More Newbie Questions

[Sosowac]

Alright, i have ordered all my parts, and i'm waiting (not so patiently) for them to arrive so i can start building. I realize one thing i will need is an ethernet card so i can hook my computers up to share the cable modem. Does an ethernet card come with the motherboard, and if not which ones would you recommend? (Ordered the Asus A7V266-C motherboard BTW).

Also, the person i emailed about sharing the cable access said that i would need to hook my computers up to a 10BaseT Ethernet hub. Any reccomendations on these? Since the computers are on different floors (but directly vertical) i guess i'll have to do some work to get these things together. Any comments?

 

[cholley]

you can also use a "Y" cable to share the internet connection if you don't want a hub
and network cards are real cheap, i have seen some kits that come with 2 cards and a hub in one box

 

[sean2002]

Your local Wal-Mart probably sells a 2 card+hub set for about $60

 

[piasabird]

Ive heard you can network 2 computers with a special USB cable. I think Belkin makes a 20 foot USB cable and distributes it with some software to network them. It has a cable with a hump in the middle that makes it work. I think ActionTec made a cable like this also. You might look for this in places like


There are different ways to do this. There are network adapters that work with phonelines, and there are network sytems that us an ethernet adapter that plugs into USB, and there is the traditional way using a HUB or a switch and NIC cards. There is also a way to use a crossover cable and 2 nic cards. While a crossover cable works, it is not as reliable as using a hub or a switch with twisted pair cable.

There is also wireless networking which of course costs a little more. Good twisted pair ethernet cable cost money too. Almost as much or more than a NIC card.

Network Gear

I havent tried this device myself, so look for a reveiw or something on it.