However, if thin Ethernet avoids needing a hub, this may be viewed more favourably by my budget-holding bosses!
Thin Ethernet is a pain - which is why people are chucking it out (bend the cable a few times and you could bring down the whole network). UTP would be the way to go.
Excellent - I'll head that way then!
This is very good advice - thin Ethernet, just don't go there. we had it here on our admin net, yep it's cheap, but you get what you pay for - trouble! It took lots of tweaking before it settled down. We have a Gb back bone and loads of flashy kit here (had to sweet talk the bursar and hassle several firms (all out of favours with the bursar now!)), but at one of our feeder schools I have set up a 10 machine network with patch leads, a couple of palm hubs (dirt cheap) and some sticky back trunking. It works well enough at 10Mz If you can't do it, most local PC shops will make leads to any length - The usual max length of a patch lead is 10M (this is laid down in the CAT5 Spec - Does anyone know if this is different for CAT5E or CAT6 ?) If you can find a local firm who will 'fluke' your system for nothing, go for it. If you KNOW that the cabling is sound, it will cut down the time it takes to diagnose any faults. You don't need any unknowns! :-) PS if you have any crossover leads, make sure that they are clearly labeled as such, otherwise they WILL trip you up in the future. Adrian Kind Regards Adrian Wells _______________________________________ Systems Manager Sidcot School Oakridge Lane, Winscombe, Somerset BS25 1PD. Please reply to adrian.wells@sidcot.org.uk admin@sidcot.org.uk for general enquiries