Basically our house is a nightmare to wire (we wired a Direct TV Dish 2 years ago and it was unbelievable), so I have come to the conclusion that if I want to share broadband or dsl it will have to be without cutting holes in the wall or spending hours in my attic.
I have several questions regarding Home PhoneLine networks...
All our phone jacks have two lines installed and running on them with our primary number installed as line 1. Some phone cable must be old (initial building of the house 30+ years ago, but still 2 pair of twisted-pair wires in each jack (supporting 2 lines at all jacks).
First let me lay out my house for you...
Basement
phoneline/broadband enters house here
One desktop computer here running win 98
First floor
2-3 laptops (depending on who is home) running win 95 to win 98SE
laptops would need to be able to plug in at all jacks on any floor
Second floor
2 desktops running win 98 or win me (hey it was free)
So here are the important questions...
We would like to not have a client/server set up, in other words we would like to be able to have only one computer on at a time if that is all we need. Can this be done?
Which phoneline network is the best? Please keep in mind I am not on an unlimited budget (all those computers belong to college students for the most part).
Would you recommend getting the combo router/phoneline adapter or getting separate router and phoneline bridge?
Should I pay the extra money for the PCMCIA cards for the laptops or should I just go USB?
Are the USB devices hot plugable (I know printers/joysticks/camera's are) or do I need to reboot every time so that I connect to the network properly?
If you own one of these could you post a comment on how well you like or dislike them, including problems or things that are really nice.
Thanks everybody
I have several questions regarding Home PhoneLine networks...
All our phone jacks have two lines installed and running on them with our primary number installed as line 1. Some phone cable must be old (initial building of the house 30+ years ago, but still 2 pair of twisted-pair wires in each jack (supporting 2 lines at all jacks).
First let me lay out my house for you...
Basement
phoneline/broadband enters house here
One desktop computer here running win 98
First floor
2-3 laptops (depending on who is home) running win 95 to win 98SE
laptops would need to be able to plug in at all jacks on any floor
Second floor
2 desktops running win 98 or win me (hey it was free)
So here are the important questions...
We would like to not have a client/server set up, in other words we would like to be able to have only one computer on at a time if that is all we need. Can this be done?
Which phoneline network is the best? Please keep in mind I am not on an unlimited budget (all those computers belong to college students for the most part).
Would you recommend getting the combo router/phoneline adapter or getting separate router and phoneline bridge?
Should I pay the extra money for the PCMCIA cards for the laptops or should I just go USB?
Are the USB devices hot plugable (I know printers/joysticks/camera's are) or do I need to reboot every time so that I connect to the network properly?
If you own one of these could you post a comment on how well you like or dislike them, including problems or things that are really nice.
Thanks everybody