whats the difference?

[Smokey0066]

between a proxy and a router?

i need something that will share the net from one box to the rest of the house... i think both of these do that but i'm not sure what the difference is... how hard is it to setup what i need? i'll be gettin dsl soon so i'd like to learn how to setup something to share it throughout the house...

i've already got cable run to every room in the house.. so i'm 1/4 of the way there?

thanks for any help

 

[ertle]

they are different things... i'm not quite sure what a proxy is... its a type of server that your isp gives you i think... i router takes the connection from the modem (dsl or cable) and distributes it to a LAN. a router also provides some type of firewall for you. you will want to buy a router. along with the router, you will need a hub or switch (unless one comes integrated in the router) for every room that you run cable to.

i ended up getting a linksys router for 90$ and a hub for 50$, which isn't bad considering now you will have internet in every room of the house.

i just finished a project very similar, installing a network in 4 rooms of my house. you got all the hard work done. now all you need to do is connect all the computers up together so they recognize each other and the connection to the internet. it probably took me 4+ hours running all the wires and cutting and crimping all the cable for the network, and about an hour to set up each computer for the network (with a friend and intercom so dont have to run around the house to reset computers, of course) good luck! just going through it, i'd be glad to give ya a hand in it

 

[flippinfleck]

Hmm, I don't know exactly what a proxy server is either (looking it up as we speak)....

Okay, a proxy server is used as a single connection to the internet. With it you can monitor where users on the network are going. It would be put between your hub/switch (lan) and your internet connection (dsl in this case). Works in conjunction with a firewall to provide added security.

How'd I do?

So how many workstations do you have to set up? I don't think you would need something to monitor the internet usage, but a firewall is a must. Hmm, offhand I would suggest a 1 or 4 port cable/dsl router (do a search to find the one you like, but I use the linky 4 port) with a switch (again, you can do a search for this one ). Router will contain your firewall/nat/dhcp depending on the model that you choose.

From there, it's all cake! Just make sure your switch has enough ports to handle everything with some room for growth (a place for laptops perhaps? or maybe a spot for wireless access point...)

flip

 

[Smokey0066]

heres the deal with me right now.

i've got a linksys 5port switch.. those funky blue ones.. and i did a search around the forums and found freesco... looks intresting.. this is exactly what i was looking/thinking about... there will be 4 computers on the net for sure.... at least 4 lines are run right now.. thinking about another one to the living room so i can surf my laptop while i watch movies.. you know what i mean?

ertle: actually running wire wasnt hard cuz we've been remodeling the house somewhat.. new paint n carpet.. so when we tore up the carpet i just laid all the wiring down on the floor around the baseboards... and tacked it inplace.. the carpet people were fine with it.. they were cool.. very curious as to why i had all this wiring.. so i've got it all down into a storage room dangling there..

with that said.. i've got many oldies lyin around.. so i'm thinking bout riggin one up as a router and just having it sit in the storage room.. as no one live down stairs.. it'd be fine.. so what does the computer setup involve on the userside to connect to a router?... a two man team by intercom eh? sounds complicated... well any tips would be appreciated..

thanks for the clearing up

 

[flippinfleck]

The two-man-team will just be a time saver. May get frustrating if the other half of the team doesn't know what you are talking about, but that's common sense.

You can use walkie talkie's, intercom, megaphone, loudspeaker, whatever. Or you can do it the old way and yell to the other person.

Trial and error, that's how you learn. I just found an interesting little site, gonna give it props here
Tells ya how to set up a linux firewall and route from the internet to your lan. May not be exactly what you're looking for, but I thought it was good.

>edit Oh yeah, and here is another link for ya edit<

 

[ertle]

wow... that beats my solution. we were drilling holes through walls and putting in new wall jacks just for networking. it was a hassle, but it all looks good now.

one thing to be careful about running wire under carpet is to hope that the wire dosen't break in any way, or you'll be digging up the carpet replacing your cat5. i would suggest getting all the computers and networking them up now with the switch. i would use dhcp and all that good stuff if you have the access to it. then, when you add your router, whether an actual one or an onld computer, you will just need to deal with 1 variable rather then 4.

the 2 man idea is just a timesaver. just make sure you know what you are doing and shout commands to the other person. i used my idiot brother for some of mine and it worked out.

 

[Smokey0066]

hmm i'm a real network n00b... how do i setup dhcp?.. any tutorials out there...