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I.C.S. w/ Roadrunner.  I know, it's been

chevy4x4trucks

By chevy4x4trucks
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chevy4x4trucks Senior Enthusiast

chevy4x4trucks

Posted
Posted

Alright, here's the deal.  I've got 8 computers in my house, an 8 port switch  and a 4 port hub.  Currently I've got DSL service from ameritech and it's been sub par.  Disconnections and more server down time than I can stand, not to mention a few hundred calls w/ tech support.  So, I'm looking for an alternative and I've heard nothing but good things about road runner.  Now, I was reading on there site and from the looks of it the hook up goes Cable>Modem>network Card  am I right?  So, my question is for networking purposes do you just plug the modem directly into the switch?  That would be the ideal set up for me, none of this computer running as a server and being afraid to touch it because I don't want to disrupt my DSL connection.

 

Any insight would be appreciated.

CityTruck Enthusiast

CityTruck

Posted
Posted

Actually, put two NIC's in the PC with the direct connection to the Cable Modem.  Run ICS on the other NIC and connect that to the switch with the other PC's.  Works great (unless you have to run VPN software or firewall software or anything that doesn't like ICS).  In my case this was with Win2K ICS, but 98SE works well too.  XP is a slightly different animal and I haven't tried with it yet.  You will probably not be able to plug the modem into the switch directly.  Here (we have AT&T cablemodem) their service is able to "attach" itself to the PC via the MAC on the NIC it's initially set up with so ICS (or proxy or some other third party solution) is the only way.

Zane Senior Enthusiast

Zane

Posted
Posted

You need a router Jon.  One that specificly says it can handle web shareing.  Netgear makes a great one, the RP114, for under a hundred bucks.

CityTruck Enthusiast

CityTruck

Posted
Posted

The router idea is the easiest.  Linksys makes a pretty good system.  They even have a wireless system that's fun (you can run around the house with a laptop and high speed Internet).  Make sure you check two things:

1) How many parts does it really take to make it work.  The wireless systems are especially bad.  You have to buy special NICS, with separate antennae, special router/hub, etc...  You could spend a bundle.

2) What's your ISP's stance on this.  If you're going to go with the router, I'd recommend getting one that they specify as supported (and yes, they'll get you for the extra PC(s) fee).  If you don't and you have a problem, they won't support you and you would wind up SOL.

 

You might want to readthis first.

silverado man Senior Enthusiast

silverado man

Posted
Posted

Ive got road runner and bought a router to share the internet connection.  The best part about the router is that it has its own firewall.  They shouldnt charge you any more for the extra computers at least we didnt.

Badassilverado Enthusiast

Badassilverado

Posted
Posted

I had SWBell DSL for about a year, and when they upped the price $10, I switched to Roadrunner.  I've had RR for a couple of months now and it is ALOT faster than DSL, I used to max out while downloading files at about 150k, now I get 300k on servers that can handle it (and page loading is noticeably faster too.)  For awhile it was going down all the time, but it seems to work fine now with no problems.  

 

I called them on a Wednesday and by Saturday they already had it "installed" .  Unlike DSL, there is no months long wait or "activation dates."  All they did was come out with the modem and plug it into the wall and into the computer, not much an installation - which is probably why it was free.  

 

I share it on 4 computers.  I just plugged the modem into my Linksys Router and ran some cat5 cable throughout the computers with NIC's, and it basically configures itself with only the software existing on the router itself (nothing to install.)  And Silveradoman is right -- it has a great firewall on it, I've used the Linksys for about a year and a half and the firewall has never failed to work perfectly.  The router costs about $150 for 4 ports, you can hook up a second one or buy a 16 port for a little more.

GreenRado Enthusiast

GreenRado

Posted
Posted

I have to agree here w/ the comments on the Linksys stuff - not necessarily the cheapest, but everybody I have talked with says it works well, good documentation, support.  

 

I just did some resesarch into this to get 3, soon to be 4 PCs networked here and came up w/ cable - moden - 4 port switching router - fast enet NICs.  I am planning on using 2 USB NICs, 1 PCI NIC, and 1 laptop NIC - may be USB or PCMCIA - don't know yet.  

 

Jon, a decent site is:  Practically Networked

 

May be a little elementary for you, but it sure helped me get my background up to speed, and has some good links also.

 

I might be wrong here, but if you have a system that shares a single IP address, I doubt the ISP would have a problem - now if you need to buy an IP for each puter, then they got you where it hurts.  

 

Of course, I have Comcast, so they may find a way to charge me more.   ???

 

my 2 cents

 

Anyone have a good explanation of MAC?

 

TIA

 

BTW, the linksys 4-port switching router (they have an 8 also) is now going for as low as $99 (incl shipping).

silverado man Senior Enthusiast

silverado man

Posted
Posted
I had SWBell DSL for about a year, and when they upped the price $10, I switched to Roadrunner.  I've had RR for a couple of months now and it is ALOT faster than DSL, I used to max out while downloading files at about 150k, now I get 300k on servers that can handle it (and page loading is noticeably faster too.)  For awhile it was going down all the time, but it seems to work fine now with no problems.  

 

I called them on a Wednesday and by Saturday they already had it "installed" .  Unlike DSL, there is no months long wait or "activation dates."  All they did was come out with the modem and plug it into the wall and into the computer, not much an installation - which is probably why it was free.  

 

I share it on 4 computers.  I just plugged the modem into my Linksys Router and ran some cat5 cable throughout the computers with NIC's, and it basically configures itself with only the software existing on the router itself (nothing to install.)  And Silveradoman is right -- it has a great firewall on it, I've used the Linksys for about a year and a half and the firewall has never failed to work perfectly.  The router costs about $150 for 4 ports, you can hook up a second one or buy a 16 port for a little more.

If you'd go with buying two 4 ports remember that there will be a one port loss of both routers cause if you use the uplink port you'd loose port 1 and you have to plug the first router into the second in one of the ports.  Your best bet would be to get a larger router.

CityTruck Enthusiast

CityTruck

Posted
Posted
I am planning on using 2 USB NICs, 1 PCI NIC, and 1 laptop NIC - may be USB or PCMCIA - don't know yet.  

 

Anyone have a good explanation of MAC?

Careful with the USB NICs.  You will need all the latest USB drivers for your OS (not the ones it shipped with) and it will still be more problematic than your standard PCI NIC.

 

MAC is just the "address" of your NIC card.  Theoretically each NIC card made has a unique MAC address used in Layer 2 communications which is how computers are able to tell each other apart when sending data.  The "What-is" definition is:

On a local area network (LAN) or other network, the MAC (Media Access Control) address is your computer's unique hardware number. (On an Ethernet LAN, it's the same as your Ethernet address.) When you're connected to the Internet from your computer (or host as the Internet protocol thinks of it), a correspondence table relates your IP address to your computer's physical (MAC) address on the LAN.

The MAC address is used by the Media Access Control sublayer of the Data-Link Layer (DLC) layer of telecommunication protocol. There is a different MAC sublayer for each physical device type. The other sublayer level in the DLC layer is the Logical Link Control sublayer.

GreenRado Enthusiast

GreenRado

Posted
Posted

CityTruck:

 

Thx for the MAC explanation.  Actually, I was surprised to hear there may be some issues w/ USB NICs.  My current cable modem setup talks to an USB in Win98SE.  It does go down sometimes, however, and I usually chalk it up to "FM".

 

I guess the issue w/ USB types is the serial communications nature of USB that is less reliable?  Actually I can use PCI NICs, just thought USB was more convenient.  I certainly have no problems installing a PCI NIC though.

 

Hey, thanks for the heads up!  :D

CityTruck Enthusiast

CityTruck

Posted
Posted

You're welcome.  This site has a lot of useful info if you dig through it.  (I don't recommend all of the registry hacks).  I think USB NIC's are getting better.  They certainly are convenient so I hope they get the reliability up to par.  Check for new drivers with your setup.  For a while, they were coming out with new drivers every couple of weeks.  I'm going to stick with PCI a bit longer.  :D

GreenRado Enthusiast

GreenRado

Posted
Posted

CityTruck:

 

Thanx again for the tips.  I think I'll be going w/ PCI NICs now, but larger issue is that Comcast doesn't allow (as you indicated some BSPs don't) "sharing".  I can buy another IP, but I haven't been able to come up w/ a multi-NAT compliant modem and router that also uses SPI (I realize SPI isn't necessary here, but sounds good).  Any thoughts?

 

P.S. - Jon sorry for whoring up your thread!    :D

chevy4x4trucks Senior Enthusiast

chevy4x4trucks

Posted
  • Author
Posted

No problem, you guys asked more questions than I would've thought of :D

 

I'm gonna ask one of my friends this weekend when he gets back in town how he's got his computers set up since he has roadrunner and a home network.  But, that looks like the route for me.  This DSL service is just too unreliable and requires too much maintenance.

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