On Friday 09 September 2005 9:15 pm, Don Parris wrote:
Well, I've got an ADSL modem I use to connect to the Internet. Should I use a box between my router my DSL modem? IOW, my DSL modem is not wireless. This may seem trivial to you, but I'd rather be sure I understand it before I do something stupid. ;-) Yes. The DSL line to the ADSL modem and then it's Ethernet cable to the broadband firewall/router/switch's WAN port and then wired/wireless to the other systems.
If you start with a Linksys WRT54g style wireless router/firewall/switch you'll get 4 switched Ethernet ports, the firewall and router plus the wireless access point. Plus there are other Linux based firmwares available to turn it into a more capable Linux security device with lots of cool features. Nice first line of defense in a layered security LAN.
If you need more than 4 wired ports, add a dedicated 4,8,16 port 10/100/1000 Ethernet switch off of it. That way you can segment and modularize for speed if there are some gigabit needs in the LAN.
This LAN is more experimental than serious. However, going wireless could make the whole LAN more portable for demos, etc. Then the WRT54g series would be good to show the versatility of Linux in various devices for specific and general purposes...
As far as wireless Ethernet adapters of the USB variety I'm curious as to what others say. USB ports aren't always in what I would think are good radio reception areas. Some wireless cards have the capability to add a cable to the antenna so it can be placed further from the desktop and in a better reception area.
Stan
I'll plan to stick to standard equipment for now. Thanks, Stan! You really responded on a level I needed. Any warnings on the NICs? Do the homework before buying. I'll wait for others to respond on desktop style wireless NICs.
Stan