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Random Home Networking Questions

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  • 20-09-2003 12:01am
    #1
    Duffman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,248 ✭✭✭


    I have absolutely no networking experience, want to set up a simple home network between a desktop and laptop as cheaply as possible and have a few questions :)

    Net Card:

    Does it matter what network card I buy for the desktop? Prices seem to vary on Komplett for cards with different chipsets etc.. Will a card for 8 euro be ok? The laptop supports gigabit which sounds crazy... Any advantage to getting this instead of 100?

    Cable:

    I'm trying to find a male to female net cable because the laptop has a PCMCIA ISDN modem with a specific connector at the card end.. I want to use the same cable to connect to PC and extend to ISDN box..

    Can you buy female cable heads? I have a random length of CAT5 that would do but I can't find them on Komplett..

    The other option is to go wireless but this is probably too expensive... If I buy a wireless PCI card, what kind of range will it have without a base station? About 50-100m? This would also mean that I'd have to share the ISDN connection rather than plug directly into the laptop so cables are probably best..

    Anyone answer by random qustions?
    Thanks :D


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    #2
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 91,900 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    Some random answers:

    Both ISDN and Network use RJ45 8 pin connectors
    ISDN uses the centre pair (Blue)
    Network does not use the centre pairs (it uses Green White Orange)

    Note- you can't mix these as the voltages are quite different - network is ~5V where as ISDN can be up to ~100V

    If you buy a crossover cable (marx computers) you can connect the network cards directly otherwise you would need a hub/switch as well.

    Protcols and IP addresses and Firewalls can be fun to figure out.


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    #3
    Duffman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,248 ✭✭✭Duffman


    So the same cable won't work for ISDN and network? I'm talking about unplugging the network to use ISDN...


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    #4
    monkey_magic
    Closed Accounts Posts: 21 ✭monkey_magic


    Even if you could get a female head for the cable, I'm not sure it'll be any good to you.

    From what you described I'm guessing you either want to try and use the ISDN modem as a network card which won't work, or you're going to use the cable that goes into the PCMCIA card on your ISDN modem to connect to the network card on your laptop, which (unless they're both cat5 UTP) probably won't work.

    If there's only 2 PC's involved you're probably better off getting a crossover cable and connecting the 2 network adaptors directly, a crossover cable should be very cheap.


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