I'm new to networking and I want to set up two computers (eventually). I'm working on obtaining the 2nd computer but I will eventually want to have them networked.
I found this site:
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/home-network.htm
Does any experienced computer network users have any opinion on that site? Which is a good site to learn how to do it?
My idea was to initially set up a wired network and once that is working, I can try wireless later on. I wanted to start simple and work my way to the more complicated wireless setup.
One computer will be mostly using Linux (on Linux OS) but I am not asking here for the 'how-to' for that. I'd be satisfied with some ideas and knowledge in the basics.
Setting up a network
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
With a hardware router, which is really a necessity for any type of shared internet connection or broadband internet access, setting up a network is simple. Installing NICs in each computer and depending on the OS for each system, it's only a matter of telling the computers to use the DHCP server of the router for their own IPs (Dynamic IP) and making sure they all use the same network name. Then, if you were using modem before, you'd just configure your internet/mail programs to use the network card (LAN) for their connection.
Et voila. You're done.
Et voila. You're done.
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vanhelmont
- Posts: 26
- Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2006 7:06 pm
pputer,
For me, the practical way to set up a network depends on how I'm connected to the internet.
When I used modems that provided a single interface to me (first a modem card in my computer, then a cable modem with a single ethernet connection)
I used my linux box with either the telephone modem or an ethernet connection to the cable modem. I used iptables to set up a firewall, and an ethernet card with a crossover cable to provide internet to the windows machine. The demands on the linux box are minimal. For a while I used a 200 MHz K6 with a modem and 3 ethernet cards as a router. If the cable went down I could connect over the phone line. The configuration for this isn't very difficult.
Now I have optical fiber from the phone co., and the provided modem has its own firewall, and provides both wired and wireless connectivity, so the desktops are wired to it, and the laptops have wireless devices.
For me, the practical way to set up a network depends on how I'm connected to the internet.
When I used modems that provided a single interface to me (first a modem card in my computer, then a cable modem with a single ethernet connection)
I used my linux box with either the telephone modem or an ethernet connection to the cable modem. I used iptables to set up a firewall, and an ethernet card with a crossover cable to provide internet to the windows machine. The demands on the linux box are minimal. For a while I used a 200 MHz K6 with a modem and 3 ethernet cards as a router. If the cable went down I could connect over the phone line. The configuration for this isn't very difficult.
Now I have optical fiber from the phone co., and the provided modem has its own firewall, and provides both wired and wireless connectivity, so the desktops are wired to it, and the laptops have wireless devices.
I have had a two-box network for some time. There a several different ways you can approach your project, depending upon your internet connection type and the operating systems in each box.
When I had only one box I simply connected to the web. No big mystery. Adding a second box complicated things for me because my primary box was and is Windows NT4, but my second box was and is solely Slackware (GNU/Linux). Although supporting IP forwarding, NT4 does not support network address translation (NAT) or internet connection sharing (ICS). So, how to connect both boxes concurrently?
For a while I configured my NT4 box to use the Slackware box as my gateway, with the Slackware box configured for both IP forwarding, NAT, and firewall. That worked well, but I tired of having to run both boxes solely to connect my primary box.
For a while thereafter I stopped connecting the second box to the web and that worked well because the second box was and is a test box. I reconfigured my primary box to connect to my web connection. But I did enable IP forwarding on my NT4 box to allow web browsing from my test box. I had to configure my web browser to use my NT4 box as my proxy, although that worked only for web browsing. I had two network cards in my NT4 box. I used an old 10 Mbps card to connect to the web and a 10/100 Mbps card to connect to my second box. That was okay for a while too.
Finally I obtained a Linksys WRT54GL (version 1.1). I used the device as-is for a while, but after several weeks I flashed the box with DD-WRT. The Linksys uses very little energy, is silent, and is always available for either of my boxes when I want to connect. The router provides four RJ-45 connectors and is also a built-in switch that allows up to four boxes to be hard-wired networked with one another.
I have not yet found the time or energy to experiment with wireless, but the WRT54GL and the DD-WRT software fully supports that option.
If you are going to experiment and want to use the project as a learning experience, you can configure your GNU/Linux box with IP forwarding and NAT. If you use the iptables to run a firewall, you'll have to learn how to allow NAT.
Using a GNU/Linux box as a home gateway and NAT box will provide much flexibility and power, but will consume more electrical energy than an off-the-shelf router like the Linksys. If you want to configure web page and image caching, which is very nice if you have more than one user at home connecting to the web, then you'll need a full box rather than the smaller router. Similarly, you can configure the full computer with content filtering software if you are concerned about your rug rats. Most off-the-shelf routers do not come with sufficient RAM to run such software.
The off-the-shelf routers support DHCP for assigning IP addresses to your internal LAN boxes, but you can use static addresses too. With only two boxes, I have always used static addresses.
If you simply want convenience and have a broadband connection, then the off-the-shelf router is the easier and faster way to connect more than one box to your ISP connection.
The How Stuff Works web site is always informative and usually there are additional links at the end of each how-to provide additional information. You'll learn some pretty good basics at that site.
When I had only one box I simply connected to the web. No big mystery. Adding a second box complicated things for me because my primary box was and is Windows NT4, but my second box was and is solely Slackware (GNU/Linux). Although supporting IP forwarding, NT4 does not support network address translation (NAT) or internet connection sharing (ICS). So, how to connect both boxes concurrently?
For a while I configured my NT4 box to use the Slackware box as my gateway, with the Slackware box configured for both IP forwarding, NAT, and firewall. That worked well, but I tired of having to run both boxes solely to connect my primary box.
For a while thereafter I stopped connecting the second box to the web and that worked well because the second box was and is a test box. I reconfigured my primary box to connect to my web connection. But I did enable IP forwarding on my NT4 box to allow web browsing from my test box. I had to configure my web browser to use my NT4 box as my proxy, although that worked only for web browsing. I had two network cards in my NT4 box. I used an old 10 Mbps card to connect to the web and a 10/100 Mbps card to connect to my second box. That was okay for a while too.
Finally I obtained a Linksys WRT54GL (version 1.1). I used the device as-is for a while, but after several weeks I flashed the box with DD-WRT. The Linksys uses very little energy, is silent, and is always available for either of my boxes when I want to connect. The router provides four RJ-45 connectors and is also a built-in switch that allows up to four boxes to be hard-wired networked with one another.
I have not yet found the time or energy to experiment with wireless, but the WRT54GL and the DD-WRT software fully supports that option.
If you are going to experiment and want to use the project as a learning experience, you can configure your GNU/Linux box with IP forwarding and NAT. If you use the iptables to run a firewall, you'll have to learn how to allow NAT.
Using a GNU/Linux box as a home gateway and NAT box will provide much flexibility and power, but will consume more electrical energy than an off-the-shelf router like the Linksys. If you want to configure web page and image caching, which is very nice if you have more than one user at home connecting to the web, then you'll need a full box rather than the smaller router. Similarly, you can configure the full computer with content filtering software if you are concerned about your rug rats. Most off-the-shelf routers do not come with sufficient RAM to run such software.
The off-the-shelf routers support DHCP for assigning IP addresses to your internal LAN boxes, but you can use static addresses too. With only two boxes, I have always used static addresses.
If you simply want convenience and have a broadband connection, then the off-the-shelf router is the easier and faster way to connect more than one box to your ISP connection.
The How Stuff Works web site is always informative and usually there are additional links at the end of each how-to provide additional information. You'll learn some pretty good basics at that site.
Thanks, guys! You've been very helpful. I will have at least two computer, one a Windows machine and probably one a Linux machine. I have a Linksys WRT54G and a cable modem. I guess you only need a NIC card if you want to use wireless? Both current computers have built-in Ethernet (although most modern computers have it nowadays, right?).
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flyingsherpa
- *Lifetime Patron*
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- Location: CT, USA
NIC = Network Interface Card, usually means wired. If your computers already have ethernet ports, then they already have a NIC (or it could be integrated on the mobo). Sounds like you are all set, have fun!pputer wrote:Thanks, guys! You've been very helpful. I will have at least two computer, one a Windows machine and probably one a Linux machine. I have a Linksys WRT54G and a cable modem. I guess you only need a NIC card if you want to use wireless? Both current computers have built-in Ethernet (although most modern computers have it nowadays, right?).
What version WRT54G do you have?pputer wrote:Thanks, guys! You've been very helpful. I will have at least two computer, one a Windows machine and probably one a Linux machine. I have a Linksys WRT54G and a cable modem. I guess you only need a NIC card if you want to use wireless? Both current computers have built-in Ethernet (although most modern computers have it nowadays, right?).