Home Network

The following site should give you all the info you need or at least give you a good starting point.

www.practicallynetworked.com

http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/hmnetwk1.html

Be sure to remove any spaces from the URL after pasting.

Hope this helps..

You definitely need a nic for each computer.
There are a couple ways you can go.
1. To get a DSL router that will connect to the internet and then route it to the other computers.
2. This is what I would do. Get a DSL modem instead of the router.
Plug the modem into a switch.
Connect all of the ethernet wires to this same switch.
Install the PPPOE (usually Winpoet) software provided by your DSL provider on each machine.

The reason I would use the latter method is that it provides each computer with its own lease or IP to use on the internet. This provides each machine with fully functional use of the internet. Using the Router can require additional configuration. If you are wanting to restrict access and have more control then the router (option 1) may be a better way to go.

I agree with Brian's answers, although I prefer to use a router. Linksys makes a router that is very very simple to use, and costs about 100 dollars. It is pretty much ready to go out of the box, and any configuration changes you may want to make are made easy with the documentation provided.

Your DSL provider will supply you with a DSL modem. I agree, get a linksys router to do the rest, one of my clients is a small business that has the same setup. It is almost ready to go out of the box, simply plug the modem into the router and all of your home pc's plug into the router as well to share the DSL connection. On a cautionary note though, do not let the ISP provider know what you are doing or they may charge you a business rate for service. If the guy who comes over to install and configure the service is cool, he may help you set it up though ;-)
Good luck!

Mike

Hi,

Your DSL service provider will certainly provide you with the modem - if it comes with enough ports then...great, but if it doesn't then you're going to have to use Internet connection sharing (ICS).

This is the method I use. I have one PCassigned as the ICS machine and I leave it on 24x7. Its Win98 with ICS enabled through RASPPPoE...

http://user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~normanb/

That machine should have two nics, and the second one goes to my hub (the first to the modem, obviously). From there its a matter of simply plugging all the others into the hub.

It was relatively straight forward to set up and there is no need for extra IP addresses or expenses with your ISP.

Cheers,
Tim.

As forementioned in previous answers to your question, I too, use the LinkSys BEFSR41 ver2 4-switch Port Router in combination with my ADSL connection. My ISP had no problem with me using multiple computers (currently 5) on my ADSL connection. I used the up-link port on the router to a hub to add PC #5. After completeing the installation of the router (about 1/2 hour), I went to Steve Gibson's web site at www.grc.com where I used his shields-up application and verified that I was running in "stealth mode", ie: my internal LAN is virtually invisible to the outside world. One comment on the Linksys router...be sure to navigate to the "Advanced" tab in the router setup routine and check the size of the MTU packets setting. I am using 1382, but you can go higher if your system will remain stable. Too low a setting might let you gain access to some web-sites and not to others.

Crewchief

Go with the router and switch. Anybody who
uses ICS when the routers are as cheap as
they are, and include the firewall features, it's
just dumb.
1- Linksys BESFR-41 (This unit has a 4 port
hub)
1- Switch with required number of ports
1- Bag of RJ-45 connectors and crimper

Good Luck Lee

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