Add Another Computer to the Home Network.

Tom1138

Tom1138

Tom1138

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5 Oct 2004
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The South, United Kingdom
At home we have 3 PC's setup on a home network. We have my computer which has the router right next to it and that connects to the phoneline. The other PC's are one in my brothers room which is above me and my mothers computer which is in the kitchen. All are wired using normal cabling.

Now I wanted to have my new laptop in the lounge, which sits right next to the kitchen and my mums computer. So I was thinking of putting a patch lead and one of those doubler devices so two connections can use the same cable.

However I thought it might be better to have a small hub at my mums computers, so basically have her PC connected to the hub, have the wire which connects to the router (the other side of the house) and all another spare port for a laptop connection.

Would this work? I am not really confident with making a wireless network, but considered this as im sure it would be far easier (for me anyways).
 
I'd go wireless - its incredibly easy to set up. You can pick up a wireless router and USB adapter or access point for £65 at a popular PC high street store (I got the Netgear DG834GT + adapter 2 weeks ago).

Use the router for the 3 wired PCs and the usb adapter for tha laptop (like a pen drive, and simply plugs into a USB port).

Run the setup disk and you're router will be working in 1 min. Ditto for the laptop with usb adapter.

You might consider buying a seperate wireless router and a wireless pci card to slot inside the laptop. Less clumsy if you are using your laptop on your lap and watching telly.

You'll need to know your broadband username and password to connect the router to the adsl line. You'll also need to set the wireless security option on the router and the laptop. This is straightforward from the router's home page/ installation disk, but you need a pen and paper to write down various settings for use when setting up the laptop's connection. Its easy though. :)

You can also buy cheap (£15) wireless pci cards for your other pc's and lose the cables. Your mum will love you for this.
 
Last edited:
Johnnyboy said:
I'd go wireless - its incredibly easy to set up. You can pick up a wireless router and USB adapter or access point for £65 at a popular PC high street store (I got the Netgear DG834GT + adapter 2 weeks ago).

Use the router for the 3 wired PCs and the usb adapter for tha laptop (like a pen drive, and simply plugs into a USB port).

Run the setup disk and you're router will be working in 1 min. Ditto for the laptop with usb adapter.

You might consider buying a seperate wireless router and a wireless pci card to slot inside the laptop. Less clumsy if you are using your laptop on your lap and watching telly.

You'll need to know your broadband username and password to connect the router to the adsl line. You'll also need to set the wireless security option on the router and the laptop. This is straightforward from the router's home page/ installation disk, but you need a pen and paper to write down various settings for use when setting up the laptop's connection. Its easy though. :)

You can also buy cheap (£15) wireless pci cards for your other pc's and lose the cables. Your mum will love you for this.
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Absolutely spot on, would highly recomend going wireless in this case. netgear DG834GT + adapter is a great choice and a very reliable product it seems.

security wise i would go with WPA-PSK which seems to be quite secure at the minute, better than WEP anyway.

Anyway, if you do get stuck just pop back on here and ask away, there are plenty of us to answer your questions :)
 
With regard to the original question, i would go for a small 4-5 port switch at the second location, then have it wired as you originally planned. Will be much much faster than anything wireless, be much more secure, and potentially more reliable. :)
 
If you don't prefer wireless then its okay. Its might not be everyones cup of tea. WHere your mums pc isreplace that with a switch, so you've got much more to add your laptop and your mums pc without hassle. Furthermore this way you can add a WAP for your latop when you need to :)
 
Wires are good, reliable and cheap, keep wires whenever possible!

As noted buy a small switch, unplug ethernet cable going into Mums PC, plug that into the switch, plug switch into a power socket, plug 2 ethernet leads into the switch that are long eneought to reach your laptop and your Mums PC and your finished!

Your shoppinglist is cheap switch with 3 or more ports and 2 ethernet wires to connect the laptop and Mum PC (usually at least a short lead provided with the switch).

Make sure you have a power socket for the switch and that the 3 ethernt cables (from router, fromlaptop and Mums PC) will reach the switch's location.
 
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