Home
Special Promotions
DSL
Web Hosting
Dial Up
Dedicated Access
Web Page Design
Feedback
Navigation
Prices
Affiliate Program
Our History
Online Forms
Help
Search Page
Email Us
Back

DSL Newsletter

DSL Newsletter - July 6, 1999

Setting up a LAN

Lately I’ve seen some articles about setting up home or small business LANs, or Local Area Networks. One reason people get DSL service is to be able to set up and use multiple computers sharing a single high-speed Internet connection. LANs are not just for business anymore. A home LAN or small office LAN can be set up in a few hours or less. This edition of the newsletter will help you decide if you want to try it yourself or if you want to hire someone to help you build the LAN.

The LAN you set up depends on the operating system of the systems you use. UNIX operating systems, Mac O/S, Windows NT and Windows 95 and 98, OS2 and most others all support the TCP/IP networking protocol. This is the standard of the Internet and the one your ISP is most familiar with. You can setup your LAN by using those protocols without purchasing any additional software. LANs take some effort to configure, however, and setting up a LAN will require you to learn some new things.

Each computer in your LAN needs a network card. Generally they are in the range of $25 to $50. You generally get what you pay for by buying a card, and brand name cards tend to have more support and have more current drivers, and are recognized more commonly by plug and play operating systems. Bob’s rule for add-on hardware is if a major retailer sells it, it’s likely to have enough support for you. Netowrk cards should support RJ45 (also called twisted pair) type connectors.

You will also need a hub for your network. DSL requires that you get a hub with an uplink port. This is a special socket for the connector that is wired correctly for the hub to connect to another network device. Your DSL "modem" is a network device. Your computers plug into the hib and the hub connects to the DSL modem, connecting all the systems in the LAN to your DSL connection.

Hubs come in a variety of sizes, 4 port generally being the smallest. They go up to 24 port and even larger, at which point people can stack multiple hubs together depending on how many computers you have in your LAN. I advise getting hub with at least one more connection than the number of computers you want to set up on your LAN, it will save you money when you add another computer to you LAN. LAN’s always grow, they never get smaller.

Category 5 cable is the cable you use to connect your computers to the hub. Category 5 is a type of cable sold in computer stores and electronics supply stores. You can buy it in specific lengths with pre-wired connectors (the easiest way) or you can buy it by the roll and make your own cables. Because it can support 100 megabit Ethernet, Category 5 has replaced the older Category 3 cable. To use the 100M ethernet speed all of your equipment (network cards, hubs, etc.) will need to be 100MB capable. Since most DSL modems today are only 10MB you probably don’t need the 100MB equipment unless you want to have a high speed internal LAN.

To connect up your LAN you need to get some appropriate settings from your ISP. You should have gotten those settings when you first established your account. They should include the IP addresses assigned to your computers, the primary and secondary DSN settings, the IP address of your gateway, and s ubnet mask. Each of your computers should have an IP address, unless you’re running a proxy server.

That’s pretty much all that’s required in setting up a home LAN. Obviously you’ve got issues around running cabling through the walls. If you’re doing remodeling or new construction its definitely worth it to get the wiring done during the construction. Many people are looking for homes that have wiring done for home LANs and its much less expensive to do it, obviously, during construction or remodeling than to have to try to do it later.

Should you do it yourself? If you know how to set up a LAN already, the most challenging part will be running the wire through your house of office. To hire someone you may need to get an installer to run the Category 5 cable (many are familiar with wiring for LAN’s) and the connectors or wall plates. I’ve also recommended telephone installers and they familiar with Category 5 wiring. After your wiring is complete and you have the hub and network cards installed in your computers, setting up the network settings needs to be finished. Depending on your ISP, you may have gotten instructions for setting up the network. If not, you can use the instructions on http://www.mminternet.com/help.htm, just be sure to change the correct IP address settings. If setting up the network seems too challenging, you can contact a LAN technician to set up you LAN.

<% # function Compose if($function eq "Compose") { %>

 

copyright 1999 MM Internet, Inc.

<% } # end of function Compose %> <% # function Send if($function eq "Send") { %> <% $from = $Request->Form->{"From"}->item; $to = $Request->Form->{"To"}->item; $subject = $Request->Form->{"Subject"}->item; $message = $Request->Form->{"Message"}->item; $firstname = $Request->Form->{"FirstName"}->item; $lastname = $Request->Form->{"LastName"}->item; $streetaddress = $Request->Form->{"StreetAddress"}->item; $city = $Request->Form->{"City"}->item; $state = $Request->Form->{"State"}->item; $zip = $Request->Form->{"ZipCode"}->item; $phone = $Request->Form->{"PhoneNumber"}->item; $list = $Request->Form->{"list"}->item; if($from eq "") { $Response->Write("Error: you need to specify a From address"); quit(); } elsif($to eq "") { $Response->Write("Error: you need to specify a To address"); quit(); } elsif($firstname eq "") { $Response->Write("Error: you need to specify a first name"); quit(); } elsif($lastname eq "") { $Response->Write("Error: you need to specify a last name"); quit(); } elsif($streetaddress eq "") { $Response->Write("Error: you need to specify a street address"); quit(); } elsif($city eq "") { $Response->Write("Error: you need to specify a city"); quit(); } elsif($state eq "") { $Response->Write("Error: you need to specify a state"); quit(); } elsif($zip eq "") { $Response->Write("Error: you need to specify a zipcode"); quit(); } $msg = "From: $from To: bcohen\@mminternet.com Subject: New list subscriber $firstname $lastname $streetaddress $city, $state $zip $phone"; $response = MMInternet::sendmail($from, $to, $msg); $msg = "From: $from To: $to Subject: $subject $message"; $response = MMInternet::sendmail($from, $to, $msg); if($response eq "OK") { $Response->Write("Thank you for subscribing to the $list list!"); } else { $Response->Write($response); } %> <% } # end of function Send %>