Phone networking questions.

[elkinm]

I am looking to create a home network were ethernet cables are to hard to wire cleanly and wireless is just to expensive. Phone networking is my nest choice. i found this kit which appeears to have everything required to connect two computers through USB and phone lines. What I am wondering if anybody knows if this is a good kit or if anybody knows of a better phone solution for the network. This network is to connect two Win ME systems in a network and allow the to share the internet connection thruogh ICS. Also I awas wondering if there is any need to install additional filters on the other phones to filter out noise. Also, is it possible to create such a network through an ethernet router so the router would share the connection and not the computers.

Thanks

 

[rw120555]

For $35 you can't go too far wrong. Slightly more expensive, but still pretty cheap, would be to buy 2 USB adapters direct from

Netgear.

A router option is possible but will add to the cost. You could buy a regular router and then buy a homepna/ethnernet bridge such as the Netgear PE102 (the pe102 is also in the link above; $100 + shipping from netgear, or about $114 from buy.com). Or, you could buy something like the netgear rp334, router plus built in bridge, for around $250 from various places. This is very good quality, but linksys and maybe others have cheaper devices that are similar. Or, get the 2wire homeportal; many dsl services sell this for around $175. Includes homepna and ethernet connections. A more expensive variation includes wireless.

For a super-cheap minimalist setup, I don't think you can beat homepna. But, if you want a router or other stuff, costs can go up. What I try to do is hook up as much as I can to the ethernet ports on my router; then I use Homepna for those hard to reach machines off in the distance.

 

[elkinm]

The ethernet bridge is a good idea but for that price I can almost afford a full wireless solution. Given the kit, the D-Link 604 router found at the hot deals forum and this USB to ethernet adapter, would the router be able to connect to the phone line through this adapter and work? This seems as a much simpler alternative to the ethernet bridge as well as much cheeper if it works.

Thanks

 

[Workin']

Given the kit, the D-Link 604 router found at the hot deals forum and this USB to ethernet adapter, would the router be able to connect to the phone line through this adapter and work?

No. You need a bridge to convert the HPNA network protocol used by the phone-line network to/from the ethernet protocol used by the router.

 

[rw120555]

First off, you're right, if you want a router and you've only got 2 pcs, a wireless solution may not cost that much more than an HPNA solution. HPNA may be cheaper as you add more pcs; also, wireless doesn't always work well in all locations, e.g. in some big houses with the pcs far apart you might have problems.

Unfortunately, if I understand what you are proposing, I don't think it it will work. If you don't have a NIC in either machine, then the USB to ethernet adapter will make it possible to hook up one of your machines to your router. But, you still have the problem of the other machine; without a hpna/ethernet bridge, the router can't communicate with it. Maybe you could get something to work if both machines also had hpna cards and the machine connected to the router was always on, but then I'm not sure what the point of getting the router is (unless it is maybe to provide some added security).

I can't vouch for it, but here is the cheapest hpna/ethernet bridge I have seen, only $72:

TH102 from Buy.com

Buy.com also has a 1-day special on the Netgear mr314 router with built in WAP. Buy that, a NIC (or, if you prefer, your usb to ethernet adapter) and a wireless card or usb device for your other machine, and you'd have a complete wireless setup for well under $200.

So in short, if you want super-cheap, your hpna kit is the way to go. If you want a router, in a 2 pc setup I think the costs of wireless and hpna won't be that much different. You might go super-cheap for now, and if you don't like it then in 6 months get wireless when it is cheaper and/or faster. Maybe hpna 3.0 devices will be out by then too (hpna 3.0 will supposedly be 10 times faster).

 

[rw120555]

Just to clarify/qualify my last answer -- I think the setup you are proposing would work (at least it would if you had winxp), but it would require that the PC connected to the router always stay on in order for the other PC to have internet access. Basically, the PC would act as your hpna/ethernet bridge. Of course, if you have to leave it always on, that cuts into a lot of the advantages of a router. But, the router would have NAT, would probably work better than software like ICS, and you could hook up other ethernet devices to the router, such as other pcs or print servers. And, you could keep your eyes open for a cheapie hpna/ethernet bridge (prices have fallen a lot lately -- I suspect because either (a) HPNA is dying thanks to wireless, or (b) hpna 3.0 devices will make 2.0 obsolete, so vendors have to get rid of stuff now.)

I say WinXP because of what I've recently learned about network bridges; not sure how it would work in ME. If interested, see this thread, in particular the 6th message (from me) about a mixed network environment. In your case, you'd be mixing HPNA and ethernet networks (albeit pretty small ones).