I have been overwhelmed by the number of responses that I received to my
questions and the number of different ways of networking computers and
valuable information that you shared. Thank you all SO MUCH!
I have decided to go with a wired network and will itemize what I am going
to do and why for those who might be interested.
My current system is a Motorola SB4100 Cable Modem with Charter Pipeline
service at about 750 Kbaud connected to a Dell Pentium computer running
Windows 98 Ver 2 in my office. I wanted to be able to hook up the generic
Pentium computer in my shack also using Win 98 Ver 2.
I was not sure whether wired or wireless was the best way to go.
Many of you thought that a wireless router could have issues with cell
phones that operate in the 2.4 gig range. Others thought that would not be
a problem since the routers and cellphones are broad spectrum. Some thought
encryption was adequate for security, others not. This is a gray area. One
person pointed out that it was possible for someone close by to actually use
me as an ISP if I went wireless. Regardless, I couldn't take a chance on
security. There was also the cost factor - a wireless router and 2 wireless
ethernet cards could add an additional $150 - $200 over a wired
installation, although this would be offset to some degree by not having the
cost of cat5e cables. I would not have the convenience of wireless either.
However, several of you cautioned that this is new and unproved technology,
the wireless routers are usually slower - especially if there are
interfering with/being interfered with by cell phones and could/would be
more prone to trouble.
Since I am using Win98 Ver 2 on both computers, I do not need to be
concerned with Internet Connection Sharing Software, and since I am not
using Mixed Media, that also simplifies everything. Likewise, since this is
a simple installation with Win98 Ver 2 and a router, I do not need to worry
about messing around with computer protocols, IP addresses and other stuff.
The router will take care of that. While that may not be sufficient for
more complex installations, it should be adequate for my purposes.
I decided to buy a 4-port router (rather than a hub) so that I would have
better speed and reliability and could also take advantage of the NAT/PPoE
protocols and have additional firewall protection IN ADDITION to my Zonelabs
2.6.2 firewall. The "pro's" among you all said that you should have a
firewall installed on your computer and NOT rely solely on the router since
if someone penetrated the computer, the router could not prevent
unauthorized traffic OUT. Also, as I understand it, worms could send many
e-mails out using your address book. The extra protection of a Zonelabs
firewall is a good thing (protects in AND out) and cheap insurance.
With a 4-port router, I would not need a hub for multiple connections (one
less box) and since I have a printer port (DI704P vs DI704 model) I can
connect a printer downstairs to the router as well.
After doing some research on www.practicallywired.com and reading everyone's
comments, I decided on the DLink DI-704P router which is currently $79.99 at
www.bestbuy.com BEFORE the $30 mail-in Bestbuy rebate (purchase by 3/16/02)
AND the $20 Dlink rebate (purchase by 3/16/02) for a net cost of $29.99!
Likewise, the Dlink DFE530TX+ Ethernet 32 Bit PCI Card is $14.99 at Bestbuy
before the $5.00 Dlink Mail-in rebate (purchase by 3/16/02) for a net cost
of $9.99. It is very hard to ignore prices like this! At this price, I
decided to buy an extra card for future use.
I am pricing both Shielded (STP) and Unshielded (UTP) cable. Although some
felt that shielding was not necessary, at the right price I will go with
shielded cable, just to add an extra layer of safety.
After shopping around at Bestbuy, Blackbox, CDW computer and a few others,
it became obvious that www.cdw.com has the best prices on cat5e cables and a
very wide assortment of colors and lengths. If you set up a corporate
account with them, you may even get another 20-30% off like I did.
So, my installation will be as follows:
Charter Pipeline 750kbaud - Cable Modem - Router -
Computer1
Computer2
There were many, many other ways of doing this installation depending on
wired vs. wireless, router vs. hub, etc, but in the end I wanted something
reliable, easy and fairly cheap.
I hope that this summary will be helpful to those of you who know even less
about this stuff than me! Many, many thanks to K1TTT, N2SS, N3AD, W2UP,
WM3T, W2CS, N4ZR, K9MI, K3CT, K6LL, SM0WKA, NQ4I, K6LA, VA3NA, EA5DFV, W1UK,
N2CY, K7KR, WT6P K4FB, NB1B, K2SX, N6XI, KI5DR, K5KG, K2WR, N1HKO and a few
guys who did not give their call.
Vy 73 and thanks again for all your help!
Bob KQ2M
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