router vs. hub for DSL

Jimmy Jung

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Jul 21, 2001, 2:02:44 PM7/21/01

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Hi,

I set up a home network for my 2 computers and my sister's
laptop. I have a Linksys Etherfast 10/100 5-Port Workgroup
hub, 2 PCI LiveWire 10/100 Fast Ethernet Adapter cards for
each of my computers and (1) 3com Fast 10/100 Ethernet PC
card. The network is up and running fine. We are currently
sharing an internet connection with my 56k modem.

I would like to get DSL sometime in the near future.
I understand that if I get DSL, I would need 2 network
cards in my primary computer with would have the DSL modem
which is fine since my secondary computer's mobo won't
let me reconfigure the IRQs for the network card anyway.
I've read a router is necessary for DSL when you are
sharing with other computers. Do I really need a router
if I have a hub? Doesn't a router just make sure the traffic
is flows evenly through each port? It shouldn't that much
worst over the 56k sharing that my sister and I have now.

Thanks in advance.

Jim
oswa...@yahoo.com

Mike Daniel

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Jul 21, 2001, 2:31:24 PM7/21/01

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In article <3B59C278...@worldnet.att.net>,
jungm...@worldnet.att.net says...

Use a hub if you want to pay your ISP extra each month for extra IP
address and make yourself a sitting duck for hackers if you want to
enable local networking. Otherwise get a router. For $100, you can't
beat it.

Mike

Tom Schmidt

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Jul 21, 2001, 2:34:33 PM7/21/01

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"Jimmy Jung" <jungm...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:3B59C278...@worldnet.att.net...

You can continue to use the setup you have with DSL.

The other alternative is to use one of the popular broadband routers.

Having used both my preference is the router, it does a good job isolating
your LAN from the Internet.

Allen

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Jul 21, 2001, 6:20:56 PM7/21/01

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Depending on the DSL service you get ... if an "external" DSL modem/router
is available, get it. The external can be connected to the "uplink" port on
your Linksys and you won't need any additional network adapters.

--
Allen Tucker
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"Mike Daniel" <mdaniel1-kil...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.15c36a57c...@news-server.socal.rr.com...

naibed

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Jul 22, 2001, 12:55:33 PM7/22/01

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In your configuration the computer with 2-nics would act as the router.
It doesn't matter how you are accessing the internet, if you want to
share a connection between computers you need a router. You are
currently using a router to share your 56K connection. A router
connects networks that share a network layer (in this case IP). A
load-balancing router balances traffic flow over multiple connections
between networks.

You can use a standalone router or a pc as the router it doesn't really
matter. The only issues are protocol and security. Whatever router you
choose it must support the protocol used by your isp (ie pppoe, pppoa,
...). As far as security goes you want a router that will run only the
necessary services and provide adequate logging.

Naibed