What's your network topology

[Peachy]

I'm kinda curious to know what sort of network everyone has setup if they are networking their home PC.Right now I have a Linksys 4-port firewall/router switch that sits between my DSL modem and the LAN that hooks into it. I also have a 5-port Linksys switch uplinked to the router to extend the LAN. The hosts that are left on 24/7 have static IP addresses while any machine that is temporarily attached must get its IP by DHCP, including OSes that are part of a multiboot machine.I have three machines that are generally left on 24/7: my main workstation, my kids, and my Windows 2000 Server that runs DHCP and an internal DNS if I run Active Directory (I have a non-AD Ghost image that I use to whenever I want to install and play with AD).What's prompting me to re-evaluate my network topology is that I'm thinking of putting a Linux server into the mix to handle internal file server duties, Apache, MySQL, and possibly a second Linux box as a firewall. There is also the consideration that I may add a wireless access point when products start shipping with the soon to be ratified 802.11g standard.

[BarryB]

Hey PeachyWell here Goes// Cable Modem --- NetGear FR114-----HP 7935(WinXP Home * * NetGear PE 102 (PNA Bridge) * - Phoneline.............Netgear PA101 (PNA/USB Dongle)>>Toshebia(win98Laptop * Netgear PE 102 (PNA Bridge * * Netgear 5 Port Switch...EA101 ( Eth to USB dongle) Compaq 7800(W2K/Mandrake) * * ******************************************************** HP xl844 (WinXP Pro/FreeBSD/Mandrake) HP Vectra (WinXP Home/Debian)Next plans add wireless access point for 3 more computers..I like the idea of a Linux server..I have an old PB that may just be the canidate for that

[zox]

oops, I voted wrong for "Ethernet Hub/Switch" wher I should have voted for "Firewall/router in front of LAN/Single PC".That Single PC confused me Anyway, I have home network with couple of PC's shared on couple of switches and all go into router/4 port switch.

[bjf123]

I've got a Cisco 675 DSL modem that's connected to a Linksys BESFR41 4 port router that then connects to my HP PC running Win98 and SuSE 8.2 and my iMac running OS X (10.2.6). Unfortunately, at the moment my DSL connection is rather flakey. It will be fine for a while, then it will lose the connection, or drastically slow down my connection speeds. The phone company is sending a technician out Wednesday to look into it.

[Isaac~]

Let's see here....hmmmm..... I have a Linksys Cable Modem connected to a Linksys 4-port BEFW11S4 wireless AP router.1st PC: Win98SE with a Linksys LNE100TX v5.1 NIC card in my living room (main PC for now),2nd PC: Win2K with a Linksys WMP11 802.11b wireless PCI card in my bedroom (for LAN games...WarCraft II & III),3rd PC: WinXP Pro with built-in LAN (Shuttle SK41G), currently located in my living room as well (playing with WinXP),4th PC: Dell Inspiron laptop running Win2K (my business PC) with a Linksys WUSB11 wireless adapter,I also have an IBM 240X Thinkpad which will have WinXP Pro running on it and connecting to the router via a Siemens SS1021 wireless PCMCIA card. The Win98 SE PC stays on pretty much all the time, unless I have to reboot for software updates.Isaac~

[Scot]

Some of you may have heard about my network setup in the newsletter. But it's fun to write about. My network is constantly in flux because I test all the time. There are 18 PCs here, but my son keeps the tally, and I believe he counts handhelds, which I rarely network. So there's something like a dozen PCs on the network all the time, and others that swap in and out.I have the network set up in three different pieces which I can add/subtract from the rest. There are also three different broadband connections (and I just ordered a fourth): SDSL, cable Internet, StarBand Small Office, and the fourth will be 768/128 ADSL. The main network runs off a 24-port switch. Even though I have 12 computers, I actually have cable runs for about twice that. Most of the house is hardwired with Cat5e.I'm also using wireless with wireless access points (running in Infrastructure mode) in three different locations in the house. We have four or five notebook PCs. Some are always roving; others switch back and forth between wired and wireless.I'm currently using the Netgear and D-Link broadband routers I just reviewed. I also have a networked print server with two printers.I'd like to get into testing power-line networking and also broadband. Both sound pretty promising.-- Scot

[FuzzButt]

Well my network goes something like this:Linksys Cable Modem connected to the WAN port on the Linksys BEFSR41 Router.The BEFSR41 LAN Port 1 is connected to a Linksys 8 port switch (port 8) with custom built 8 " patch cable on the cross over port.The BEFSR41 port 3 and 4 are plugged in to my IBM Thinkpad at one of the 2 jacks I plug into for VPN access.On the Switch:Port 1 is connected to my WinXP Pro PC's 3Com 3C905B-TX NICPort 2 is connected to my Win2K Pro PC's 3Com 3C905B-TX NICPort 3 is connected to wifey's WinXP Home PC's Linksys NC100 NICPort 4 and 5 are emptyPort 6 is for future use/repair PC connectionPort 7 is connected to the Lexmark Marknet Ethernet adapter in my Lexmark Laser printerOn the network most of the devices use DHCP except for the Printer due to TCP/IP printing port maping in Windows.The PC's are protected with a variety of Firewall software. Norton Internet Security 2003 Professional on my XP box, Norton Internet Security 2002 on my Win2K box and Zone Alarm on my wife's. The Thinkpad has the corperate version of Norton's Internet Security 2002 which is just a pain in the butt to use. Due to restricted access rights it does not save any of the settings for allowed communications. The Marknet adapter in the printer is great though it was real expensive it is much faster than parallel and allows me to connect my Thinkpad directly to the parallel port on the printer instead of using a bi-directional switch. The Cable Modem is freshly re-wired to the special no-loss DC Pass splitter that came with my install kit. This splitter has no loss on 1 leg and 3.5Db loss on the other leg. There is quad shielded Coax throughout my entire house now and I have perfect picture on the TV's and good signal at the CM without any boosting of the incomming signal like I did for the regular RG6 and RG59 combination I had before rewiring. If I had extra closet space I would have all this equipment mounted to a rack in the closet. It looks like wire world under my desk. Future plans inglude adding 2 Linksys Gigabit ethernet adapters in my 2 PC's and cross connecting them for a much faster connection. I have not seen much info on wether this will work or not. There is suprisingly little info on Gigabit Ethernet use in home enviroments. Chris

[fLoOdY]

Comcast RCA CableModem to SonicWall SOHO2; Central NETGEAR DS308 Switch uplinking to 2 NETGEAR DS105s. 2 HP JetDirect print servers.Since SonicWall is SPOF, have second router; a Linksys BEFSR41 preconfigured and spoofing the SonicWall MAC. In the event the SonicWall fails, I can drop the Linky right in. I telecommute and PPTP VPN to the corporate network.Looking at new USR8200 SPI/NAT as a possible SonicWall replacement. It is Linux based and has both PPTP Client and Server built-in. Also has 2 USB 2.0 ports. Put a couple of Mator USB Externals on it and you have a nice little NAS. Waiting for reviews to come in on the USR.http://www.usr.com/products/networking/rou...ecs&sku=USR8200