Broadband virgin. How 2 connect 3 computers, help!

lovebargains

Ok boffins. Having telewest broadband next week. Asked the nice gentleman for advice on a modem router, and he said I need a dsl one, and that was about it! Ok experts, I have his and hers laptops downstairs, I have networked these, and we are connected via usb with a belkin ethernet adapter. The desk top computer upstairs, is not on the network. Now, I will have telewest installed downstairs, as then I will only need one wire to go upstairs. (Thicko questions alert) For all 3 computers to use broadband, will I have to bring the 3rd computer into the network, or can each one be connected to the broadband router, and go online independantly? ( I would prefer this) At the moment its either the 2 laptops on, or the desktop, never all 3 together.
Also, is wireless as good as it sounds, or should I go for wired.
6 days to broadband, and I have to get something sorted!
Need a lie down now, the help pages I have read are acting like prunes, and going straight through me !!!

DVB_3

If you have telewest broadband - why do you need a dsl router?

Paul_Varjak

I have only just started looking at networking and it is a bit of a minfield, lovebargains. However I note a few points:

1. Telewest is a cable service. So you need a cable modem (rather than an ADSL modem). You only use ADSL modems if you want broadband on a non-cable line (e.g. BT & Kingston). Telewest may supply you with a modem when you take up service. Do they?

2. I assume that your Belkin Ethernet Adapter plugs into your USB port and has an Ethernet connector which you connect (with a crossover Ethernet cable) to the Ethernet Adapter on a second computer. If you only have two computers to connect you can do this but when connecting three or more computers you need a router. I believe that you can connect the two computers with the USB to Eternet Adapters direct to the router but using standard Ethernet cables (not the crossover one you have). For the third computer you can connect this to the router using an Eternet cable (if the computer has an in-built Eternet card) or you will have to fit an Ethernet card or use another Belkin USB to Ethernet adaptor. That means you need three Ethernet cables.

2. You can get cable modems with built in routers to enable you to connect three PCs to the Internet at once. The most common is a cable/modem with four ethernet ports, enabling you to connect your three computers and have one spare port. However you may be supplied with a free cable modem when you sign up with your provider so you may only need the router which will sit between the cable modem and your 3 PCs.

3. If you go the wireless route you will need a wireless router (or wireless cable modem router if you get no free modem) and you will need to fit wireless cards into any computer you wish to connect wirelessly to the router or modem/router. For those computers you don't connect wirelessly you can connect these in the same fashion as wired routers as even wireless routers have wired Ethernet connectors.

Once you have your network set up you will be able to access the Internet from all three PCs at once.

Now this is my understanding, as someone with no practical experience but who is thinking of getting a wireless home network going.

DVB_3

Looks like this discussion now takes place in another thread.