Networks 4 University Students need the internet split to 4 machines.....

Hi guys,

I'm looking at getting broadband for our new house we are sharing (4 of us all together).

We're currently looking at Bulldog that goes up to 8mb.

Anyway, on to my real question...

How would I hook 4 machines up to the same ADSL line without spending £69084590689540675.

Any help/suggestions would be very much appreciated.

 

you can do it spending about £50

get a router from one of many online stores

Id personally recommend a linksys WRT54G

 

Yep, just pick up any old router and you should be fine. May wanna grab a wireless one too cause chances are someone will need it at some point even if you don't now.

Of course you can't order from newegg over there, but something like this would suit your needs well: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833127143
just remember to set the router to PPPoE mode and put in your DSL modem's username and password in, assuming DSL works the same way over here as it does over there.

 

That only works out of the box for Cable, if you wanna use the WRT54G with an ADSL line you will need an ADSL modem with an RJ54 output.

The WAG54G is the one with builtin modem.

 

Yes, thats right, but the WAG54G is very problematic as I've said many times before. Personally I would reccomend the Belkin F5D7632uk4, which is cheaper than the linksys and more reliable!

You could also use a proxy server using an old computer if you have one.

 

Watch it thouth, 4 students sharing broadband with a 12 month contract. Who ever signs up for it will be left with the bill for the remainder of the contract.

As the other 3 stuents move out for the summer and find a diff house for next term. While the 4th is stuck with the bill for the summer period

Happened twice I was in a student house

Anyway id recomend a netgear DG834GT, its 100mb wirless router with 4 RJ-45 conections for wired network or could just use wireless

 

Thats a point, unless you make them pay in advanced. And if you move out of the house, I don't think you can cancel or move the contract!

 

Joint/house account Cheesecake
Anyyway, suggestions as above are ideal. We've gone a different route, in buying a ADSL modem and switches. Makes cabling the house up a LOT easier. Stick the modem by the phone point, and a switch on each floor (if you're in a multi level house) reduces the amount of wiring you'd get by having a single central point for all the connections.

Just a thought

 

Thanks guys, this sounds really silly, but how exactly is it all wired up.

Does it go...

ADSL socket > router > wires to (or wireless) > connetion (what connection at the back of the pcs?)

Do we all need modems?

 

phone socket --> router/modem ---> switch(if using a modem, or if you need more sockets than the router allows) ---> pc's

--> = wires, wether it be Cat5 or telephone

 

So our laptops and PCs need the telephone socket thingy at the back? ok.

 

Time for an instructive illustration:

You need a microfilter to enable you to hook up a phone once you've had ADSL activated. The microfilter has two connections available, one for the computer and one for a phone. Your modem should be plugged into the microfilter, after the modem comes the router (they usually have a built in switch so that you can connect up to 4 PCs directly to the router. We used a new switch on the second floor of our house to neaten cabling, the switch plugs into the router and the PCs can be plugged into the router directly (If it has a built in switch) or into any switch linked to the router. This is the heirarchy that works best. Avoid phone extensions and try to connect the modem into the main phone socket in the house to get the best signal.
Good luck! (Its easy to set it all up and if you have any questions just post them in this thread to keep things neat!)

The cable from the modem to the router and between the router, switches and PCs is called Cat5e or 'patch cable'. It comes in a variety of flavours: sleeved, booted, etc, its all much the same. We cabled our previous house using cheap cat5e from ebuyer.com, cost just over a tenner. Also getting a modem/router/switch combined is a good move and saves money as its cheaper than buying the three things seperately.
The connection at the back of the PC which you need is a LAN connection or 'Ethernet' port. If your PC doesn't have one you can pick up a PCI Ethernet card 10/100 which will do the job, they just need to be screwed into place and a quick driver install (or not if you're using Windows XP) and you're away!

 

Thanks for the image, very helpful!

I'm looking at the Belkin F5D7632uk4 and it connects to machines with USB stick attachment things.

My last questions are...

Is 54mbps noticeably crapper than 108mbps?

Will my games have lag online due to the wireless connection? I have had a wireless mouse before and the lag was unbearable.

 

Wired is cheaper and more reliable than wireless, I've had a lot of problems setting it up for friends because student properties often have several floors, thick walls, etc and can provide all kinds of obstructions to the signal, not to mention the problem of security and signal stability. Stick with wires for your first build, it'll be a lot cheaper and very easy to set up.

I've had good experiences with the following brands:
D-Link Wired
Linksys Wired
Netgear Wired
Buffalo Wireless

and bad experiences with the following:
D-Link Wireless - Constant signal drops, fried due to factory reset returned to company and was replaced by a router with a broken ADSL port, had to give up on them after that.
Linksys Wireless - Erratic connection which was interfered with by every electrical appliance in the house.
Dynasys/Dynamode Wireless - Don't even get me started, it just flicked on and off even with new drivers and firmware

 

ok will do, any wired router recommendations?

 

Probably not the most popular suggestion, but my generic safecom 4 port ADSL router has not yet failed me. It runs 4PCs and an xbox, some connected via a switch in another part of the house. Runs my 2mbit ADSL no probs, never failed me.

 

If you get a Belkin F5D7632uk4, that is pretty much all you would need. The telephone line connects directly to the router (after you've plugged it into the microfilter so that you can use the phone at the same time as you use the net). You can connect a switch to the router if you want and wire up the house with a cat5e cable. All computers either need a ethernet port - which 99% of computers 3 years or newer will have, or a wireless adaptor. Just follow the instructions on the quickstart guide that comes with the router and you are done.

All you need from the ISP is the username and password - and possibly the type of connection the ISP uses - e.g. PopoA or PopoE.

EDIT: I must point out that most current ADSL routers only support speeds of up to 8mbps. We will be moving up from 8meg to 10+ in the next year, so you may want to consider futureproofing and get an ADSL 2 modem, which I think supports up to 24mbps.

 

Are Cat5 cables those phone line looking things but with slightly fatter connection ends?

 

Yes, get them off the internet cheaply! You can get very long cables - up to 150m without any quality loss.

At home I have a proper network with network ports in the walls. But for you I suggest getting a long cable direct from the switch or ADSL router straight to the computer.

 

Yeah I'd do it the way you suggest because I can't start blowing holes in the walls of the house we're renting, infact I wonder if its even got an ADSL socket, i bet it hasn't!


I'll sort it somehow.