http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/wiring----or-wirelessing----the-home-office An entire Lightstalkers thread via RSS/XML. en-us I'd like to network 3 computers to our DSL line, and also put one or two printers on the same network. Our home office has an iMac, a pre-USB G3Powerbook, an early edition G3 tower, and a networkable laser printer. Anyone know how to go about getting all these things connected? I believe what I need are ethernet cables for each of the devices, and a hub (I need a specific device here don't I?) for all of them to plug into. And then I think this device (hub) would need to be plugged into the DSL modem via ethernet cable. Would this give all machines simultaneous access to the internet? Is it significantly more expensive to do all this without wires (to set up a wireless network for our immediate neighbors to log into)? Thanks for your insights. Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:53:40 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/wiring----or-wirelessing----the-home-office Hey Retsu, hisashiburi! Wireless routers these days typically include at least four Ethernet ports, so they can function as a traditional hub as well as a wireless access point. Last time I asked Conrad, this was the best wireless access point: "http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=WRT54G&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF":http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=WRT54G&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF There are still plain-jane hubs on the market, but I think it's probably worth your while to go ahead with wireless access point (aka "router"). You'll end up wanting it at some point anyway! Tue, 07 Dec 2004 13:41:02 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/wiring----or-wirelessing----the-home-office#739 Domo arigato, Shinji-san. So it looks like I buy one of these and plug the DSL modem into it -- and printer and Macs. And then, I suppose that even if all 4 ports are plugged into, someone can still pick up our internet signal (correct me if I'm wrong here). I figure if I'm going to go wireless, I may as well share the signal with my neighbors. All of these routers seems to have specs having to do with signal frequency or something to that effect. Do I need to worry about that -- or is it enough to buy anything that has "broadband" in the title or description? I'll go with your recommendation and look into doing a little research on the specs and stuff. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! Ja-neh. . . Tue, 07 Dec 2004 14:12:32 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/wiring----or-wirelessing----the-home-office#740 Right-o -- with Ethernet, you're limited to the number of ports they decided to include (usually four, I think). I don't know what the maximum number of wireless connections would be, but it's high. Pretty much anything is going to work for you; your set-up is nice and ordinary. The manufacturers compete on advanced features and whatnot ("802.11a" vs "b" vs "g", etc), but I really doubt any of that is going to be relevant to you and your network. Tue, 07 Dec 2004 15:04:38 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/wiring----or-wirelessing----the-home-office#745 One more link which I found informative: http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/wirelessproducts/a/howtobuildwlan_3.htm Kind of a how-to on the about.com site. Fri, 10 Dec 2004 17:09:34 +0000 http://www.lightstalkers.org/posts/wiring----or-wirelessing----the-home-office#776