advices to create local network

L

leinad256

Registered
HI, Im not a network administrator, so I need some help.

We gonna buy a adsl service for my office, my internet provider will install internet in one computer, so I need to create the network to share internet and local files. We have like 8 computers... 2 g5 and 2 g4 without airpot card, 2 powerbooks and one ibook g3 with airport card, and one ibook g4 and 1 pc without airport. I think I need to buy a hub or a router...I dont know exactly. We have a airport base station too, but we dont wanna buy 5 airport cards more because its expensive than a ethernet cable.

Can u give some advices??? wich brand do u recommend me?

thanks!
 
The first thing you will need is a router. This takes the broadband Internet connection you have and splits it, distributing it to your target sources. This may be the only thing you need, if you can find an 8-port router for a decent price. But you might have an odd layout which would benefit from some additional equipment, such as a switch. Switches simply distribute a signal among several targets (computers, other switches); they are smarter than hubs but they don't take an Internet connection like routers.

You will also need several hundred feet of CAT-5 Ethernet cable with twisted-pair, RJ-45 jacks on each end. You should measure the distance from each computer to its respective node (a node would be a hub, switch or router that feeds a computer or another node its signal) and buy Ethernet cords long enough to reach but not so long you have coils and coils left over. If you had 36 feet between a computer and a router, for example (which is approximately what there is between my iMac and our router), you should get a 50-foot cable. (Sorry if you do metric... I would but I don't know it off the top of my head.)

The way you have it right now, you should get a 6- or 8-port router (we have a Siemens 2-port router) and plug your wired computers and Airport Base Station into it. That way, your Airport-equipped computers will be free to roam (if possible, of course) and your other computers will have relatively unfettered access as well.
 
I have a question....hub is the same of router?

dont worry about the mesaures...I can catch the idea :D

thanks very much!
 
No, a hub just connects things together. A router does the PPPoE authentication for you and includes a switch which has outputs adjusted for the capability of the clients, AND it acts as the DHCP server for your local area network (LAN). The router also provides a firewall, so your local computers won't need one.
Hope this helps.
 
Sure, no problem. It's amazing what you can learn when you do something for yourself. :)

Any other questions, just feel free to ask.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top