Home Network (install) Question

[Bill]

Who has their home wired for internet?

I have each the 8 rooms in my home wired with Cat 5e cable, and all 8 wires lead down to my basement where my cable source comes in..... Then it goes like this....

- Cable IN goes to my cable modem via a splitter.

- Cable Modem OUT goes to Firewall IN (4 port Netgear)

- Firewall OUT goes to UPLINK of 8 port switch.

- Each of the 8 cables go into the 8 port switch.

Question.....

1. Is this the best method?
2. Will there be a bottleneck at the firewall?
3. Should I use all 4 ports of the firewall/router?
4. Is there an alternate method that would reduce the number of "boxes" from

3 to 2.

Thanks

[Halvey]

There is an alternate method: wireless internet.

Cable goes to cable modem. Cable modem goes to wireless router. 54Mbps signal goes to all rooms of the house.

h

Bill wrote:

[trebor4258]

Does having that 54Mbps signal flying all around the house, really help the DSL or cable modem speed? My DSL is spec'ed at 768Kbps and averages between

650Kbps and 750Kbps. My friend's cable modem service varies at different times during the day, but typically runs between 2Mbps and 3Mbps.

We'd love to actually get 54Mbps, so would the kind of wireless router that you're talking about provide it? I mean, wow, 54Mbps is so much faster than my stupid DSL, I guess I should run out and get me one of those tomorrow.

Now, if I hook up a really big antenna to the wireless router, can everybody around me also get the 54Mbps speed? My friend is down the street using dial-up, so if I get the 54Mbps wireless router, what will he have to do to convert his AOL? Also, can I run Linux in the 54Mbps wireless router?

trebbie

[ameijers]

My limited expertise is pretty out of date, but judging by the ads they keep sending me, they do have all-in-one boxes available. For home use, unless you are hosting web sites in each room at the same time, or doing 8 massive downloads at once, I doubt you will notice any bottleneck. You could always put 3 high-priority connections directly into firewall/router, and the other 5 rooms on the switch. It ain't like antenna splitters- just think how many boxes your connection goes through once it reaches the Internet 'cloud'.

aem sends....

[RB]

Most wireless systems connect 10x slower than wired. 10BaseT vs 100BaseT.

RB

Halvey wrote:

[Mike]

No

Not for standard email/web browsing. If all 8 computers are accessing the internet at the same time, then yes.

See answer to number 4.

Yes. Get a router/firewall that has 8 ports.

Mike

[Brad Bruce]

"Bill" wrote in news:on1Nb.27001$ [e-mail]:

1. Is the Netgear box really a firewall or just a router?
2. Any firewall add some delay, but a whole lot less than a worm on your network
3. & 4. Use an 8 port router

NJBrad

NJBrad

[Nate Weber]

Not to mention 54 Mbps is only about 1/2 as fast as hardwired 100Mbps.

Without knowing if the original poster is currently experiencing slowdowns or how many computers he has, I would say his setup is fine. On a home network,

99% of the time the equipment in place is never utilized at anywhere near capacity. Some of the computers I have run through a 10bt hub, a 100bt switch, a router then finally the cable modem. None of them experience any slowdowns. If your only using a few of the cable drops, I would pull the switch out and wire what you use to the router.

Nate

--

[zxcvbob]

Use all 4 ports on the router; one to the switch and the other 3 to your highest use computers. Hook the less-used computers and the network printer to the switch. Keep the ends of the wires long enough that you can swap them around as your use changes.

Since you're using a switch rather than just a hub, it really probably doesn't make any difference. You are unlikely to use enough bandwidth to choke the "bottleneck".

Best regards, Bob

[HA HA Budys Here]

Another option:

1 combination wireless/wired LinkSys router connected directly to the cable modem. Has 4 wired ports for PCs and wireless for your laptops or additional PCs with a wireless network card installed.

[Mark Jerde]

My DSL modem is connected to an 8-port Linksys hub/router.

Your setup sounds fine, but if/when your Netgear or 8 port switch dies get an 8 port replacement for the Netgear. You may want to consider wireless then too.

-- Mark

[Brian Henderson]

I do.

I have every room with a telephone jack (which is all of them) wired with CAT5. All of the wiring runs to the closet in my computer room where my central house server (and incoming net connection) are located. It's all run into a 16-port router with NAT firewall and I've never had a problem. I can plug into the network in any room (even the bathrooms, although I've never tried) and it works perfectly. To date, I've only had 4 computers online at once and the only bottleneck is the total connection speed for the DSL, but there isn't anything you can do about that.