Home network/ADSL modem
Discussion
I'm looking to network a 2nd desktop at home (and share the broadband connection) & being a bit of a div, I need some help.
I've bought PC World's bargain basement network kit - 2x 10/100 LAN cards, cables & a diddy switch.
Can I buy a cable to connect my cheapo USB ADSL modem to the switch (via port #1) or do I need a new modem?
Yours in confusion
PB
I've bought PC World's bargain basement network kit - 2x 10/100 LAN cards, cables & a diddy switch.
Can I buy a cable to connect my cheapo USB ADSL modem to the switch (via port #1) or do I need a new modem?
Yours in confusion
PB
I have one of PC worlds finest budget switch ... 5 ports, 10/100 meg auto negotiating switch plus 2 lan cards.
I have an ADSL router ( about £70 ) that plugs into my adsl. The switch then connects to the lan port on the router, and the PC's at home all hang off the switch.
I have dial on demand enabled on the router.
That way you donot have to have ICS enabled on any of the PC's and you donot have to have the primary PC switched on in order to surf the web. (in actual fact, there is no primary PC!)
I have an ADSL router ( about £70 ) that plugs into my adsl. The switch then connects to the lan port on the router, and the PC's at home all hang off the switch.
I have dial on demand enabled on the router.
That way you donot have to have ICS enabled on any of the PC's and you donot have to have the primary PC switched on in order to surf the web. (in actual fact, there is no primary PC!)
For gods sake don't use ICS (internet connection sharing - serious security hole). Instead you need
x number of network cards (one for each PC)
Either a dsl modem + router or an all in one box (can recommend the Netgear jobbie
www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?CategoryID=1&ShopGroupID=12&ProductID=233
It's a bit more expensive than going down the usb modem / primary PC route but is fast, more effective and more secure (since most dsl routers have a half decent firewall built in).
Mail me offline if you like.
The other alternative is go wireless if you budget can stretch that far. Should be able to buy a wireless dsl router + 2 wifi cards / adapters for about £200
Steve
x number of network cards (one for each PC)
Either a dsl modem + router or an all in one box (can recommend the Netgear jobbie
www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?CategoryID=1&ShopGroupID=12&ProductID=233
It's a bit more expensive than going down the usb modem / primary PC route but is fast, more effective and more secure (since most dsl routers have a half decent firewall built in).
Mail me offline if you like.
The other alternative is go wireless if you budget can stretch that far. Should be able to buy a wireless dsl router + 2 wifi cards / adapters for about £200
Steve
Thats the better setup but here we have a usb modem which would have to go direct to the pc, then out to the next pc or switch. I think the usb modems are software driven from the pc rather than the modem doing all the work.
polar-ben
A word of warning!
Make sure you have a firewall. You will need to enable connection sharing to make this setup work and I understand that makes you more vulnerable to hackers.
Heaps more people know more about this than me so don't get paranoid. Little homework and you'll be right.
polar-ben
A word of warning!
Make sure you have a firewall. You will need to enable connection sharing to make this setup work and I understand that makes you more vulnerable to hackers.
Heaps more people know more about this than me so don't get paranoid. Little homework and you'll be right.
rjo said:
Thats the better setup but here we have a usb modem which would have to go direct to the pc, then out to the next pc or switch. I think the usb modems are software driven from the pc rather than the modem doing all the work.
polar-ben
A word of warning!
Make sure you have a firewall. You will need to enable connection sharing to make this setup work and I understand that makes you more vulnerable to hackers.
Heaps more people know more about this than me so don't get paranoid. Little homework and you'll be right.
Yup, can't go wrong with a copy of zonealarm on each PC (www.zonealarm.com)
fatsteve said:
A word of warning!
Make sure you have a firewall.
Yup, can't go wrong with a copy of zonealarm on each PC (www.zonealarm.com)
Yup, have had ZoneAlarm for yonks. Am I right to assume that with Zone Alarm (x2) ICS will do the job?
Will look into ADSL routers as well... cheers guys
I've just got ADSL, it's a same you went to PC world first, we could have got you the entire kit (router, 2 NIC's) for less than £100 from a top-notch maker 
Any chance of you taking it back?
Anyway, what I did was head to www.dslsource.co.uk and got the Speed Touch 510 v4 router/modem/switch and microfilters for £104.50 (Netgear do the same with 2 Nics).
Anyhoo, what you are going to have to do is purchase an ethernet modem, these can be got for around £60 and will plug into your diddy switch and allow the computers to use the network. What ever you do DO NOT USE ICS. There is a major security bug found every couple of days with that sort of thing.
The other thing to ensure is that you get a Firewall. ZoneAlarm is decent if you are single computer but falls downs kicking and screaming when a network is introduced so try Sygate Personal Firewall (www.sygate.com) or Outpost, both are recommended and used by Techies
Any chance of you taking it back?
Anyway, what I did was head to www.dslsource.co.uk and got the Speed Touch 510 v4 router/modem/switch and microfilters for £104.50 (Netgear do the same with 2 Nics).
Anyhoo, what you are going to have to do is purchase an ethernet modem, these can be got for around £60 and will plug into your diddy switch and allow the computers to use the network. What ever you do DO NOT USE ICS. There is a major security bug found every couple of days with that sort of thing.
The other thing to ensure is that you get a Firewall. ZoneAlarm is decent if you are single computer but falls downs kicking and screaming when a network is introduced so try Sygate Personal Firewall (www.sygate.com) or Outpost, both are recommended and used by Techies
docevi1 said:
I've just got ADSL, it's a same you went to PC world first, we could have got you the entire kit (router, 2 NIC's) for less than £100 from a top-notch maker
Any chance of you taking it back?
Anyway, what I did was head to www.dslsource.co.uk and got the Speed Touch 510 v4 router/modem/switch and microfilters for £104.50 (Netgear do the same with 2 Nics).
Anyhoo, what you are going to have to do is purchase an ethernet modem, these can be got for around £60 and will plug into your diddy switch and allow the computers to use the network. What ever you do DO NOT USE ICS. There is a major security bug found every couple of days with that sort of thing.
The other thing to ensure is that you get a Firewall. ZoneAlarm is decent if you are single computer but falls downs kicking and screaming when a network is introduced so try Sygate Personal Firewall (www.sygate.com) or Outpost, both are recommended and used by Techies
Bah cobblers, you just need to set the security level differently since its a trusted zone. Besides using it on a network is far safer since IPAs are NAT'd by the router / firewall so only response packets can pass back through to the local network.
Trust me, thats part of what I do for a living, failing that check with Tuffer or Marshy since they're also fw / networking types.
There are better solutions but few that work as effectively and are free.
Steve
the Netgear on dslsource is meant to be good, £124 intergrated.
I haven't used ZoneAlarm for about a year now because I was sick of the free one (are you talking about the Pro edittion?).
I just know what I know from playing and pottering about - the CS course is all software anyhoo so I can't say I know everything, there's at least one thing I don't know about
I haven't used ZoneAlarm for about a year now because I was sick of the free one (are you talking about the Pro edittion?).
I just know what I know from playing and pottering about - the CS course is all software anyhoo so I can't say I know everything, there's at least one thing I don't know about
The buffalo airstation is a good purchase, it seems great value for money, plus IIRC its 802.11g which means up to 54mbits - nice a fast.
Wireless is great and to be honest for home / soho use I wouldn't go back to wired (unless there was a serious need for security). There's some cracking deals on www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk at the momment.
I went for the D-Link DSL-604+ as an all in one box solution enabling me to share adsl both wirelessly and wired. To be honest theres not a huge difference between most models in that range since they all offer:
ADSL modem
ADSL routing (allowing local networks to access the internet)
Hub / switch function (so you can connect your local pc's together)
Firewall protection
Port redirection
DNS proxy
DHCP server and client
The only caution I would add is if you go wireless ensure:
1. You change the admin password for the console
2. Enable WEP at the highest level your devices support
3. Use the MAC lockdown so that only allowed MAC's (a network cards unique ID) are allowed access
4. Change the SSID and chanel to something other than the default.
That said, wifi can still be cracked, but at least you're ruling out most of the entrance points. The above may sound obvious but I've got 2 or 3 neighbours running wide open AP's with all the standard settings (chanel 6, ssid default, etc), plus one that hasn't changed the default admin password (usually password).
Mail me offline if you want pointers.
Steve
Wireless is great and to be honest for home / soho use I wouldn't go back to wired (unless there was a serious need for security). There's some cracking deals on www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk at the momment.
I went for the D-Link DSL-604+ as an all in one box solution enabling me to share adsl both wirelessly and wired. To be honest theres not a huge difference between most models in that range since they all offer:
ADSL modem
ADSL routing (allowing local networks to access the internet)
Hub / switch function (so you can connect your local pc's together)
Firewall protection
Port redirection
DNS proxy
DHCP server and client
The only caution I would add is if you go wireless ensure:
1. You change the admin password for the console
2. Enable WEP at the highest level your devices support
3. Use the MAC lockdown so that only allowed MAC's (a network cards unique ID) are allowed access
4. Change the SSID and chanel to something other than the default.
That said, wifi can still be cracked, but at least you're ruling out most of the entrance points. The above may sound obvious but I've got 2 or 3 neighbours running wide open AP's with all the standard settings (chanel 6, ssid default, etc), plus one that hasn't changed the default admin password (usually password).
Mail me offline if you want pointers.
Steve
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