Networking

[youngros]

Perhaps not the usual topic here, but want to find out what other people use or recommend.

 

At the moment I run two computers, both on XP, my OH also has a laptop on XP and all are wired into a Thomson Speed touch router and a PDA is wireless.

 

Not the best of routers and not the best of internet connections, we are ADSL.

 

A friend is supposed to be networking them for us, but short on time and so it has not happened yet. Not many people on the island I would trust with my computer anyway and the language is an issue here as well so think it is the case I learn to do this myself.

 

So questions are, what would be the best router to go for. I want to stay wired as I stream TV on one computer, but need to be able to get connection to my OHs printer.

 

I've been looking at stuff on the internet about setting up a LAN and about IP addresses. I have dynamic IP address, do I need to assign it a static one?

 

Anyone know of any good tutorials on how to do this properly and is Network Magic a good option.

 

Thanks in advance.

[falkencreative]

I've been looking at stuff on the internet about setting up a LAN and about IP addresses. I have dynamic IP address, do I need to assign it a static one?

No, that shouldn't be necessary. I've never needed to.

 

As far as routers go, I'm not sure what you have to access to in Portugal -- I'm obviously US based. This is one case where it pays to buy something of good quality (and thus a bit more expensive) rather than going for something cheap. I've had good luck Linksys routers in the past, though my choice is definitely Apple's Airport Extreme. Pricey, yes, but I've never had any issues with it (which hasn't been the case for other routers -- I've had one or two that tended to overheat and had to be restarted every so often). The setup process is quick and easy, and I really like the fact that I can share a printer with all computers connected to the network (wired or wireless) and can attach a external hard drive to the router and give any computer that has access to the network access to the drive.

[virtual]

You probably also have an internet provider who has a monopoly like we do here - ghastly Telefonica. They sell routers, but there is no customer service to speak of. I was also told that US routers do not work here, I ended up getting one from England.

[youngros]

Finally got my two networked this morning . Took a while, in the end it turned out to be the AVG Firewall that I needed to reconfigure. Will still look at Network Magic as not that expensive and we may end up with couple more computers running here eventually.

 

Still on the same router, which was provided by PT our equivalent of BT!! They are not bad, more choice in the capital where you can get cable internet. Was given a Linksys to try, but think it is faulty as internet light stays red.

 

Next job is now to sort out which files need sharing and which can be deleted, want to reformat this computer.

 

After that replace DVD drive in my new computer as that has a mind of its own and replace the PSU in this computer to something a bit more quiet.

 

Virtual, how do you manage for decent TV?

[virtual]

We have a huge dish and get lots of European channels including BBC1, 2, ITV and Channel 4, so that's no problem.