Network confusion

[Sleet]

Hi,

I've had a look at some other threads here, but still a few things im unsure about. PC world and nildram people didnt help make things much clearer either.

So, the story is i have 3 computers in the household all of which i want to connect to nildrams asdl service. 2 comps are on win xp 1 on ME.

Do i get three nework cards and 1 router, just run leads from comp to router?

Also there is a huge choice of hardware about, will a basic £10 pci card and £50 router be fine enough? any must have features they need?

What happens about modems? Do i get one from nildram that comes after router, or does each comp need one that i have to supply not the ISP?

Filters, what are these? who supplies them and how many would i need?

I know these are real basic questions, but for some reason technical staff seem to like avoiding laymans terms to confuse the hell outta me.

Also, IP addresses, how does that work? will all three comps have the same IP address with a router? does it matter?

 

[Krazeh]

Originally posted by Sleet
Do i get three nework cards and 1 router, just run leads from comp to router?

Yes, get each pc a network card then run a ethernet cable from each card to the router

Also there is a huge choice of hardware about, will a basic £10 pci card and £50 router be fine enough? any must have features they need?

It should be, you should look at gettin a router with good NAT (Network Address Translation) options and a firewall, take a look at www.adslguide.org.uk for reviews and comments about routers

What happens about modems? Do i get one from nildram that comes after router, or does each comp need one that i have to supply not the ISP?

You'll probably get a modem from Nildram, altho if you buy an adsl router it'll most likely have a modem built in. So leads from pc's go to router, then you plug the router into the adsl line, no need for another modem.

I think Nildram sell routers as well.

Filters, what are these? who supplies them and how many would i need?

Filters seperate out voice and adsl frequencies on the phone line, think you need one for each phone socket you're usin, even if it just has a phone on it. You'll get them from Nildram

Also, IP addresses, how does that work? will all three comps have the same IP address with a router? does it matter?

You'll get one public IP from nildram, that'll be the ip for your router. Each PC will have a private IP (ie in the range 192.168.0.1 - 192.168.0.255). The router will automatically convert private ip's to public ip's and vice versa.

 

[FatBusinessman]

I was going to post here, but it looks like Krazeh has said everything that needs saying. Nice one

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Re: Re: Network confusion

Originally posted by Krazeh
You'll probably get a modem from Nildram, altho if you buy an adsl router it'll most likely have a modem built in. So leads from pc's go to router, then you plug the router into the adsl line, no need for another modem.

I think Nildram sell routers as well.

In simple terms a router is a switch/hub with a modem. A "router" with no modem side to it is not a router for main stream purposes


And yes you can buy a router from Nildram.

 

[djpringle]

On a similar note, regarding routers anyway, I currently have two PC's networked on a hub in my lounge. In December I'll be getting broadband so will want to get a router to allow both of these machines to access the web via the network.

The hub already has an uplink port so I am correct in thinking that this will connect to the routers ethernet port without any problems?

Secondly, the router I'm looking at has two network ports which is perfect for when I plug in my laptop but will the laptop be able to talk to the other machines for transfering stuff etc?


edit: The router isn't in the lounge by the way hence the uplink and only one cable between them.

 

[Sleet]

Thanks very much guys, really really helped and made it clearer in my head

Shopping time!

 

[Sibanac]

Originally posted by djpringle
On a similar note, regarding routers anyway, I currently have two PC's networked on a hub in my lounge. In December I'll be getting broadband so will want to get a router to allow both of these machines to access the web via the network.

The hub already has an uplink port so I am correct in thinking that this will connect to the routers ethernet port without any problems?

Secondly, the router I'm looking at has two network ports which is perfect for when I plug in my laptop but will the laptop be able to talk to the other machines for transfering stuff etc?


edit: The router isn't in the lounge by the way hence the uplink and only one cable between them.

yes the computer will be able to talk to eachother.

Note on the router tho, what router are you looking at ? are you sure the router has 2 network ports and not 1 network port and one WAN port ?

 

[djpringle]

Could well be I'll have a closer look, it was a US Robotics Ethernet one and just caught my eye since it mentioned 2 ports rather than the usual 4 or 1. Cheers for the confirmation about the networking anyway

 

[Sibanac]

Originally posted by djpringle
Could well be I'll have a closer look, it was a US Robotics Ethernet one and just caught my eye since it mentioned 2 ports rather than the usual 4 or 1. Cheers for the confirmation about the networking anyway

yeah 2 ports strike me as kinde wierd, most seem to have 1/4/8. better check to be sure