PCA Forums

I planned on taking all this


And putting it into 1 PC case.
What you see before you is:
1 CD-R copy of the SmoothWall Firewall/NAT/Router
1 Motorola Surdboard, Model 4100 Cable Modem
1 Efficient Networks Model 5340 DSL Modem
1 8 port 10MBps Asante' Hub
1 Old Gateway 2000 Motherboard with a Pentium 200 & 64MB of ram
1 Intel EtherExpress PRO+ Network Card
1 3Com 3c509 Network Card
1 Western Digital WD2100 2.1GB HDD
1 Matrox G200 PCI Video card
1 Generic 145Watt ATX PSU
1 Generic 32x CD-ROM
1 Old FDD pulled from an HP PC (Not shown)
Various LEDs and switches
1 Old case I got from ShyChineseGuy (Thanks Again Kendall!) (Not Shown)
1 Old Colorado 250MB Tape Drive (Not Shown - use to cover up the space from a missing 5.25 faceplate

The Plan:
Initially, I was going to tear everything apart and throw it into the PC case, but it didn't turn out that way.
After taking apart the cable modem, and planning on where it would go, I ran into a problem. There's a lot of exposed electronics in it (And the DSL modem as well) so I'd really need to use some standoffs to make sure it wouldn't shourt out. That means I need a tap and die to thread some holes, which I don't have - so this part has to wait (*pouts*)

But I did tear apart the Hub and reinstalled it into the 5.25 faceplate, complete with a relocation of the power LED to the front (For now, I'm sure when I have the cahs for 8 more LED's I'll move all the lights).

I must admit though, it looks pretty good with the hub setup this way (pics coming soon), I can't wait to see it go farther. If I get this job (Cross your fingers guys!) it'll allow me the cahs I need for a spot welder and a metal brake. With those 2 items I can fashion an internal cage into the PC, complete with a space for the standoffs.

Though, when I find out if or when I'm moving, I can finalize things a bit. IE, if I end up moving to Milwaukee, I can toss out the DSL modem and just use the cable modem, since I like their service. If I stay in Madison, I can ditch the Cable modem, since I"m only paying 10$ month for DSL and love thise service.

Of course, all of this will become pretty useless if I get this job and move to Milwaukee. Especially since my buddy who runs in ISP in New Mexico said I'd get a free 3mbps line to my house. All I need to do is pay the ATM fee (About 100-150$/month from there to NM) (Hrmm, anyone need a machine hosted? hehehe)

Anyway, I'll post some more pics later when I get em developed, I think it looks pretty good. Hopefully my life starts looking up, I get this job, and can stop living below the poverty line hehe. Then you guys will see some AMAZING stuff coming from me :-p

Damn, that's gonna be a fine case brotha! I know money is tight on ya, but I bought a tap and die set at AZ for like $20 one time. Bought it for to try and fix the threading on the generator for my VW Bug, and it didn't have the right size thread. Anywho.. thought I'd throw that out there. Look like you've got a great idea on your hands! Now you just have to think about airflow to keep it cool with all that stuff!! eGo

1 Motorola Surfboard, Model 4100 Cable Modem
couldn't you find a better candidate ?
i went thought 3 of them in like a 1 year .they all crapped out

i agree with ya on that bell. i'm on my 3rd in a year...

i finally ditched the motorolas and went with an RCA- havent had a singal problem since get this- my latency drop about 20ms and my dl speed increased by about 1/3

Well, it's mark 1 - and I own the modem. It's just a test run, then I hope to get a 10/100 Switch and what not and build a real one hehe