Please can someone advise me on how to go about setting up a simple home network to share an ADSL internet connection.
I have been told that i need a router and 2 network cards but im not sure if this is correct.

I have one computer running win 2k and the other running win 98se and wish to network them together so the internet connection can be used on both computers at the same time. They need to be able to run msn messenger and use the internet as normal.

Please can someone tell me if what i have been told is correct or what i need to create a simple network.

Thanks

2 network cards would be fine. Your computer which is connected directly to the ASDL can function as a router. A seperate router is optional. Here is instructions for without a router.

1)Connect the ASDL to the Windows 2000 machine.
2)Fit a 2nd network card in the Windows 2000 machine.
3)Connect this card with a crossed cat5 UTP cable to the network card in the windows 98 machine.
4)Ensure that "Obtain an IP Address automatically" is enabled in the connection settings for the network card in windows 98 machine.
5)Right click Network Places on Windows 2000 machine, select properties, opens Network and Dial UP Connection settings.
6)There is an icon for ASDL connection, and also one for the network card. Ensure that "obtain an IP address automatically" is selected for the network card which is connected to the other machine via crossover cable.
7)Right click icon for ASDL. Select "sharing" tab, and then ensure that the tick box is ticked.
8)Reboot everything just to be sure.

Your Windows 2000 machine will have to be booted up for the other machine to access the internet. You will be able to do most things on the Windows 98 machine that you can do on the Windows 2000 one, but hosting a network game on it over the internet might have problems and you will have to do this on the Windows 2000 machine.

Here is instructions for with a router. I recommend getting one of these cheap small routers meant for internet connection sharing.

1)Connect the line from DSL bridge to the WAN/Uplink port on the router, the short cable should come with the router.
2)Connect the computers to router ports, most routers don't care whether you use crossover or normal cable.
3)Router should be able to be a DHCP server, so set it to be one.
4)Set computers to obtain IP settings automatically.
5)Enter your ISP login information in the router configuration. Set both computers to use LAN for internet access. It's good to enter DNS info in the router too.

The instructions above are probabli described in the router's user manual too (and much better than here ).
The internet connection is maintained by router, so you don't have to boot up one computer to have internet connection for the other. Since DHCP is enabled, you can easily plug in another computer and it will have internet access with minimal fuss.
The router will also function as a robust firewall, blocking all incoming ports by default.

As i dont have ADSL yet do i also need an ADSL modem to plug into the router?

Im thinking of not using a router simply to keep costs down.
So i think ill need:
1x adsl internal modem
1x RJ11 - BT male cable
1x RJ45 crossover cable
2x NIC's

Is this correct??

Correct, assuming neither of the computers have a NIC already .

If the ADSL will be running on the same line as phone and you would like to use the phone while online, you need a little gadget that suppresses the noise caused by ADSL traffic. You ISP will probably supply it

PS
You can use a 486 or a Pentium box with Linux as a router too... Will cost almost nothing, but there will be more fuss setting it up..

If you fancy going wireless, Amazon.com is selling the Microsoft Home Networking Desktop kit for $150.

And yes, your ISP better supply you with microfilters, if not they're like $3 anyway.

what would i need for a wirless network?

wireless router and wireless NICs, PC card for laptops....

You don't need a ADSL modem once you have your router as the router allows connection to be shared and at the mean time act as an ADSL modem provided your router is a "ADSL Router".
4 port ADSL modem (D-LINK) might cost you around $47 at amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...39175/sr=11-1/ref=sr_11_1/104-4765689-3635124

Another way is:
1) Get a ADSL Router with more than one port, 2 10/100 NIC card, ....
not to forget two RJ-45 connectors
2) Install the NICs to your two pcs...connect the one RJ-45 to each NIC.
3) Set up your modem accordingly to your operation manual and ur isp recommendation

The gadget that Nodsu mentioned is a ADSL Filter....connected to a telephony device through a wall outlet of the same line, the filter helps to prevent the signals produced by the telephone to interfere with the ASDL Router...a splitter may be provided if you have a telephony device connected thru the same wall outlet of the ADSL modem as a ADSL filter can be place in-line with the ADSL modem.

so i dont need a modem at all i can use a normal ADSL router and it will do the same job?

You still need a DSL modem, it's just built into the router in this case.
"normal ADSL router" word combination could also mean a simple router suitable for ADSL connection splitting. Make absolutely sure that the thing you buy is capable of functioning as a DSL modem.

BTW have you consideried the possibility of leasing the modem?
I pay about $6 per month for my DSL bridge to my ISP. Definently better than giving out the cash all at once.

right i have decide what i want now afterall

i want:
2 nics
a hub
2 rj45 cables

this is the kit i am thinking of purchasing
http://www.dabs.com/products/prod-info3-info.asp?&m=y&quicklinx=QZK

but i am unsure about the modem????

i want an internal ADSL modem but im not sure as to how i go about connecting it to the hub. What cable(s) do i need and how do i connect it all?

do i just connect the modem 2 the wall socket from my pc or to the hub?

thanks for the help

Hey, that bundles not too bad, I guess. OK for the money, certainly.... Well, why not??

So you will use OS-based connection sharing and an internal modem.. (IMHO)

You will plug your phone line into the DSL modem.
You connect PCs to the hub with 2 normal cables with RJ45 jacks. Or, if you plan to use only 2 comps, you connect the computers to each other using a crossover cable (and throw the hub away ).

im still confused



how do i share my connection using the idea i have chosen. i have been told proxy, but i dunno how to set this up or if it is correct?

if i want a router i found out that the ISP im thinking of getting http://www.freedom2surf.com/adsl/home.php does not support NAT, so can i use a router afterall?

Why need a hub?...Get a ADSL Router(say 4 ports) supported by the ISP, the price is reasonable, it's a good investment. Try to think of the future, you might want to add more PC to you home network next time.

i have my cable shared i have two win2k machines and one 98 machine. to share my connection i got an old p100 16mb ram with a 1gig hard drive and installed ipcop on it. it is a router and firewall. it is 20mb to download

http://ipcop.org/cgi-bin/twiki/view/IPCop/WebHome

all you will need is an old 486 computer and put 2 network cards in it after installation you can unplug all the unnessary components like monitor,keyboard,floppy disk and anything else.
connect one network card to a hub and the other to the modem.

The thing on that webpage says that ISP is not using NAT while giving you an IP address. NAT is completely transparent, the ISP has nothing to do with the way you give out IP addresses on your private network. So you can still use a router.

You can follow the instructions Phantasm gave you in the beginning. You just don't have to connect the DSL modem to the win2k machine through the network. Everything else is the same.

If you have a home network, and have a machine doing NAT that's supplying the connection for all other machines on your home network, then as far as the internet is concerned, all the traffic is comming from your NAT machine. Nodsu is right its transparent.

right i will use a router afterall!!!

this is what i propose to use:

i have seen a netgear adsl router with built in modem
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...m9kdWN0X3NwZWNpZmljYXRpb25z&product_uid=34058
included is a rj45 cable, microfilter and modem cable

2 benq 10/100 network cards

and a standard 'elite mini' 30 metre rj45 - rj45 cable

would this be a good network to setup?