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"Networking questions"

Okay i know i need a router and cabling but where should i read up about this from? I can't afford to network 2 computers quite yet but it would be nice to learn how to allow this pc and my new one to share a broadband connection. I hav 512k so would sharing the broadband connection would it mean 256K split between the computers? Or is that only when one of the computers is downloading at high speeds?
Any sites would help.

Ah not much difference then but maybe the price.

http://www.cat-5-cable-company.com/faq-cat5-v-cat5e.htm

Voila

Just linking one or two pcs you really wont notice a difference between the types.

Right whats the difference between Cat 5 and 5e?

any of u use battle.net? i cant get on at mo, can u see if u can?

Yes, 3 bits of straight through rj45 ethernet cable (not crossover), as you will still need your modem connected to it.

It's really not that hard to set up, you'll get a guide on how to do it with the router, differs slightly between models but you can generally just point to it as the default gateway via windows networking, and the router itself sorts out IPs etc for the pcs.

§niper wrote:
> A router sounds alot more easier, will i need to have 3 separate wires
> from the cable modem to the router, router to first and second
> computer or wont i need the modem at all?
> Also will i be able to set up a network connection with one computer
> on win 98 and the second on XP?
> I know its more than connecting a couple of wires, so any help or
> sites on anything else i need to know and any software if i need it i'll be grateful for.

There makes more sense now.

A router sounds alot more easier, will i need to have 3 separate wires from the cable modem to the router, router to first and second computer or wont i need the modem at all.
Also will i be able to set up a network connection with one computer on win 98 and the second on XP?
I know its more than connecting a couple of wires, so any help or sites on anything else i need to know and any software if i need it.

With a router, you just plug your net connection in and it shares it to all pcs connected to the router. It has a WAN port for you to plug your broadband straight in to, so you don't need a pc on all the time for other computers to use the connection. A switch/hub is just a way of networking a number of computers; it has no built in broadband support, although you can then share the connection across the network, but it will require the pc that your cable modem is connected to to be on all the time for the others to use it.

As for your first question:

1) You certainly shouldn't need to spend £100, you can get a wireless router for that, should be more like £50.

2) If you're sure you're only ever going to want 1 more pc, you may as well just stick a network card in each and whack a bit of crossover cable between them, then share the connection with windows ICS/some other software. Bear in mind that doing this will require the pc witht he modem to be on for the other to use the connection.

If you're going to want more than one more pc sharing the connection in the future, then go with either a switch or a router, depending on how much you want to spend and whether or not you can be bothered setting up windows ICS and always leaving one PC on. The router would get rid of both those problems for an extra £20 or so, and should be nice and easy to configure with a web interface and built in DHCP server to configure yours pcs.

Last of all what is the difference between a Router and a hub?

Whoops was gonna post something after that.
Well my question is i have a cable modem which i got when i got broadband but do i really need to spend 100 quid more on a router just to network one more computer to this connection?
Also if i do will i NEED the cable modem still.