Cable Modem

[kevincook]

I finally broke down.......I've been connected for about 30 minutes now to Roadrunner. At this speed I'll be able to read more posts at TBN than ever before.

Keep posting. I need all the info I can get. Maybe I should start re-reading all of the old posts.

 

[kevincook]

I wish I could type better.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I believe you have 24 hrs to correct/edit your original heading... /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

{I do it sometimes myself...}/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>I believe you have 24 hrs to correct/edit</font color=blue>

Last I heard, it was 12 hours.

... and I use that a lot.

 

[kevincook]

Thanks for the tip. Now I won't look luck such a moron. Then again, maybe that won't help.

Kevin

 

[gws]

Kevin, welcome to the high speed world. Now that you have a high speed connection to the internet, dont forget, hackers have a high speed connection to you. You (and anyone on the internet) needs a firewall. I prefer a hardware solution. A router with some firewalling capability but a software solution will work as well.

 

[DocHeb]

Good advice. I have a that allows both my home computers to be using the same Internet account with Comcast. They cost about $80, and if you don't have an network card it will cost ~$20 per computer. Our computers can be used simultaneously without any noticable decrease in access speed. The router also acts as a firewall - our computers cannot be "pinged" and appear invisible to the outside world. The latest trend is <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005ARK3/qid=1011968131/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_71_1/104-0655158-5899139>Linksys Wireless Routers that can attach to laptops or desktop CPUs within your house - they run about $180.

 

[fishman]

Kevincook,

Roadrunner is great, but I'll second (or third) the idea that you need a personal firewall. Try this <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.zonealarm.com>http://www.zonealarm.com</A>. It's free, and it was amazing to me how many "pings" it would detect during the day.

 

[Devildog]

DocHeb, I have the same setup running 3 cpu's at home. Just finished everythying on wed, I use the routers firewall and I have Norton 2002 virus protection on all 3 cpu's. We can share files use the same printer and all share the internet connection at the same time. I cant believe how fast DSL is,Life cant get any better/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
________________________________________
Take care all, Jim

 

[kevincook]

Thanks for the suggestions. I installed a network in the house a few weeks ago so I have three machines on the network. I had connected them with an old 'dumb' hub and was planning on replacing that with a router when the cable modem was installed. The IT guys at work gave me a Ravlin router to use. I need this to connect to the corporate network (some hocus pocus stuff I don't understand) and the price was right.

Since I already had a network running the installation of the cable modem was simple. I just plugged it into the hub and presto I was online. I then inserted the Ravlin router between the hub and modem and I was able to access the corporate network like I'm sitting in my office. The Ravlin router has NAT built in so all of the computers in the house get cable access.

BTW, I like the speed and I'm never going back to dial-up.

 

[MikePA]

<font color=blue>The latest trend is Linksys Wireless Routers that can attach to laptops or desktop CPUs within your house - they run about $180.</font color=blue>

I thought about wireless, but the price as well as slower speed steered me to running Cat 5 patch cables from my 10/100 switch to the rooms that needed a connection. While I did the kid's room and den 'professionally', my living room (laptop) connection wasn't all that elegant /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. I just ran the cable across the basement, drilled a small hole at the baseboard behind the sofa ran the patch cable up through the hole and coiled it under the sofa. If I want to connect to the Internet, or work, I just reach under the sofa, plug in and boot up. Since we use DHCP at work and I use it at home, I don't have to mess with network settings either. Of course, my kids get a little upset when I connect to work, since the VPN connection knocks them off the Internet /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif.

 

[gws]

The linksys wireless access point is nice. As for slower than 10/100 cat5, yes the wireless is, but who cares your link to the world is still the cable modem and its slower than the 10mb lan anyway. You will be hard pressed to see a real world difference between the wireless and a direct connect through the same cable modem. For all but bulk downloads to high bandwidth sites your times will be the same.

 

[MikePA]

You're 100% correct about the slowest speed being the Internet connection, but I also do backups across my local network to the desktop with the 120 gig external Firewire drive so every megabit counts /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

 

[GlueGuy]

I would worry about security of a wireless connection. Only a matter of time before some enterprising hacker figures out how to piggy-back on top of somebody's internet connection. Also, I would worry about people snooping. Wires are much harder to tap into casually.