Home Networking Newbie - Very Basic Questions?

[QueHuong]

I live in a two story house and plan on networking 3-4 computers on both floors. One has XP, one has 98, one has ME, and we might buy a fourth with dualboot Linux and XP. The computer on the first floor will not be near a phone jack, but the others will. We do not currently have broadband, but we're planning on getting ADSL and have it available for all of the computers.

1) Is wireless a good plan to go with? How's the reliability, speed, etc? And will it work on a two story house?

2) How do I share the internet over 3-4 computers?

3) Does ADSL require or all one computer to be connected to the phone outlet?

4) What would the basic setup look like if I were to go with eternet networking and wireless? Such as what hardware I need, limitations for my situation, etc.

Remember, I'm a newbie when it comes to networking. I just need some basic, but sorta comprehensive, info, so I'll know where to start reading up more on it.

 

[amdskip]

1) Wireless networks are alright but if you are looking for a solid dependable network that you will not have to mess with or hear people yelling at you when it's not working, going with a wired solution is probably much better.

2) Not sure with ADSL but I'm guessing you need some form of a router.

3) Just one to the modem IIRC (pretty sure there is some form of a modem correct?)

4)not sure?

Is it physically possible for you to effectively run the cat 5e from floor to floor/computer to computer, etc?

 

[owensdj]

1) Wireless isn't as fast as 100Mbps wired Ethernet(aka Fast Ethernet), but it'll be faster than your broadband Internet access so you won't notice any drop in Internet access speed.

2) You'll get a wireless router such as the Netgear MR314 802.11b Wireless router. It also has 4 wired 100Mbps Ethernet ports so you can have a mix of wired and wireless computers. Each computer will need either a wired Ethernet or a wireless network card.

3) You will connect your ADSL modem to the phone line and connect your router to the ADSL modem. The wired Ethernet computers will connect to the router. Wireless computers can be anywhere within the range of the router.

4) You'll be limited to 4 wired computers(more can be added by adding a hub/switch) and many more wireless than that. The hardware you'll need is the router, network card for each computer, and Ethernet patch cables to connect each wired computer to the router.

 

[QueHuong]

For the computer with the ADSL modem, does it have to be turned on all the time if I want to access the internet from the other comps?

 

[owensdj]

MindStorm, none of the computers will have the ADSL modem. The ADSL modem will be plugged into the Internet ethernet port on your router. All of the computers will be independent. It won't matter which ones are turned on or off.

 

[QueHuong]

Ok, thanks guys - now it's much clearer for me.

Another question on wireless networking - how reliable is it? Am I likely to lose data packets over transmission, especially if I'm moving files from a computer in basement to a computer on the 2nd floor? Or are there any other troubles I might run into?