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marylyn27

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Establishing a small, local LAN and DSL connection

Hi,

Thank you for helping :))

I'm thinking of networking my three, family PC's and connecting the three to a single, DSL connection that I'm about to install.

Does anyone out there have experience with this? Will a DSL connection to 3, networked PC's function reasonably well? Any suggestions for easily doing all this?

The three PC's will be connected by wire.

Thank you very much.

Marylyn :))
Avatar of stevenlewis
stevenlewis

Will a DSL connection to 3, networked PC's function reasonably well?
sure, I have two, one that is running kazaa almost all the time, and response times are still great. My suggestion is to pick up a residential gateway, a dsl router. linksys or d-link make good ones. I use a d-link 4 port router/switch
It was about $60 us ( check tigerdirect.com )
or you can use ICS (if the OS with the dsl connection is 98 se or above)

here are a couple of sites to get you going (rather than reinvent the wheel)
www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/sharing.htm
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/ics
the second has step by step instructions
I'd recomend the following.

1.  There needs to be a network card in each PC.  
2.  Purchase a LinkSys BEFSR41 which is a DSL router, with a 4 port switch (hub) to connect the PCs.  The router supports PPPoE which is probably necessary for your service.  You can see the product at http://www.linksys.com/Products/product.asp?grid=23&prid=20

Simply buy the router for about $100 and you can be up and running in minutes.

Harry
It will work. I am presently using such a setup (ADSL). I would recommend a router proper over ICS, though, as this gives much more flexibility. I use a "cheap" solution, a freesco router (which is a sort of micro-Linux installation running on an old 486), but the prices of routers are getting so low now, that I'd recommend getting one of those suggested above, rather than embarking on a freesco project.

Regards
/RID
1 get a hub for home networks 10/100 mbps

2 since you didnt mention your computer type i assume you
  have at list one w2k or xp operating system on one of
   them
3  this one must have two network adapters the first one
   conected to the adsl modem ( IP is configured according to the adsl modem IP.

4. the second is connected to the hub and from the hub to the internal network so it acts as a router.
use the address 192.168.0.1 and subnet mask 255.255.255.0

5 double click on the adsl connection and choose share this connection (bind it to the internal network )

thats it
Avatar of marylyn27

ASKER

thanks to everyone for all your help. i'm learning a great deal from your input. all my pc's are windows 98 (including the host). but what would happen if the host is windows 98 but i add an xp computer?

thank you all again :))

marylyn
Avatar of patch575
nebbuchadnezzar ....Problem with your idea.  It will work, however that one computer will have to be on all the time to route traffic.  I would recommend getting the linksys.  If you can feel the difference in nanoseconds you may be able to notice a difference by just surfing the web.  If not, then I don't see you having a problem with speed.  It will definately be faster than being on dialup.  Most DSL companies guarantee at least 384, but the speed is usually alot higher.  That's 6 times faster than dialup.  I have 384kbs/128, but my average speed is clocked at 1.2Mbs/140.  Good luck.
When you say host, do you mean as in a server, or are you running routing the Internet through one computer to the other useing ICS.

If your just sharing files, you won't have a problem.
Windows 98 and XP will talk to each other.  Your going to need to learn about sharing files, folders, etc. but thats not a big deal.

If your trying to set up a telco DSL line via ICS, and they use PPPoE, you will have your work cut out for you.

If you use the LinkSys router that I suggested, each computer will connect to the Internet by itself, without any regard to the the other computer because its using the router.  That router will support 254 connections and they can all be different.


If the w98 is second edition, then it comes with ICS, 98 first edition does not. You will need third party software. XP has ICS built in also.
again the links I provided have step by step instructions. I, as stated above, also recommend a dsl router, either the Linksys or d-link
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Joel Miller
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thank you for the ongoing information. it's all terribly helpful! while i'm at it, what if i get a cable connection instead of a DSL? how does that change the configuration? does the linksys router work the same with a cable connection?

thanks again :))

marylyn
Absolutely, it works.

I had DSL and switched to cable and use the same Router.  You just disable the PPPoE and life goes on.

Harry
HDWILKINS (and others)...may i ask why you switched to cable? i'm considering verizon dsl and at&t broadband cable. may i learn your critique of both dsl and cable? thanks! :))  marylyn
Where I live, cable wasn't an option at the time when ADSL (a DSL variety) became available. This depending on the fact that 'phone lines are available almost everywhere, while "cable internet" cabling is not. If you're close enough to the phone exchange, that is...

My guess is that a well kept cable network will be able to keep speed up better than (A)DSL.

Regards
/RID
I switched from ADSL to cable.

The cost was the same.

DSL Download speed: Max 73 kb/sec
Cable Download speed: Max 320 kb/sec

And... My cable download speed usually doesn't go below 150 kb/sec download speed. (That's because of slower sites..)
Several reasons

1.  Initially, I found (at my home, and at some clients) that Verizon was less reliable.  That may have been Verizon, or, the bios on the router may not have handled PPPoE as well as it should have.  Either Verizon has gotten better, or the bios upgrades I installed in my clients routers has helped because it doesn't seem as bad anymore.

2.  I think that the bandwidth over Cable is better.  I remember paying for 1.5mb (I think) on one account and seeing a throughput of about 256k with Verizon.  Upload with PPPoE DSL is very restricted.

3.  I found that Verizon's tech support was awful - and that may have gotten better - but I was burned and I don't need to go through that bad ezperience again.  Time Warner Cable's support has been tops (for me).

Harry
Verizon's customer service and Tech Support are known to be horrible! A leading reason for people to switch to something else...
thank you very much for all your wonderful input!
i deeply appreciate it.

marylyn :))