My ISP (Orange, was Wanadoo, was Freeserve) is closing its
AnyTime dial-up service in December. I don't want to stay
with Orange on broadband, so I'll have to move to another
broadband ISP, sooner than I was planning. (I'd have been
happy to stay on dial-up for another year or so.)

I have two homebuilt desktops: an Intel PIII (which someone
else sold me as a barebones) and an AMD Athlon XP (which I
built myself). My daughter has an Intel Centrino laptop.

The laptop runs (and will continue to run) Windows XP Home.

The desktops both run Windows 98SE, but I intend to migrate
to Linux on one or both of them. I don't want to learn any
more about Windows XP than I have to, or anything about
Vista at all.

(I know Linux is a heck of a lot to learn, for someone who
knows a bit about computers but is not really "mechanically
minded", but I do know a bit about Unix, and I reckon that
GNU/Linux is worth learning about, in contrast to Windows,
which is quite handy and easy but very intellectually ugly.)

(Please excuse these remarks. I'm not trying to revive an
old ritual debate, just stating the reasons for some of my
possibly odd-looking choices.)

(Despite my naivety, I can probably pick up technical stuff
when I have do. I did a one-year computer science MSc, but
it was a long time ago, just before the Internet became big,
and I didn't study networking at all.)

I usually keep the two desktops connected via a twisted pair
CAT 5 Ethernet cable (is that the correct jargon?). I don't
like the possible security implications of wireless (but am
I being paranoid?), and would prefer to stick with Ethernet.

I use TCP/IP, with fixed IP addresses 192.168.0.2 (my main
desktop) and 192.168.0.1 (the other desktop). Operation is
trouble-free and routine.

Occasionally I unplug one or other machine and plug in the
laptop instead, giving it the fixed IP address 192.168.0.3.

I know nothing about XP, don't really know what I am doing,
and have had only partial, variable, unpredictable success
in transferring files this way. (It's easier to use CD-R,
or my daughter's MP3 player.) This hasn't mattered a lot,
but it would be nice to tidy it up, if I'm going to have to
fiddle around with the LAN anyway.

The two desktops each have an external modem, connecting
its machine to a shared telephone line via a serial port.
The laptop has its own internal modem. (It is also capable
of wireless networking, in the unlikely event that I do
decide to go that way.)

I suppose if I'm going to have a broadband connection, I'll
need to have something called a "router", which will connect
to the Internet, while the three machines will all connect
to the router via (non-twisted) patch cables: is that right?

If so, I can easily keep the router in my room, and lay a
cable to my daughter's room for her to connect her laptop
when she needs to.

I'm quite likely to want to connect four (but not five)
machines at a time, but I think that most routers have
at least that many ports: is that right?

(There are a couple of other desktops that aren't in
regular use, but that are likely to have future uses.)

Any advice on how I should go about making these changes?

Any advice (off-topic, I know) on choosing a broadband ISP?

Will I have trouble setting up a broadband connection for
machines running Win98SE (which is, of course, no longer
supported by M$)?

Should I keep the probable future use of Linux in mind
when choosing an ISP (even though I'm hardly ready to
think about Linux yet)?

Where can I most painlessly and/or quickly pick up the
modicum of Windows XP knowledge that I need to get the
laptop properly integrated into the network?

Should I sort out the router, etc., in advance, myself, or
choose a good ISP and leave it up to them? I don't have much
money to spend on equipment, but common sense suggests the
former alternative is preferable, although likely to be more
expensive.

Sorry, /really/ dumb question, but what does a router have
in it apart from Ethernet ports? Are there some with dial-up
modems included, and some with broadband; or is there just
nothing "modem-like" about them at all, and if so, how /do/
you connect a LAN to the Internet? (Please don't shoot me!)

My thinking is that it would seem wise to sort out the LAN
before getting entangled with broadband as well. But on the
other hand, I don't want to waste time and effort in setting
up a shared Internet dial-up connection that I will only be
using for a few weeks. And I don't even know if routers are
specialised for either dial-up or broadband but not both!
So I'm undecided.

Can I use a router (assuming I can choose one intelligently)
just to set up the LAN, while continuing (for the time being)
to connect all my machines separately to the Internet by
dial-up as I am doing at the moment? (That might further
break down the problem into manageably small pieces.)

Is there one website (or book) that explains all of this
stuff (except perhaps for the details about Windows XP)?

Sorry about all the naive questions, but I'm having to think
about this sooner than I wanted to. There may be some issues
I've forgotten to mention, but this is more than long enough
already, so they'll have to go into a followup if necessary.
--
Angus Rodgers
(twirlip@ eats spam; reply to angusrod@)
Contains mild peril

Angus Rodgers wrote:

I usually keep the two desktops connected via a twisted pair
CAT 5 Ethernet cable (is that the correct jargon?).

You probably mean a "crossover cable", as opposed to a straight "patch"
cable. Both of these varieties use twisted copper pairs inside
(actually, four such pairs - 8 wires altogether.)

You can read more about the rationale for twisted pair cabling he

http://www.cirris.com/testing/twisted_pair/twist.html

As for crossover twisted pair Ethernet cables, see he

http://compnetworking.about.com/od/n.../g/bldef_cross
over.htm

And here are a couple of quite general descriptions, to give you the big
pictu

http://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/ethernetcables.html
http://www.homenethelp.com/web/explain/about-ethernet-crossover.asp

I don't like the possible security implications of wireless
(but am I being paranoid?), and would prefer to stick with
Ethernet.

That's a good choice - not only from the security viewpoint, but also
for speed and reliability. With twisted pair copper cabling you can get
gigabit speeds today, if you want to, while with wireless that's not
currently possible. Moreover, the copper-based connections are always
stable and not dependent on neighbours' use of the same frequency range
(or microwave owens leaking interfering radiation, wireless baby
monitors, metal structures, slight changes to the location of the
aerials, sunspots etc.)

That said, a wireless network could still come handy if you own a laptop
and want to use it freely around the house, on the sofa, in the kitchen
etc., without plugging it in all the time - but I would only view it as
an additional convenience feature (on top of good old copper-based
wiring) and not as the be-all, end-all of home networking.

I use TCP/IP, with fixed IP addresses 192.168.0.2 (my main
desktop) and 192.168.0.1 (the other desktop). Operation is
trouble-free and routine.

Occasionally I unplug one or other machine and plug in the
laptop instead, giving it the fixed IP address 192.168.0.3.

You're currently using one of the private IP address ranges as defined
in RFC 1918:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFC_1918

These addresses have been set aside for private networks that are not
directly accessible from the Internet.

When you buy a router you usually have two choices:

1) You can continue using this private address space (i.e. the
192.168.x.x addresses) in your home network, just like before, with the
router being the only device that will actually get a public IP address
assigned on its WAN (Internet-bound) network interface.

In this scenario, the router is acting as a so-called "NAT" (a device
that handles "network address translation") for the home network. What
this means is that the PCs on the home network aren't directly visible
to the Internet; instead, the router hides their existence and makes
things appear as if all traffic from your home network was coming from a
single machine with a single IP address - the one held by the router.

In a typical basic NAT setup, connections cannot be made from the
Internet to the home network, but the PCs on the home network can open
connections to the Internet. This, of course, increases security.
(However, if needed, it is possible to define so-called port forwards,
whereby connections made to certain port numbers on the public IP
address [that your router is holding to itself] are forwarded to set
addresses in the home network.)

2) Another possible configuration would be the one where you let the the
router act as a transparent bridge. In this scenario, all PCs on the
home network will get public IP addresses directly from the ISP (usually
with the help of DHCP protocol), and traffic is routed directly from the
Internet to these addresses.

This kind of setup makes it easier to use some networking protocols, but
it also makes the PCs on the home network more vulnerable to attacks, as
those PCs are now directly visible from the Internet.

Moreover, depending on whether your ISP gives you public IP addresses
from the same subnet or not, home networking and file sharing between
the computers may get trickier, and will sometimes involve further
configuration (such as taking in use another, parallel set of statically
defined private IP addresses for the home network traffic alone - i.e.,
so-called "multihoming".)

A firewall is a must in this kind of configuration. ADSL routers may
have some basic firewalling functionality built-in to them - these kind
of features are usually configured by pointing a web browser to the IP
address of the router and wading through all kinds of configuration and
setup pages - but there are also separate broadband firewall devices,
and software-based firewalls which you can run directly on the PCs.
(Actually, both Windows and Linux come with a software-based firewall,
but there are also third party firewall offerings for Windows.)

I know nothing about XP, don't really know what I am doing,
and have had only partial, variable, unpredictable success
in transferring files this way. (It's easier to use CD-R,
or my daughter's MP3 player.) This hasn't mattered a lot,
but it would be nice to tidy it up, if I'm going to have to
fiddle around with the LAN anyway.

It's possible to network Windows machines and Linux machines in the same
network in such way that both will see each other's shared folders and
printers.

I suppose if I'm going to have a broadband connection, I'll
need to have something called a "router", which will connect
to the Internet, while the three machines will all connect
to the router via (non-twisted) patch cables: is that right?

Yes - except for "non-twisted" part, which was dealt with in the
beginning of this message. What you want is straight patch cables, as
opposed to crossover cables.

There are ADSL modems/routers that - as you describe above - have a
built-in multi-port switch, typically with something like four ports.

There are also those that only come with a single Ethernet port and
require you to buy a separate Ethernet switch for connecting more than
just a single machine.

A separate switch would look like this:

http://images.tigerdirect.com/skuimages/large/N100-1400-main.jpg

....or, as a more professional version, something like this:

http://shop.awex.hu/images/d-link_des-1024d_big.jpg

A separate switch could be a better choice in a case where you know
right from the beginning that you're going to need more ports than are
usually supplied built-in to ADSL modems/routers.

(Regardless of whether the ADSL modem/router only has a single port or
multiple ports, it is always possible to extend the network later by
adding a separate switch.)

If so, I can easily keep the router in my room, and lay a
cable to my daughter's room for her to connect her laptop
when she needs to.

I'm quite likely to want to connect four (but not five)
machines at a time, but I think that most routers have
at least that many ports: is that right?

(There are a couple of other desktops that aren't in
regular use, but that are likely to have future uses.)

Any advice on how I should go about making these changes?

You have basically two choices he

1) You can use ad-hoc cabling, running premade cables around the house
as needed, and with no large "master plan". The advantage of this
approach is that it is a cheap way to get the home network going. The
disadvantage is that such "ad-hoc" cabling may be a bit ugly and, over
the time, unwieldy. That is, if you don't bother running and securing
the cables properly but just let them snake around the house.

....or...

2) You can make proper plans of your home network and then build it
according to some set specifications, which would involve something like
this:

- Deciding about the central star point location where the cables
coming from all the rooms will be terminated, and where the
network switch (and possibly the router, too) will be located.

- Deciding about which rooms will get the connection (the more,
the merrier) and how many cable runs you want in them (cheapskates
could go with just one per room, but two would be nicer.)

- Running the cables properly (i.e. making holes in the walls,
using conduits or hollow skirting boards for the cable runs,
dealing with the sills, making sure that the recommended bend
radius isn't exceeded, etc.

- Using a roll of CAT-6 or CAT-5+ cable, proper wall jacks, and a
patch panel in the central point for terminating the connections.

The latter is what we ended up doing at my parent's. They had a water
damage in their home some 10 years ago, and the floors had to be taken
out and rebuilt. While this was a quite unfortunate thing in many other
regards, we decided to take some advantage of the situation and run PVC
conduits underneath the new floors - for bringing Ethernet cabling to
every room.

Now they have a very neat and tidy home LAN, with Ethernet wall outlets
just about everywhere - the bedrooms, the living room, the kitchen, the
study, etc...

The central point of the network (which consists of a patch panel, a
switch, and an ADSL modem/router) was built on the wall of a walk-in
wardrobe:

http://www.saunalahti.fi/voas0400/kotiverkko.jpg

What you see in that picture, from top to bottom, is

1) A 16-port Ethernet patch panel, terminating all the
cables that come in from the different rooms. (In the
rooms, they're terminated to Ethernet wall outlets.)

2) An ADSL modem/router with a single Ethernet port (the
port is on the other side that is not visible.)

3) An old, 8-port 10 Mbps Ethernet hub. (This old hub has
been retired and upgraded to an 8-port 100 Mbps Ethernet
switch since that picture was taken.)

The ADSL router/modem is connected to one of the ports on the switch.
Short patch cables connect the other ports of the switch to the patch
panel, making certain Ethernet ports in certain rooms active.

Will I have trouble setting up a broadband connection for
machines running Win98SE (which is, of course, no longer
supported by M$)?

As long as you have 98SE compatible drivers for the network cards you're
using on those 98SE machines, there shouldn't be any problems.

Should I keep the probable future use of Linux in mind
when choosing an ISP (even though I'm hardly ready to
think about Linux yet)?

The choice of an ISP probably doesn't matter too much in that regard -
they generally won't "support" Linux, anyway, as far as calling to the
helpdesk number and asking for Linux-specific advice goes.

Where can I most painlessly and/or quickly pick up the
modicum of Windows XP knowledge that I need to get the
laptop properly integrated into the network?

Well, Google and newsgroups would come to mind. But it's perhaps
better to tackle the specific problems you have when/if you encounter
them, instead of worrying too much about them in advance.

Should I sort out the router, etc., in advance, myself, or
choose a good ISP and leave it up to them?

You should decide how many Ethernet ports you want, and whether you
would need a separate Ethernet switch (or not) right from the outset.

As for wireless, many ADSL modems/routers have a wireless router
built-in, too, so if you want to take advantage of that feature in any
form, it's better to decide about it now. (See the spec sheets and
pictures. Those that do, usually have visible antennas.) But of course
it's also possible to buy a separate wireless access point later, and
plug it into your home network in some suitable spot, if needed. (That
might even be more flexible since the ideal location for an ADSL
modem/router isn't necessarily the ideal location for a wireless access
point.)

Sorry, /really/ dumb question, but what does a router have
in it apart from Ethernet ports? Are there some with dial-up
modems included, and some with broadband;

I haven't seen any network routers with built-in dial-up modems,
although it's possible that such devices might have existed at some
point in time.

Some (big, expensive, professional) routers have had an RS-232C port for
connecting an external dial-up modem, but I don't believe too many
people would have used those kind of devices at home.

or is there just nothing "modem-like" about them at all,
and if so, how /do/ you connect a LAN to the Internet?
(Please don't shoot me!)

An ADSL router has a built-in modem that modulates and demodulates the
signal on multiple channels. Unlike dial-up modems, however (which are
designed to make connections over the public switched telephone network
with all the restrictions that that brings to the equation), the ADSL
modems have been designed to utilize the capacity of the copper pairs to
the max.

The ADSL modems do their modulation magic over such wide frequency range
that it makes them totally incompatible with the public switched
telephone network. That is why the ISP / telephone company needs to have
a bank of corresponding modems (called DSLAM) directly at the other end
of the copper line that comes from your house at their nearest switching
location. The DSLAM terminates the connection and hands the data packets
over to a fiber-optic data network maintained by the ISP (and that way,
to the Internet.)

See these links for more information about the ADSL technology:

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/dsl.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADSL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSLAM

My thinking is that it would seem wise to sort out the LAN
before getting entangled with broadband as well. But on the
other hand, I don't want to waste time and effort in setting
up a shared Internet dial-up connection that I will only be
using for a few weeks. And I don't even know if routers are
specialised for either dial-up or broadband but not both!
So I'm undecided.

I'd say you can forget about dial-up at this point and just start
thinking about broadband and home networking.

Note that ADSL, while probably the most common option as of now, isn't
the only way of getting a broadband Internet connection.

There are SDSL modems (much like ADSL but with symmetric up- and
upstreams), VDSL modems (for high-speed connections over copper pairs),
cable modems (for a broadband Internet connection from your cable tv
operator), asymmetric satellite-based broadband connections for those
remote areas, and perhaps even wireless operators using technologies
such as WLAN, Wimax, or Flash-OFDM. Some forward-looking houses may have
a fiber optic connection, some blocks of flats might have a common LAN
infrastructure, etc.

There are also plain Ethernet routers, with no built-in modem of any
sort.

So you need to find out what kind of broadband options you have in your
area and only then decide which kind of router/modem you need.

Can I use a router (assuming I can choose one intelligently)
just to set up the LAN, while continuing (for the time being)
to connect all my machines separately to the Internet by
dial-up as I am doing at the moment? (That might further
break down the problem into manageably small pieces.)

I assume you're talking specifically about those kind of broadband
routers that happen to have a multi-port Ethernet switch built-in to
them.

Yes, it's possible to set up a LAN using such device, but in that case,
you would only be using the built-in switch functionality - not the
actual router side of the device. (In other words, you could get the
same results by just buying a simple, cheap Ethernet switch with no
router or modem functionality whatsoever.)

Is there one website (or book) that explains all of this
stuff (except perhaps for the details about Windows XP)?

There are many websites, but it's hard to recommend anything specific
until you have a (more) specific problem,

You could get some ideas from these sites:

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/home-network.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_network
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=72
http://www.dysan.net/Hotwire/ethernet.php
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~csev/hng/book/06wiring/
http://www.mcgregor.org/homenet.htm
http://lifehacker.com/software/networking/wire-your-ho
me-network-196102.php

....and, especially, from this site:

http://www.ratemynetworkdiagram.com/?s=9

(Scroll down the page and keep clicking the "skip this image" link on
the left sidebar to view more home networking diagrams, or, if you see a
particularly interesting setup, click on the diagram itself to see a
larger version of it.)

Sorry about all the naive questions, but I'm having to think
about this sooner than I wanted to. There may be some issues
I've forgotten to mention, but this is more than long enough
already, so they'll have to go into a followup if necessary.

There are also books about the topic...

http://google.com/search?q=%22home+networking%22+book

....but in my opinion, you can find everything you need on the Internet.

--
znark

In article , Angus Rodgers
says...

I usually keep the two desktops connected via a twisted pair
CAT 5 Ethernet cable (is that the correct jargon?).

CAT5 is always twisted, either UTP (unshielded twisted pair) or STP
(shielded twisted pair - unusual) that's just the type of cable. When
connecting two PCs together it used to be common to use a crossover
patch lead - that describes the configuration of the cable connections
(like a null-modem cable - remember them?) but often isn't necessary
with newer kit as devices generally detect whether they need to be
crossed over and arrange themselves accordingly.

I use TCP/IP, with fixed IP addresses 192.168.0.2 (my main
desktop) and 192.168.0.1 (the other desktop). Operation is
trouble-free and routine.

Occasionally I unplug one or other machine and plug in the
laptop instead, giving it the fixed IP address 192.168.0.3.

I know nothing about XP, don't really know what I am doing,
and have had only partial, variable, unpredictable success
in transferring files this way. (It's easier to use CD-R,
or my daughter's MP3 player.) This hasn't mattered a lot,
but it would be nice to tidy it up, if I'm going to have to
fiddle around with the LAN anyway.

XP file sharing seems to cause all sorts of niggling problems - account
permissions, firewall settings, authentication apparently incompatible
with other operating systems. I find the easiest way to do it is to
always run the transfer from the XP machine - Windows 98 doesn't have
network security or user permissions so will let anyone read from or
write to its shares once they're set up, just don't complicate things
with passwords (you can disable the shares when they're not in use).

The two desktops each have an external modem, connecting
its machine to a shared telephone line via a serial port.
The laptop has its own internal modem. (It is also capable
of wireless networking, in the unlikely event that I do
decide to go that way.)

I suppose if I'm going to have a broadband connection, I'll
need to have something called a "router", which will connect
to the Internet, while the three machines will all connect
to the router via (non-twisted) patch cables: is that right?

As above, not non-twisted, but regular straight-through cables (although
the router should be able to sort it out anyway).

If so, I can easily keep the router in my room, and lay a
cable to my daughter's room for her to connect her laptop
when she needs to.

I'm quite likely to want to connect four (but not five)
machines at a time, but I think that most routers have
at least that many ports: is that right?

Most home routers have a four port hub. If you need any more
connections you can get plug a switch into the hub, and more PCs into
the switch. This can be particularly useful if you have machines in
different parts of the house - you only need a single cable between the
switch and the router, so you can put the switch close to the distant
machines and not have loads of cable trailing all over the place.

Any advice on how I should go about making these changes?

The router is probably goinmg to want to be 192.168.0.1, so change the
address of the other desktop if you're going for manual configuration.

Will I have trouble setting up a broadband connection for
machines running Win98SE (which is, of course, no longer
supported by M$)?

None at all - it's just a TCP/IP over Ethernet connection, which is
probably what you're running at the moment.

Should I keep the probable future use of Linux in mind
when choosing an ISP (even though I'm hardly ready to
think about Linux yet)?

I think most ISPs provide an installation CD to get a single PC onto
their connection, but you'll want to configure the router anyway and it
doesn't really make much difference what you attach to that. All you
need is the network settings to plug into the router, and they should be
published on the ISP's support pages.

Where can I most painlessly and/or quickly pick up the
modicum of Windows XP knowledge that I need to get the
laptop properly integrated into the network?

Should I sort out the router, etc., in advance, myself, or
choose a good ISP and leave it up to them? I don't have much
money to spend on equipment, but common sense suggests the
former alternative is preferable, although likely to be more
expensive.

Ebuyer have an ADSL modem router with four ethernet ports for £14.99
:-)

Sorry, /really/ dumb question, but what does a router have
in it apart from Ethernet ports? Are there some with dial-up
modems included, and some with broadband; or is there just
nothing "modem-like" about them at all, and if so, how /do/
you connect a LAN to the Internet? (Please don't shoot me!)

You'll not easily find a dialup router these days, but they did exist (I
think I have one somewhere, but I used to use a Linux box for dialup
sharing because it also ran a firewall and some other stuff). With a
cable connection you generally use the cable company's modem or set-top
box with a separate router, for ADSL you can get a combined modem/router
but that just reduces the number of plastic boxes and power supplies -
the functionality is the same. If you go for a bare-wires ADSL deal you
might as well get a combined unit, if the deal comes with a modem then a
separate router might be more convenient - you can unplug the router and
connect a single PC to the modem before complaining to the ISP that the
connection doesn't work.

My thinking is that it would seem wise to sort out the LAN
before getting entangled with broadband as well. But on the
other hand, I don't want to waste time and effort in setting
up a shared Internet dial-up connection that I will only be
using for a few weeks. And I don't even know if routers are
specialised for either dial-up or broadband but not both!

If you want minimum hassle you can just configure all the PCs for DHCP
(dynamic host configuration protocol) and they'll get all the settings
they need from the router.

Can I use a router (assuming I can choose one intelligently)
just to set up the LAN, while continuing (for the time being)
to connect all my machines separately to the Internet by
dial-up as I am doing at the moment? (That might further
break down the problem into manageably small pieces.)

You could, but it's unduly complicated. You'd be using the router as a
switch (and possibly DHCP server) without using the routing
functionality, so you'd have to configure each PC to send local traffic
to the router but internet traffic to the modem. If you want to have a
play with this sort of thing you could set up a Linux box as a dialup
router, which would be my suggestion if you wanted to tidy up your
current arrangement and weren't going to switch to broadband soon. But
if you want to do that you'll need either a network card in the Linux
box for each PC connection, or a hub/switch to bring the cables
together.

Is there one website (or book) that explains all of this
stuff (except perhaps for the details about Windows XP)?

ISTR one gets recommended here occasionally, but I can't remember what
it is. I expect someone will be along in a bit ...

Angus Rodgers, in article o60jf39j16lfsbgj0rk98puobo51rabmro@
4ax.com, says...
My ISP (Orange, was Wanadoo, was Freeserve) is closing its
AnyTime dial-up service in December. I don't want to stay
with Orange on broadband, so I'll have to move to another
broadband ISP, sooner than I was planning. (I'd have been
happy to stay on dial-up for another year or so.)

I have two homebuilt desktops: an Intel PIII (which someone
else sold me as a barebones) and an AMD Athlon XP (which I
built myself). My daughter has an Intel Centrino laptop.

In addition to the advice you have already been given, one or
two more recommendations:

1. Keep it simple for your first foray into real networking.

- DO NOT USE a "free" USB modem that is frequently offered by
ISPs. They will mean your PC has to do most of the work of
managing the Internet connection itself, and will require the
connected PC to be on for others to use the Internet.

- DO USE an modem/router. This has an inbuilt broadband modem
that looks after the interface to the phone/cable line
carrying the broadband signals.

- Since you have more than one computer, choose a router with
four Ethernet ports. If you think you might want wifi, then
pick one with this capability - it can be turned off until you
need it - and understand the security and wireless range
implications.

- Let the modem/router configure itself, assuming it has this
capability. Most ISPs will tell you the settings you should
need. This, typically, will set up security using NAT and
DHCP - where the router provides network addresses for
computers on the LAN. You may wish to turn off DHCP and
manually assign the IP addresses to LAN computers, since this
can make file-sharing over your LAN simpler, I.e. you'll know
which address is which computer.

2. If you are going with ADSL over the phone lines, install
your modem/router as close to the telephone company master
socket as possible. This is the one with the bottom-half of
the faceplate removable. (as an example, see
http://www.solwise.co.uk/adsl_splitters.htm#NTE5)

- Replace the faceplate (you are allowed to do this, but not
play with the provider's wiring in the back of the master-
socket) with one containing an inbuilt "ADSL filter" (such as
http://www.adslnation.com/products/xte2005.php). This will
prevent the low-frequency telephony devices in your home from
interfering with the high frequency ADSL signal (up to ~1MHz).
Putting the filter there means you also get the ADSL signal
off your home telephone wiring, so you are less likely to get
problems with interference picked up on these wires that
probably run close to such sources. For a guide to wiring, (I
wish he'd fix the initial font) see:
http://www.readman.dsl.pipex.com/oth...ecatwiring.htm

- Plug in your modem/router into the "ADSL" socket in the new
master-socket faceplate. If this is difficult, then extend
the connection to the router with a new, twisted-pair wire. A
telephone-type wire is OK but NOT a flat phone extension wire
- it must be twisted-pair, so cat-5 is OK, even if it is
overkill. Consider wiring this permanently into the
"unfiltered" sockets at the back of the faceplate (check that
the one you choose has these connections at the back - some
older design ones don't...)

- With this set-up you will not need plug-in filters in each
telephone socket, since you will have isolated the house phone
wiring from that carrying the ADSL signals. You wire the
phone wires to the filtered output connection at the back of
the new faceplate.

3. Wire you computers into the router's Ethernet ports.
Configure your Internet access settings to "use LAN" and
remove all reference to dial-up.

- The modem/router will look after the task of connecting to
ADSL and the authentication of you as a user of your chosen
ISP, since you have to tell it your ISP password, etc. (You
can connect to only one ISP - and there can be only one
broadband modem on your line). Think of the modem/router as a
small, dedicated computer with the sole task of handling the
"bad outside world". You will still need a firewall and virus
checker, but they don't have to work as hard (so you don't
need Norton or other annual subscription packages...).

- The router part will decide whether it needs to route the
data to one of your internal computers (via wifi if you are
using this) or to the Internet.

Remember - Keep it simple initially and don't try supporting
all the more esoteric features. Pick an ISP that doesn't lock
you into long contracts, (Check other users' ratings and see
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isps.html. You can switch
provider later to get what you want.
Note: don't cancel the ADSL connection - you just move it to a
new ISP. The broadband contract is between the ISP and
telephone/cable provider, so you don't talk to the likes of BT
for broadband problems (BTtelephones, BTopenreach and
BTinternet are all different companies).


--
JohnW.
Replace the obvious with co.uk in 2 places to mail me.

In article , JohnW
lid says...

- DO NOT USE a "free" USB modem that is frequently offered by
ISPs.

Good point - I forgot about those monstrosities.

2. If you are going with ADSL over the phone lines, install
your modem/router as close to the telephone company master
socket as possible.

Also eminently sensible advice, even if it does mean running another
cable.

JohnW wrote:

- Replace the faceplate (you are allowed to do this, but not
play with the provider's wiring in the back of the master-
socket) with one containing an inbuilt "ADSL filter" (such as
http://www.adslnation.com/products/xte2005.php). This will
prevent the low-frequency telephony devices in your home from
interfering with the high frequency ADSL signal (up to ~1MHz).
Putting the filter there means you also get the ADSL signal
off your home telephone wiring, so you are less likely to get
problems with interference picked up on these wires that
probably run close to such sources.

That is good advice.

Another way to solve the same problem would be asking the phone company
to install the ADSL connection on a spare copper pair coming to your
house - one that isn't currently in use. That way you won't need any
filters at all, as the telephone line will be totally separate from the
ADSL line from the get-go. (I've managed to persuade the local telephone
company to wire it that way here in Finland, but I'm not sure if it is
possible to get this kind of arrangement in the UK.)

--
znark

Jukka Aho, in article tMrKi.229050$Ua4.103771
@reader1.news.saunalahti.fi, says...


Another way to solve the same problem would be asking the phone company
to install the ADSL connection on a spare copper pair coming to your
house - one that isn't currently in use. That way you won't need any
filters at all, as the telephone line will be totally separate from the
ADSL line from the get-go. (I've managed to persuade the local telephone
company to wire it that way here in Finland, but I'm not sure if it is
possible to get this kind of arrangement in the UK.)

But not in the UK - at least for free. Getting Openreach, the
wires-to-homes company for practically all telecomms service
providers, will charge over £100 to provide a new line, even
if there is a spare pair in their cable and you aren't
intending to use it for anything other than data.

You -can- have a second line, but then you will pay a second
rental to whoever provides any service. We have local loop
unbundling (LLU) in some (larger) places. Here the service
provider isn't necessarily BT, so the cost could be "free"
-no- "rolled into" to service provided by another provider.
These connections are all maintained by Openreach - for a fee
that someone has to pay.

--
JohnW.
Replace the obvious with co.uk in 2 places to mail me.

declared for all the world to hear...
I suppose if I'm going to have a broadband connection, I'll
need to have something called a "router", which will connect
to the Internet, while the three machines will all connect
to the router via (non-twisted) patch cables: is that right?

You don't have to but it's by far and away the most painless solution
where multiple machines are concerned.

I'm quite likely to want to connect four (but not five)
machines at a time, but I think that most routers have
at least that many ports: is that right?

4 is the norm, but you can just plug in a switch if you need more ports.

Any advice on how I should go about making these changes?

Find an ISP you want to go with, and if they don't provide a router go
any buy one. I use Draytek myself, they have an excellent reputation and
many useful features, for example the ability to act as a VPN server
which makes remote access a doddle.

Will I have trouble setting up a broadband connection for
machines running Win98SE (which is, of course, no longer
supported by M$)?

No, but I would recommend ditching your fixed IP addressing and use
DHCP. This is where the router assigns IP addresses to each machine.
Most routers have the option to "fix" an IP, meaning the same machine
will always be assigned the same IP address.

Should I keep the probable future use of Linux in mind
when choosing an ISP (even though I'm hardly ready to
think about Linux yet)?

Won't make any difference.

Where can I most painlessly and/or quickly pick up the
modicum of Windows XP knowledge that I need to get the
laptop properly integrated into the network?

You don't need any knowledge. Just plug in the ethernet cable and it
will work (as long as you are using DHCP with your new router).

Should I sort out the router, etc., in advance, myself, or
choose a good ISP and leave it up to them? I don't have much
money to spend on equipment, but common sense suggests the
former alternative is preferable, although likely to be more
expensive.

Some ISPs provide a router for free, others don't. Suss out which ISP
you want first, then buy a router if necessary. Don't be frightened of
wireless, as long as you can use WPA security then you'll be fine.

Sorry, /really/ dumb question, but what does a router have
in it apart from Ethernet ports? Are there some with dial-up
modems included, and some with broadband; or is there just
nothing "modem-like" about them at all, and if so, how /do/
you connect a LAN to the Internet? (Please don't shoot me!)

A router in this context would typically mean a ADSL
modem/router/firewall/wireless access point all in one box. The hardware
firewall will provide good protection for your network.

Having dial-up as a fallback is a feature you will find on very
expensive routers. Broadband is fairly solid, I've been online
continuously for about 5 years.

Can I use a router (assuming I can choose one intelligently)
just to set up the LAN, while continuing (for the time being)
to connect all my machines separately to the Internet by
dial-up as I am doing at the moment? (That might further
break down the problem into manageably small pieces.)

You could do, but if you then choose an ISP which gives a free router
you've wasted £50.
--
Regards
Jon

In message , Jon
writes
Having dial-up as a fallback is a feature you will find on very
expensive routers. Broadband is fairly solid, I've been online
continuously for about 5 years.
If the OP really doesn't want wireless and is prepared to shop about,
there are plenty of older 'business class' ADSL Modem/Routers that have
dial backup that can be had for almost pocket change now. Mind you, it
feels like I've had my arms cut off when I have to use dial up so not
sure how useful it would be but who knows....

Can I use a router (assuming I can choose one intelligently)
just to set up the LAN, while continuing (for the time being)
to connect all my machines separately to the Internet by
dial-up as I am doing at the moment? (That might further
break down the problem into manageably small pieces.)

You could do, but if you then choose an ISP which gives a free router
you've wasted £50.

--
Clint Sharp

Just a quick note to say that, despite appearances, I
really am grateful for the many helpful and amazingly
detailed responses to my somewhat rambling query, but
I have an Open University exam and a financial crisis
to worry about at the moment, and cannot start to deal
with the broadband problem yet. I will reply, when it
is possible for me to give some time and thought to it.
I've read all the replies, but haven't started to boil
them down into a plan of action. Trying not to panic!
--
Angus Rodgers
(twirlip@ eats spam; reply to angusrod@)
Contains mild peril