You know what... i haven't checked out the prices on broadband routers for a while, so I didn't know they were that cheap. For $38 shipped, you can get the SMC 4 port router here . At that price, I would recommend the router too.

I found this off http://slickdeals.net/

 

Get the cable/dsl router. That's what I have. I bought the one from Linksys. Basically, the router makes it look like you only have one connection to the cable/dsl company. That way, you don't have to pay the extra additional IP address fee.

Make sure you get the cable/dsl router and not just some hub.

This is the one I have, but I bought it over 2 years ago. They have more products now.

http://www.linksys.com/Products/product.as...grid=23&prid=20

 

hmmm, that's kind of what i thought, you know, about using the router to make it look like you have one connection. So basically the connection is cable (from the street or wherever)----> house wall jack----> router------> cable modem------->network card of PC

So does that mean you need a cable modem for each PC you connect to the router? Also, how do you deal with the issue of only having one account but multiple (in my case, 2) PC's using it?

 

redleader,

The way my system is set up is as follows:

cable -> house wall jack - > cable modem -> router -> computers.

You basically run cat 5 cable (ethernet cable) from the router to the computers. If you get the wireless router, you can just plug in wireless cards into your computers, then you won't have wires running all over the place.

As for multiple PC's, the router actually takes care of it. It assigns an address to each of the PCs (DHCP) but it makes the connection to the cable company look like only one computer.

 

thanks! two more questions...if you get the linksys wireless ones, is the connection speed reduced? Also, how is your illustration above different from the way the cable company would have done it if you had called them up and told them you want two computers connected to broadband (of course, they'll charge you for another connection)...

 

Your network is connected in the following manor:

Cable from cable company
Cable modem
Cable / DSL Router
Switch or Hub connect by ethernet wiring Cat 5
X number of computers upto number of port on switch or hub connect by ethernet wiring Cat 5 to Ethernet port on computers where X is the number of ports available on the switch or hub

A combination Cable / DSL Router with 4 port hub and/or Wireless is available for about $100 to $175 from Linksys or D-Link. The multifunction boxes only take one power outlet and greatly reduce the amount of desktop clutter. Plan for future expansion. Keep in mind that each PC on your network will need an ethernet port either via USB, PCI card or PC card adapter. You will also need an ethernet cable of appropriate length between the each device. Linksys has an excelent web site and I have used theere product to wire many clients environments as well as my own house.

 

red,

Not sure if the wireless router speed would be slower or not. My router (wired) is a 10/100 Mbps. I think the Linksys site would have the info you need to determine what speeds the wireless one runs at.

As far as the connection, I'm not sure how the cable company was going to connect your system. My connection only requires one cable modem and one router. If the cable company were to run different IP's to your house, I would assume that they would use a hub instead of a router and assign the IP to the different computers from their system.

 

Wireless speeds range from 802.11B 10-11 MB/sec 5-6 MB/sec actual throughput unless you go with new 802.11A 5 Ghz system which claims 22MB/sec but was tested recently on TechTV and only got 5-6 MB/sec actual throughput. Keep in mind maximum cable modem throuhgput is approximately 1.5 MB/sec. So the 100MB speed will only be benificial for local file transfers.

J

 

Cable company would wire each room as your is now x2.
Each computer gets connected to its own cable modem and is in turn connected to a cable jack in that room.

 

gee, you guys really know your stuff...thanks for all the input. I'll continue to research this at the linksys site.

I don't want to drill holes all over the walls for wiring if I don't have too, so I hope the wireless system works ok.