Ciscokits has some good stuff. You could save some money by buying used equipment on ebay.
A good starter lab might be something like this:
2501 router
2514 router (these are great - they have two ehternet I/Fs)
2924 switch
For the routers, you'll need transceivers to convert the AUI...
The transceivers can be sold on Ebay as they let you upgrade Cisco 2500 routers with AUI ports so that you can use them as RJ45 ports. They go for $5-10 each. Of course there's a lot of them out there, so you might not get a sale.
CCNA students love the 2500's, so there's still some demand...
Cisco is the best brand, but very pricey. If you do IT work for a living, it's worth considering as that's the brand the vast majority of companies use.
For home use, Linksys and Netgear are the best IMHO.
Verizon has its own speedtest which is actually very accurate and does not fudge the speed to make themselves look good.
Try it at http://infospeed.verizon.net/speedtest/speedtest500k.asp
If you need to save a buck or two (or twenty), go with Wireless-B. It's more than fast enough to handle broadband.
Cisco is an obvious choice, but is expensive and VERY tech-oriented.
Linksys is good for B or G, although their website is crap when it comes to support. It's geared towards...
A Verizon fiber connection. Cool.
Fardingle's reply is right on for the equipment you now have. Here's something else to consider:
Get your own router and configure it to your own specs, whatever best suits your network (easier said than done, but bear with me for a sec).
Then for the...
Isolate your problem. Connect the two PCs with a crossover cable and see if you can ping with IPs and computer names. If everything works, then you know the problem is with your router settings.
Look at your subnet masks with ipconfig. If they are 255.255.255.0 (which they probably are, as this is the default), then you have two different networks set up and they can't talk to each other.
Either use your router to interconnect the two networks or give all your systems a 192.168.2.#...
Keep in mind there is a 137GB limit on hard drives for older BIOSes and OSes.
XP didn't break the barrier until SP1. 2000 needs SP3 or better.
Here's a Seagate link on the issue
http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/faq/137_win2000.html
Does your BIOS show it to be a 200GB drive...
Almost any company that wants to network 100 computers is going to hire a contractor to wire the building. The you have a nice tidy wiring closet where you hook up all your switches and routers.
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