Home Networking: got confused in the middle.

[Turkish]

Hi people,

Me and my neighbour decided to create a 2 home network so we can share files and etc. but we are confused, because we have 3 pcs each (2 desktops, and a laptop) and we want to network them all together. However here is the thing that confuses us; we both have seperate T1 lines, and want to keep our bandwidth to ourselves, but at the same time, share files/folders/printers etc. We both run Windows XP on all PCs and we have 2 wireless routers, with 4 wired connection plugs. We both have Linkyssy BEFW11S4 as the router. I would really appreciate if some of you that are more knowledgable about the subject can post your suggestions. Should we share files/folders/printers via wireless connection, or just regular wired network? And if you know of any routers/access points that are capable of large home networks, please let me know

Thanks.

Xiety

 

[NWRMidnight]

First, I think you would have less headaches if you use the wired part of the routers. As for large home networks, what you have will work fine. If you need more ports to hook up more PC's you just have to add a switch or hub to it.

Now, You need to turn off the DHCP server on both routers and assign IP's manaully (otherwise you will have problems with the routers trying to assign IP numbers to each other's computer and such, then I would use 192.168.1.1 for his router's internal IP number. Then I would assign each of his computers with 192.168.1.2 thru 99. Then I would assign the IP on your router as 192.168.1.100 and your computers 192.168.1.101 thru 255. This way all your computers, his and yours are on the same network and you can share your files with no problem. Now to make your t1 and his t1 seperate, you need to use your router IP number (192.168.1.100) as your default gateway so all your internet activity goes thru your router and your connection. And he needs to set up his machine with a default gateway of his router (192.168.1.1) so all his internet activity will go thru his router and T1.

The only problem you will have is if your router won't allow you to change it's internal IP address, I have the Linksys BEFSX41 Firewall/router and it allows you to change the internal IP number of the router, and since you have a linksys router, I have to believe it gives you the same option.

I hope this makes sense.

Daniel