PCA Forums

i just got DSL and about to host a little LAN party. ya know juss me and some of my friends. i have a 8 port switch/hub... and one of my friends is going to bring his 8 port hub. there are going to be about 15 people here and i want to know how to share my connection between all these people. plz explain in detail. thanks in advance...

oh and is it possible for 2 LAN cards to operate at the same time in the same system? like one connects to the modem and the other connects to the hub/switch?

There's 2 ways you can do this. The easiest by far is to buy a DSL/Cable router. For example the Linksys BEFSR11 http://linksys.com/products/product.asp ... 3&prid=142 which you can find just about anywhere(Office Depot, Best Buy, etc) for around $75 (sometimes less on sale). You can also find some by other manufactures for less.

you said 2 ways.... wutz the other?

Sorry I hit Submit prematurely.

The Linksys router sells for $50 - $75.

If you're not in a rush, you can get a good deal on a D-Link cable/DSL router from from Buy.com for $36 after a $10 rebate: http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?s ... =0&loc=101


A hardware router is BY FAR this simplest way. You connect the DSL router to the DSL modem, connect your switch or hub to the DSL router, configure the DSL router with your DSL usename and password (if your DSL used PPPOE whcih most do) and that's it. The router provides DHCP so you just configure everyone's TCP/IP settings on their network card to "Obtain IP address from DCHP server" (the default setting, and the setting which anyone who has cable will be using) and they have internet access. It's important to make sure no one has Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) enabled on their computer or you'll have two DHCP servers running.

You may want to keep this configuration even after the LAN party is over. The router acts as a hardware firewall isolating your IP address from the Internet, and you don't have to mess around with the WinPOET logon software for DSL. The router logs you on automatically.


The other way is a lot more trouble. You turn your computer into a server. You install a second NIC on your computer and enable Internet Connection Sharing on the Dialup adapter for your WinPOET connection. This is a lot more complicated and technically challenging, depending on what OS you're using. If I remember correctly I don't think you can share a connection in 98 unless it's a dialup (but if you're using WinPOET then your DSL conenction does appear as a dialup). In 2K and XP it's less of a hassle to share anything.

Also you might run into IRQ problems with a second NIC - I've often run into problems with two NICS on the same box. Worse yet, the problem may not appear until the party starts and you're actually using a lot of bandswidth.

Take my advise, use the hardware DSL router - it's SO much simpler and less aggravating. Have everyone kick in $5 or $10 for it.

A lot more info here: http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/

I have the DSL router + 10 port switch setup - once it's set up you can plug/unplug as many units as you want - it's totally effortless once set up

Nah, routers suck , hehe. I have an Athlon Tbird server running as a router, with a 25port switch. But, if you can't get your hands on this, here is a sugjestion: *note, not sure about all of this, so please correct any errors*

Most hubs/switchs have a downlink port with allows you to add an additional hubs. Unfortunately, the draw back to this, is that you must have two enthernet cards and some know-how. Now, i'm not sure about this part, and you'd have to look into it, but i believe you need some sort of special downlink CATV, or something, or set it up some way er somethin but i blieve normal CATV will do. I have this setup so that i have a 5port hub branched off from my 25 port hub for the wireless network for the laptops. From there you should be able to setup simple windows networking, and i'd assume you just leave the TCP/IP settings to "obtain IP address automatically" You'd have to give all the computers names, unless windows does this automatically. Now remember, this is just a theory because i do my networking in unix, and don't have a router or that stuff. Can someone build off of this?

Yes, it is very possible to have ethernet cards in one machine like that, and i have it in mine the same way. Now, i'm not sure it windows can utilize that, but in unix it can be done.

Overall, if you don't have much experience a router would be better, although actual file sharing with routers is a hassle, connecting through a game *shouldn't* be a problem. With a router, you can simply hook your cable modem to the WAN port (wide area network) and then every other computer to the LAN ports (local area network) I'm nearly positive the linksys routers have dlink ports as well, so you can hook another hub to it. i *think*. If your going to get a router, get a linksys, they are the best brand.

MATT, stick to Unix - it's obvious you know nothing about Windows networking

WHY would file sharing be a hassle because of a Router? The router is just an interface to the internet. Anything on the LAN side of the router is just acting like a normal network.

Currently I have a router but I haven't set it up yet. I have three comps with one nic in each using ICS to share my DSL connection. All three comps are networked too. I have Windows XP on all three comps.

the other nice thing about the router/switch set up is that you can run all different flavors of winblows as long as ms client is there - i have had 98/me/2k machines on my lan with no issues - you just stick the modem/router in the uplink port - i never tried using the ics or one machine as router, because i didn't want to have to rely on one machine being available 24/7 this way if i upgrade or pooch the bios , i can just plug in a backup box and everyone else still has uniterrupted acces (wife must have 24/7 email!)

does this work with cable too?

Routers and ICS work with cable. But routers are painless and easy to set up. If you need more ports than the router offers, you can just put a hub in downstream from the router.

An alternative, but a lot more work, is to set up an old PC as router/firewall using linux based program such as Freesco or Coyote Linux .

If you have the time, access to an old PC and a few extra NICs lying around, a cheap linux router maybe the way to go...

It is a hassle, my neighbor got a router and it was a bitch to setup. The connection to the WAN worked, but there was no LAN connection. My old P1 166MHz could be a server and run it with no problem, and it's probably worth $50. now we have the ratios:

1 working network with lots of control
------------------------------------------------
$50

and

1 working network with no control
--------------------------------------------
$100

Interesting isn't it?

Funny I have a router and had no problems at all with internal networks or anything. Could have been just a simple setting that wasn't turned off.

I would have to say just get a router (a 1-port works, just connect hubs off of it).

1 working network with lots of control
------------------------------------------------
$50

Matt, you forgot the labor involved in this setup. For many people the time/hassle of setting up a *nix router/firewall is worth more than $50. I do most of my networking in a *nix environment also, but I can promise you that I will always have a RIAB (router-in-a-box) to split my broadband connection because it is a hell of a lot easier to setup than installing linux, setting up the software and locking it down.

If you had to do anything more than plug in the network cables to that RIAB for your neighbor, you were probably doing something wrong.