Cheapest route for internet?

**kpxgq** · 09-10-2003, 02:56 AM

Im helping out my friend hookup internet at her sorority house for as cheap as possible.. see anything wrong?

6 computers upstairs
3 computers downstairs

i was thinking a 4 port router downstairs hooked up to the cable modem and running a 50 foot cable upstairs and putting an 8port switch up there...

is there a cheaper way to do this? keeping cat5 cable costs in consideration

**Tekime** · 09-10-2003, 10:03 AM

That looks pretty good. Unless you swap the switch out for a cheaper hub I think that's minimal for equipment anyway. If you have an old rig you could use Linux as a router (set up NAT/IPTABLES on any distro or check out www.smoothwall.org or www.ipcop.org which look very good, I'm testing IPCop right now). You'd need a bigger switch though.

**rock** · 09-10-2003, 11:20 AM

Running cables is a pian in the butt and messy. I'd recommend a wireless router and wireless NICs. A little more investment upfront, but a whole lot nicer and expandable and no running cables from room to room.

**russ_watters** · 09-10-2003, 11:27 AM

Originally posted by rock
Running cables is a pian in the butt and messy. I'd recommend a wireless router and wireless NICs. A little more investment upfront, but a whole lot nicer and expandable and no running cables from room to room.

Good but depends on bandwidth. If bandwidth is important, wired is the way to go.

**Tekime** · 09-10-2003, 11:30 AM

Wireless is a bit more than a 'little' investment too. Atleast compared to the wired alternative.

**Racer^** · 09-10-2003, 01:26 PM

Well, you can go two routes with wireless: 54Mb/s or 11Mb/s.

The 54Mb/s will run around $80-90 for a good WAP and $40 for a good NIC.
If you want to go for the cheaper 11Mb/s route, you can get a entry-level WAP router for around $50 and a NIC for around $20.

If you compare this to the cost of running a wired network (including cabling, crimping, etc) with the 2 HUBs and NICs, then you will probably break even if you compare it to the 11Mb/s system. However, the 54Mb/s will always be more expensive.

**Tekime** · 09-10-2003, 02:42 PM

Wow, that is pretty cheap. I didn't realize they had gone down this much -- all the equipment I see locally is still priced very high. Still, 11Mbps is a bit slow, so it really depends on their bandwidth requirements.

**Ashpool** · 09-10-2003, 02:49 PM

Originally posted by Tekime
Wow, that is pretty cheap. I didn't realize they had gone down this much -- all the equipment I see locally is still priced very high. Still, 11Mbps is a bit slow, so it really depends on their bandwidth requirements.

However, considering this is for sharing internet, 11Mbps is plenty. Many Residential internet connections don't even saturate 1/10th of that.

This is a College Sorority, too. I seriously doubt they'd be moving massive files from one rig to another, and even then I don't think they'd really give a damn about the speed difference.

**rock** · 09-10-2003, 03:01 PM

Even at 11 Mbps the bandwidth isn't going to be an issue at all. Even if they all start playing network games.

And if you've never run cabling before, I cannot state strongly enough how annoying it is. One place I ran it had drop ceilings, so access to the walls and getting room to room wasn't technically hard - but jeeze, what a pain in the butt.

Then I helped a friend wire his house. Very painful and very non-upgradable. Nice looking wall jacks in the end, but not worth the effort by any stretch. And know what he has to do when he needs another connection upstairs? Same thing all over again.

Wireless is sooo much easier. Plus, they'll all end up with NICs that could probably be used in the school library, etc. sooner or later.

**xboxundone** · 09-10-2003, 03:01 PM

Originally posted by kpxgq
Im helping out my friend hookup internet at her sorority house for as cheap as possible.. see anything wrong?

6 computers upstairs
3 computers downstairs

i was thinking a 4 port router downstairs hooked up to the cable modem and running a 50 foot cable upstairs and putting an 8port switch up there...

is there a cheaper way to do this? keeping cat5 cable costs in consideration

Make sure to get those digits when you are hooking it all up

**WaRmAsTeR** · 09-10-2003, 04:37 PM

Hi!

You said you want to keep the costs down...

I have 3 computers, but my setup is almost what you need...

I've got a router in one room with the modem and one computer hooked up there.
Then I have a 50ft cable running to a switch in another room, where 2 computer are hooked up.

Here's how much this cost me :
Router : 9.99$CDN after mail in rebate (no joke, works so well!)
Switch : Old 10/100 switch I had, you can get one of those for 20$ on ebay I'm sure!
Network cards : Dirt cheap!
50ft of cable : 20$ max

So all in all this solution is really cheap and get the job done at 100Mbps!

Sure you have to run the cable, but I personnally like doing that!

**kpxgq** · 09-10-2003, 05:03 PM

i was thinking about wireless but i dont know if the signal will go through all the walls.. + $30 for each wireless NIC x 9 computers = alot of $$$$$.. everyone already has a regular NIC

**rock** · 09-10-2003, 05:22 PM

Originally posted by kpxgq
i was thinking about wireless but i dont know if the signal will go through all the walls.. + $30 for each wireless NIC x 9 computers = alot of $$$$$.. everyone already has a regular NIC

Signal goes through most walls without a problem. In my house (just under 5000 sq. feet) there's only one place the signal strenght drops below 50% and I think it's going through two sets of duct work there.

**mikeki** · 09-10-2003, 07:09 PM

If you go wireless, then make sure there are NO 2.8Ghz remote phones in the house. Talk about completely screwing up the network. Your original wired plan sounds awesome to me.

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