LAN for home

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Ocin

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Hi all,
I am so new it took me a while to figure out noob...that said I would appreciate some help.

I have recently signed up for Telkom ADSL (previously only used 3g) but have not yet activated the service - more because of lack of insight than anything else.
I am looking to set up a lan at home. I currently have 3 pc's and 2 printers plus a few hudred gigs of stored stuff. I want to be able to give all 3 pc's access to the internet - local and international. I would want to add some sort of file and print server and be able to share printers.

My challenge, amongst others, is that I traditionally work in my home office, which is a separate building from the rest of the users - so distance is a factor. Telkom terminates in the main house - and of all the users, I am probably most likely to complain about speed.

I have been reading through some forums and see mention of cable guys, nerd guys etc, but was wondering if it is that difficult to get a reasonable setup going by myself? If not, does anyone have ideas on how to? I have been told of Ubuntu, IPCop, firewall etc but not quite sure how it all fits together.

Your advice, in detail, would be appreciated.

Regards,
:confused:
Ocin
 
Hi Ocin

Welcome to the forums!

A couple of things to start off with:

1. Do you have an existing network/were you sharing your 3g connection?
2. Are you going to setup your work environment using CAT5 cable or wireless?
3. OS' currently in use?

Once you give us this (and some more info) I'm sure we can help you get this setup in no time.

Cheers,
Morné
 
Hi Ocin and welcome!

There are essentially 2 ways you can go about setting up a simple network, wired or wireless. Wired you will need to run 3 CAT5 network cables from your ADSL router to each machine. Obvious problem with that is that you will need to most likely get in the roof to lay the cable depending on how far you want to run it. Benefits are that each user will have a stable connection, but from what you said the users will be another building so this probably won’t work. Second option is wireless, benefits here are that you don’t have run any cables which is a pleasure, down side to this is distance. Generally the range on most "cheaper" wireless ADSL routers is not great; however you can get a repeater which will boost the signal. It may also pay you to get a decent wireless router rather than the Telkom one they give you free if you sign a contract. Wireless is probably the best bet seen as though you mention the users will be in a different building. Hope this helps and good luck! ;)
 
also keep in mind the two dif stadards of wireless. eg, bluetooth isn't the same as wifi. i read somewhere that an outdoor antena can let wifi span for kilometres, highly doubt you'll manage such a range with a telkom router though.
the cheap route to go would be eithernet (wired). a wired lan is also quite fast
 
Welcome Ocin!

Networking your PCs and sharing files and printers is easy stuff (there are some choices around what file server you use, but you can try out different things).

As you say the challenge is the remote building. Do you have any enclosed route between the two? If so, just run a cable, but I assume not.

You'll need WiFi "802.11g".

You'll probably get a Mega100WR router with your Telkom ADSL. This is capable of wireless. (There are better solutions but you can start simply.) If you can install it as close to the remote building as possible - ideally by a window - and your computer in the remote building is close to that side, then you should have a strong signal and not have any problems. (Link your computer using a USB or PCI WiFi card.)

Otherwise, you might need to look at extra boxes. I like the Netgear WG602, which supports bridging, so you have one at each end - in places that give good signal - and just run ethernet cables back to the ADSL router and on to your computer.

It's simple really ;)

As already asked, what operating systems? That makes a difference on the file server recommendations.

For real protection, you should have a home firewall, not just the Telkom box. I use SmoothWall on an old Pentium III box, but ipcop is good too I hear.
 
Last edited:
One more thing, if you don't activate your ADSL within 7 days you have to call the callventer and go through a mission to get activation re-enabled.
 
hello Ocin, how are you? a few things i forgot to mention which shouldn't concern you (yet), just some useless info to remember.. It's against te law to amplify a wifi signal, also it's ilegal to share an internet connection with a computer beyond you propety via wifi without the correct licence from the ICASA, so no more neighbourly love. ;)

Once you get a basic lan up looking into a firewall is essential because you'd like some control of what sites the others on your lan can access. It's easy to kill off a gig by surfing youtube over a weekend. With the crazy price of international bamdwidth in this country we all have to be a bit stingy.
 
Saule said:
A bit pricey at R805 per adapter.
Click to expand...

Agreed but unless you already have an accessible conduit between the main building and the outbuilding how much do you think its going to cost you to run the link between the two buildings.

So basically what I am saying is one set of these to link the two buildings together. Then normal network in each building. And its quick.

A suggestion.
 
Myrrdin said:
Agreed but unless you already have an accessible conduit between the main building and the outbuilding how much do you think its going to cost you to run the link between the two buildings.

So basically what I am saying is one set of these to link the two buildings together. Then normal network in each building. And its quick.

A suggestion.
Click to expand...

This would probably perform better, I think, than wireless for a building to building connection:).
 
Oops - did not know that...any ideas on how long that takes?
 
Thestealth said:
Hi Ocin

Welcome to the forums!

A couple of things to start off with:

1. Do you have an existing network/were you sharing your 3g connection?
2. Are you going to setup your work environment using CAT5 cable or wireless?
3. OS' currently in use?

Once you give us this (and some more info) I'm sure we can help you get this setup in no time.

Cheers,
Morné
Click to expand...
Cable seems to be the way to go - not sure about the adapter solution in a 3-phase electricity supplied house.

No network before - 2 X Vodacom 3G usb modems

On the machines in use XP and Vista

Hope that helps?
 
Ocin said:
Cable seems to be the way to go - not sure about the adapter solution in a 3-phase electricity supplied house
Click to expand...
Valid concern: they have to be on the same phase (never mind on the same DB) Also, I'm taking back a couple of D-Links that turned out to be just too flaky for the guy to deal with - and this was just in different rooms inside the house.
 
JUGGY said:
One more thing, if you don't activate your ADSL within 7 days you have to call the callventer and go through a mission to get activation re-enabled.
Click to expand...
how long does that take?

any specifc numbers available to get prompt assistance?
 
yep, cables and a swith/hub in the cottage should suit you. i'm not sure about sharing the 3g access on your lan, they prolly wont mind.
you might be better off staying with vista and xp, its native file/printer sharing functions are up to scratch. learning your way around a whole new OS like ubuntu could turn out to be a mission, and you might not even be able to use your current apps on it
oh by the way, is the cottage more than 25m away from the main building?
 
Ocin said:
Where do I get the cable suppliers, crimping tools, testers etc.?
Click to expand...

any pc shop should stock premade cables. crimping tools are exspencive and i havn't seen them around much. and testers are usually a free program, but can also be a keychain sized device.
 
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