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| Thread ID: 42701 | 2004-02-19 10:29:00 | cable modem intstalled- hub or IP router???? | Kevinguyen (4371) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 216685 | 2004-02-19 10:29:00 | I will have cable modem installed next month, at the moment I am networking 2 PCs by crossover cable and using dial up internet. just wondering should I get a hub or a IP router for my cable modem connection as I am confusing between those two above. I don't want to use software to connect them because I will network with my laptop as well. Do I still have to configure 1 PC as a host or cable modem will work the same for both regarding to internet speed? Cheers |
Kevinguyen (4371) | ||
| 216686 | 2004-02-19 12:22:00 | A switch should be fine but I would check with Paradise/Telstra what the capabilities of the modem are. AFAIK they are relatively simple devices but, sharing without needing ICS (an advantage IMO) is ok so the modem would act as the gateway and you would point all machines at it. Check it out tho or wait for conformation from somebody else. Cheers Murray P |
Murray P (44) | ||
| 216687 | 2004-02-19 14:43:00 | I think a router would suit you best. Its very simple, you just plug the modem into the WAN port on the router (not sure if yours is RJ11 or RJ45), and all the computers into a lan port on the router. Routers usually have a switch with 4 ports these days, and a switch is much better than a hub. Also with the router you get NAT and some firewall capabilities, DMZ, VPN etc. Also you can make the cable modem connect to your isp just through the router interface. |
PoWa (203) | ||
| 216688 | 2004-02-19 19:31:00 | Cut & Paste from Telstra Clears web site. looks like your on the money PoWa. Cheers Murray P Unlike an ADSL modem a cable modem is transparent to the network, much like a regular dial-up modem. When you connect to our network your assigned IP address resides on your computer, not on the cable modem, and your default gateway IP address is on the TelstraClear network. For the curious, howstuffworks.com has an article on how cable modems work - it is geared towards the American cable market but the principles on which the TelstraClear network operates are the same. The article can be found here (computer.howstuffworks.com). The cable modem has no IP address of its own and cannot be connected to or managed in any way from your computer. TelstraClear provides a single real-world IP address with each cable connection and cannot provide more. In a normal setup, where the cable modem is connected to a single computer, your IP address resides on that computer. In order to share the Internet connection between multiple PCs you need a device called a router, that can connect to the cable modem on one side and to your network of computers on the other. This can be a Windows computer with internet connection sharing, a Linux/*BSD machine running firewalling/NAT, or a purpose bought cable router. By far the easiest of these to set up and maintain is a purpose built cable router. Such devices can be purchased in a number of places for $150-$250 and often have multiple ethernet ports, meaning you do not need a separate switch. They often come with firewall software built in, removing the need to run firewall software on the computers connected to it. Most also come with easy to follow documentation detailing how to configure them and the computers you connect to them. They are also quiet and consume only a fraction of the power of a PC, making them cheaper to operate in the long run. The IP address and default gateway assigned to you by TelstraClear with your cable connection need to be configured on the router, which can then translate between the addresses you assign to your PCs and the IP address you were assigned by TelstraClear. This works using something called Network Address Translation, or NAT for short. A full explanationof NAT is beyond the scope of this document. Very simply, each computer in your network is assigned an internal IP. Those are used for communication inside the network. To communicate with the rest of the internet, the individual computers send packets to the router, which labels the packets with the public IP. When data is sent to the network, the router remembers which computer requested it, and sends it to the right place. A fuller explanation, with links to more information, can be found at computer.howstuffworks.com One extremely important thing to note is that you cannot simply assign your other computers IP addresses at will, there are certain ranges of IP addresses set aside for use in private networks behind NAT routers. The addresses 192.168.1.1 through to 192.168.1.254 with a netmask of 255.255.255.0 are the most commonly used in such applications. If you are using Windows Internet Connection Sharing or some sort of Unix based computer instead, you will need an Ethernet switch to connect your computers together and the computer that is acting as your router will need to have two network cards. More information on networking: computer.howstuffworks.com More information on IP numbers. computer.howstuffworks.com |
Murray P (44) | ||
| 216689 | 2004-02-20 00:39:00 | Thanks guys, I already read the article on Telstra website but want to make sure Im on the right track. Cheers :-) |
Kevinguyen (4371) | ||
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