Networking!

[Grinch]

No they do not have to be on the same level and no they do not need to be close to eachother. I would give wireless a shot. Now depending on how far apart they are you may need to get an extra access point to help the wireless signal reach all of your puters. But that depends on how far apart they really are and how much interferes with the signal.

[Red XIII]

just watch out for people who try to steal wireless connections from ya...there was a thing in canada where a guy was caught with a stolen wireless connection driving half naked and watching child-porn

[Freggle]

This is great!
I love all this input.
Thanks guys.
So anyone, what is the difference between a hub and a router? Which is the best?
And has anyone used both wireless and wired and can say which they think is best?
On the wireless, "Intel AnyPoint Phoneline Home Network" was leading me to believe I would'nt need a router or hub, it said all I had to do was install the pci card in each pc, and plug the phone line into it, and that was it.
But then what if I went with cable.....sooo many choices, that's the problem, lol
Also, anyone know of any really good websites on this subject?

Much thanks to everyone!!

No problem!

The thing intel suggest sounds a little strange. How do you plug one phoneline into multiple computers?

One thing first. With a hub or switch you can only run a local network without connection to the internet. If you attach a router to it you can make all computers on your network have internet access. Most routers have a implemented switch.

You need a router anyway because otherwise you can only have one internet connection. A router sends incomming data to the right computer using NAT (Network Adress Translation). Most routers also have a firewall in it which keeps you safe from the outside world. You can also use one of your computers as a router. I can't advice that because a router is easier and you have to keep the computer that serves as a router always on.

The difference between a switch and a hub is that a hub sends the data to all available lines which gives more traffic then a switch that only send it too the line the data has to go. For large networks a switch can make your network much faster then when you use a hub. For a home network with only three computers that don't send that much data it doesn't matter very much.

With wired connections you probably get a bit better ping/latency but it's not something you have to worry about. With a ping you can see how fast the data go's from one spot to another. Wireless saves you from all the troubles with cables and like mentioned before it's great when you have a laptop.

I don't know of that many websites on this subject but if you can be a bit more specific on what you want to know I can go for a search.

If you have a cable or xDSL access and want to split it for multiple connections with a router I would go to a local computershop and ask for the following:
"Wireless router with implemented switch and firewall".
In the Netherlands where everybody has cable/xDSL 9 out of 10 routers have a implemented switch but I don't know of the situation in USA or Australia ( not sure where you live ).

To also jump in the choice of a internet connection. With cable you have a connection that you share with the rest of your neighbourhood. This means that if there are a lot of people using cable near you your connection will be slow(er) at times lot's of people are online. With xDSL you have a line of yourself so your speed won't go up and down depending on the usage of your neighbours.
You will have to make your choice depending on several things:
What are the setup costs and do they include a modem and maybe even a router.
What are the montly costs of it and what upload and download do you get for it.
Do they have phone support and how much will that cost or is it free. Doesn't sound very important but it can be a big part of your monthly fee if you have to wait until you get someone on the line for 30 minutes with 0,70 dollar a minute.

Ok I'm done I hoop I made all understandable for now feel free to ask more ore come up with the things you found out (like providers) to ask for our opinions.

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[LavaGale]

Thanks bunches guys!
I printed all that stuff out, looks like I have a lot to think about.
Now I don't know if I want to wait for the cable or go for the dsl. For some reason I had always thought cable was the best.
My provider also offers a wireless internet. But I'm not sure if that would be as good as dsl or cable. I don't see how they can connect me without a cable or phone line, seems like there would be a lot of interference with that.
But I guess I do have to choose which one first.
Gosh, why can't they just make an "all in one" lol. One box that does it all, lol

I really appreciate all this guys, I shall return with more questions no doubt,

[battye]

Cable is generally better, need to ask Bacon why though
Wireless is pretty expensive isn't it? It just sends the signal via radio waves, shouldn't interfere as it should be on a different wavelength
If you have a TV, Microwave etc right in front of you maybe there will be a little interference

How fast is the DSL they provide now, and how much? And how fast is the Cable they are soon getting for how much?

[Red XIII]

Goodluck Gale

[LavaGale]

Hhmmm, good questions!

I found out the wireless isp (or I guess it is sattelite) is $29.00 a month, but they want to limit me to 500 mb a month. That is with my isp.

DSL is $39.00 a month (with a different provider, think it's AT&T)

Cable is going to be $45.00 a month (comcast)

Now someone has told me something else, I am wondering if it's true. I hope not, but need to know for sure before I get started.
I have 1 pc with xp home
and 2 pc's with 98se
The main pc upstairs is 98se (which is mine, all mine!) I built it and I love it.
And the xp is my son's, the other is mainly my daughter's and friends.

I have been told that I can not network 98se with xp.
Is this really true??

[Freggle]

My earlier post dissapeared with another error Do something !!
______________________________________

Ok I see you found some things. The Wireless isp which I think is WiFi doesn't offer a very good deal. 500 mb is never enough these days especially when you have three computers running.

Since the xDSL is just a bit cheaper and I don't have any other info yet I can't tell you which one is best. Try to find out the things that you can find at the end of my earlier post (5 posts up) and let us know.
It's also a bit hard to tell which one is better since that depends on your local situation. If the cable provider has very good, high quality equipment it might be better and other way around.
You should ask neighbours and friends about their experience with local providers.

Win98 and WinXP work fine when placed together in a network. I don't know who told you that sh*t but I wouldn't listen to him/her any longer for computer related things. WinXP and Win98 both support TCP/IP fine which is what the internet uses and your network is going to run on.


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