New computer for Xmas = Help please !

WELSH-DRAGON_2

Good Evening, please can I have some advice from the technie bods on this board.

I purchased a dell computer for the kiddies and have set it up this evening, currently it is side by side with my existing computer although it may be moved to another room shortly.

I connect to the internet via my BT line using Tiscali broadband, what do I need to link the computers ? and it is easy for a novice to network/link the computers ? I use zone alarm on my original PC so do I have to install it on the new PC too ?

Many thanks for the advice which will be gratefully received :xmassign:

Browntoa

ideally you want a wireless Network, you need a wireless Router/Modem for the Main Pc and aUSB wireless adapter or a wireless PCI card for the new PC

this sort of thing

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/574371

not saying that the one shown is the cheapest, just to give you the idea

Browntoa

there is a whole mass of info on the thread here

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=121274

tigermatt

WELSH-DRAGON wrote:

Good Evening, please can I have some advice from the technie bods on this board.

I purchased a dell computer for the kiddies and have set it up this evening, currently it is side by side with my existing computer although it may be moved to another room shortly.

I connect to the internet via my BT line using Tiscali broadband, what do I need to link the computers ? and it is easy for a novice to network/link the computers ? I use zone alarm on my original PC so do I have to install it on the new PC too ?

Many thanks for the advice which will be gratefully received :xmassign:

I presume by "link the computers", you mean you want to be able to share files/printers between each PC and be able to access the Internet from both PCs.

If that is the case, your best (and easiest ) option will be to purchase an ADSL Modem Router. This device connects your internet connection for you and keeps it connected all the time. This basically means that you don't have to have one of your computers switched on to access the internet on the other machine.

When choosing which ADSL Modem/Router to purchase, you can either purchase one that uses wires to link the computers or a router using wireless technology to link the computers to each other and the router. The wired version is cheaper, but requires you to obtain and install Cat5 Network Cabling which is usually harder to do than setup a wireless system. Wireless systems are more mobile and easier to change if you ever needed to move one of the computers. Using the wired setup will require you to have NICs (Network Interface Cards) in both of your computers that the plug on the end of the Cat5 cable connects to. (Other end connects to router) The wireless setup requires you to have either a USB Adapter that plugs into your USB Port and detects the wireless connection, or a PCI Card that you have to install into your computer yourself. USB is quicker and cheaper.

All of this kit can be obtained from http://www.ebuyer.co.uk/. I would recommend Netgear Networking equipment as it is pretty cheap (although not the cheapest) and I have had great experience with their equipment in the past.

If you are unsure where to go/what to buy from eBuyer, post back and I will direct you to specific pages.

I hope this helps answer your question.

redux

The simplest way is to use a crossover cable between network cards in each PC. One PC would always be the connection to the internet, so would need to be on for the other to access. A drawback to this is that the free version of Zone Alarm does not support ICS - internet connection sharing.

So it's more common to use a router to allow them to connect independently, either by cables or a wireless version, as already mentioned

WELSH-DRAGON_2

Many thanks for all your information and the speed in which you all responded - thanks. I think I will go down the wireless route as the computer will be moved to a different room in the coming months. My understanding therefore is that by purchasing a wireless version that it will plug into the USB port and will be easier to instal too.

So if I purchased: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/574371 would that be OK ? and is that all that is needed ? and it would enable both PCs to access the internet at the same time.

Once I have the PCs sharing and I have purchased zonealarm do I just install it onto the new PC ? thank you again

WELSH-DRAGON_2

Nadolig Llawen - Michelle :rudolf:

Cheers Gizmo - thanks for your help much appreciated

Browntoa

the free version of Sygate personal firewall supports Networking

took zonealarm off mine and swapped to that , I actually prefer it now

gizmoleeds

Okay, here is a similar kit with an included adaptor from ebuyer:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=14544857402&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=77141

Now you have two options for buying a second adaptor:

1) You could get another USB adaptor.

Like this: http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=75646

or,

2) You could connect it to one PC by a wire (as the router will be next to one of the PCs anyway...)

For this you just need an ethernet card (£1.99):

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=14545024917&action=&product_uid=42061

and a cable:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=14545103544&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=23863

(don't buy that cable unless someone else says it;s okay though as I'm not 100% on cables )

albertross_2

your new PC will probably have windows firewall installed, and the router (e.g. Netgear DG834G) has a hardware firewall, they both block attacks from the outside, the only advantage of zonealarm etc, is that is warns you if a rogue program is try to connect from your PC to the outside world. The free version of zonealarm will work with a router, so don't worry about getting the pro version.. The routers normally connect via ethernet, rather than usb. If you get wireless, please read all the posts regarding wpa-encryption and wireless security in the wireless sticky thread..

PS The Netgears (and probably others) come with an ethernet cable in the box.

PPS Gizmo's cable choice looks ok (if a little short), if you want to connect the second PC with a wired (rather than wireless connection)

tigermatt

albertross wrote:

your new PC will probably have windows firewall installed, and the router (e.g. Netgear DG834G) has a hardware firewall, they both block attacks from the outside, the only advantage of zonealarm etc, is that is warns you if a rogue program is try to connect from your PC to the outside world. The free version of zonealarm will work with a router, so don't worry about getting the pro version.. The routers normally connect via ethernet, rather than usb. If you get wireless, please read all the posts regarding wpa-encryption and wireless security in the wireless sticky thread..

PS The Netgears (and probably others) come with an ethernet cable in the box.

PPS Gizmo's cable choice looks ok (if a little short), if you want to connect the second PC with a wired (rather than wireless connection)

Regarding the ZoneAlarm working with a router. You may need to access ZoneAlarm's Zones control panel and add the IP Address of your router and the IP Address of the other computer or your DHCP Range (as assigned by your wireless router) to enable the compuers to talk to each other. In a lot of cases it works fine, but sometimes it requires these additional steps to get everything working.