mine does), or
c) Get a router that supports NAT on your own from your local computer store. Expect to pay a minimum of $200.

Choices B and C will probably give you the protection of a firewall in your home as well, not a bad thing.

My solution was b, since I don’t need a static address for each computer in the house.

You might want to consider installing WinGate on one PC and use that as a gateway. Probably the cheapest solution, but it’ll take a bit of tweaking. Works very well once you get it running.

Buy a router and a switch and you’ve got a network.

If you buy multiple IP’s, you still need a switch, or a multi-homeable computer to act as a gateway. If you’re using a computer for the gateway, might as well use Linux or NT and set it up for DHCP.

And all of your computers WILL need NIC’s.

-Sam

Windows 2000 does network address translation quite well. Setting it up is simply a matter of selecting which NIC is connected to the network and which is connected to the DSL modem. At school, my fraternity house shares a cable modem among 30 people using this method. The network utilizes two Baystack 450 24-port switches. We’re always afraid the cable modem company will catch on, although what we’re doing isn’t exactly prohibited.

Windows 98 Second Edition has an outstanding internet sharing function. You need a NIC for each PC.

Purchase a hub. Plug the line from the DSL modem into the hub. Put NICs in all of the computers. Plug the lines from all 5 NICs into the hub.

Enter the IP address you were assigned into the TCP/IP settings of all 5 computers. You should be set from there.

Gracias boys and girls. I think I am going to start with the most basic suggestions and see how they work. Vandal, yours first…My service starts the 28th so we’ll see then.
Again, thanks

Okay this is something I know.

I suggest the EtherFast DSL/Cable Router from Linksys.

Here is why.

I have my cable modem connected into the WAN port of my Router. This places the Router as the “computer” as far as the internet is concerned. This gives you firewall protection, yet you can open ports if you like. Then I have each of my computers connnected to the LAN ports. There are 4 such ports, so for an installation of more than 4 you have an uplink port that you can connect another hub to.

The router provides a physical firewall. It provides 100 Mbps Ethernet communication between computers. It automatically handles the switching between the computers and the internet requests. It is the connection to the internet, so as long as your DSL modem is on and the router is on, any computer on the network can access the internet. It is easy to set up (it took like 10 minutes), the browser is the means to setting it up. The Linksys (which I have had for a few months) is about $158 on Buy.com.

The software solutions mentioned before work but I was using the ICS from Win98 SE and it gave me all sorts of problems. My wife could not play some games on the internet without me disabling the ICS and therefore cutting out the rest of the computers. I had to have the “main” computer on for the others to use the internet. The “main” computer has to handle the traffic of the other computers even if it is not on the internet. You have to have one network card in the main computer that the DSL modem hooks to and another card that hooks to the network. I just like the Etherfast solution better.

Now the above assumes your DSL modem is an external one, if it is not then I think you might have to do the software method.

Jeffery

‘Windows 98 Second Edition has an outstanding internet sharing function. You need a NIC for each
PC.’

Nope. What they don’t mention is you need TWO on the main computer.

DSL requires a DSL router, which they just made one for the home, I say it on the Computer Chronicles, which has a web site you can refer to.

There are a dozen ways to network… The one where you just use the power outlet is probably easiest unless you have a Mac, which has wireless networking now.

What vandal suggested will only work if you’ve got separate routable addresses for each of your PCs. Frankly I’d recommend against that, since it’s more costly per month, but if you need each PC to be an addressable host, this is fine.

Maybe I should have given a more explicit explanation.

We will have a total of five computers hooked up in the house. All of these computers will have Ethernet cards and connections. All of these computers will be running Windows 95.

With one DSL modem, I am looking for a cost effective way to share the connection between the 5 computers so that we could all theoretically be online at the same time.

It should be noted that we are 5 college students, hence the words “cost effective” are essential. Also take into account that we are all amenable to…uhhhhhh…shall we say, being less forthright with the service provider, DSL company, or anybody else who is going to try and charge us out the wazoo. That is, I’ll get in there with a hammer and a hack saw if it will help

billehunt: wasn’t vandal saying that I should assign the same ISP to all the computers. vandal, maybe you should answer that…
handy: i like your explanation and idea. it’s external DSL modem. If we were buying cars, would the EtherFast DSL/Cable Router from Linksys be a Pinto, Camry, BMW, or Rolls Royce. I think we are looking for something that falls in between Pinto and Camry.

You guys all deserve a round.

|~~~~|
| | for everyone!!!
|____|

PS NIC? Stands for…? Most networking acronyms don’t mean much to me.

Grendel69, my earliest post still stands true. There are three ways you can do what you want. Here’s a game plan:

Call your ISP and ask them for the costs (both initial setup and ongoing monthly) for
a) one IP address,
b) 5 IP addresses,
c) one IP address and a router that will let you have 5 non-routable addresses behind it.

(You will get a DSL modem from your ISP in each of these three cases.)

Now go to Fry’s (or whatever electronic store is in your town). Find out the cost for

d) a cheap router. (I’d expect $250).

Now do some math. You will need either:
#b or
#a plus #d or
#c

If you’re feeling technically excited, you can build the router yourself with an old PC and linux, but I get the feeling that this may be a bit adventurous.

I’m sorry. As others posted above, you can also use one of your existing PCs as the router. You’ll need Windows 98 second edition (the second edition part is important), and two ethernet cards in it. It will need to stay on all the time that you want the other PCs to be on.

This will be your cheapest solution if the above criterion works for you. You’ll probably need a little technical assistance, but it won’t be too bad.

Try this for quick and dirty networking.

First, you say you have network cards in each machine, then all you need is cables and a hub and you have a local network. Get a cheap hub $35 to $50. 10MHz is fine since the modem is the limiting speed and it’s way slower than 10MHz.

Second, find out what comes with the DSL installation. Mine came with modem, NIC (Network Interface Controller, (ethernet card)), and installing the phone line connection (splitter). All for $99 and I didn’t need the NIC so they gave me a $50 refund.

Third, if the modem comes with the installation, the only thing else you need is an extra NIC ($35 - $50) unless it comes with the installation, too. Put the second NIC in a PC and download & install WinGate or use Windows98 Second Edition or Windows 2000.

Setting up the gateway will be the tricky part. Otherwise it shouldn’t cost more than about $100 or so over the cost of the DSL installation, unless you have to buy the DSL modem, too.
5 static IP addresses is easier, skip the 2nd NIC and plug everything into the hub, but I would think it will be a lot more expensive.

Jim