Computer Question

[Z-man]

To get the two computers to work together and share a single DSL, you can get two network cards, (100 mps minimum), and connect them via CAT-5 cables. I don't think you need a network hub, but if you plan on expanding this network, it wouldn't hurt.

It is not too difficult to network PC's these days, and doing that is a sensible thing to do, esp. if you wish to share a DSL connection.

-Z.

PS: I don't like Gateways, but they are reasonably priced.

[stray15]

Z-Man:
What do you think would be cheaper, buying two network cards or an additional DSL modem?

PS I chose Gateway because it was rated best on consumer reports. My parents believe that it is the best way to decide on a product, more or less. Just curous, what kind of platform are you running off of?

Thanx

[Z-man]

Stray,
It's pretty close:
I checked Compusa.com and here's what I found:
DSL:
A D1-704 Home DSL/Cable Modem Gateway & 4 port switch goes for $113.01.

Network cards/hubs:
An SMC 10/100 network card is $19.99 (you'd need two, plus CAT-5 cables) so total would be less than $80.00
OR
For $72.49 you can get Linksys's "Network in a BOX" (2 10/100 cards, cables, and a 5 port 10/100 hub). I am pretty sure the system is CAT-5, so upgradabillity is there.

I have a Linksys 5 port hub, and have not had a problem. I've seen DSL w/ the network card setup, and it works very fast, but you'd be faster on the net if you had the DSL gateway/4 port switch (D1-704).

HOWEVER, with the network cards, you can always challenge your friends to a nice game of Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed!

Hope this helps,
-Z.

PS: I'm a counselor at my church's youth group: over the weekend, we had our first ever 'GAMEFEST' we networked our PC's and played multi-player games (NFS:III, Age of Empires) for hours!! Also had PS2 going on a projection system. (I'm hooked on GT3!)

[stray15]

What do you guys know about wireless networks. I believe their is a product that I could get that hooks up to the computer that has the DSL and then hook up something else to the computer I will be using and it sends a signal within like 1500 feet or so. Anybody know any more details about this? Prices? The computer comes the 27th so I gots some time.

[Bill Verburg]

Stray, my current Gateway computer is very similar to your proposed one, only difference is 2ghz, internal 250 zip in addition to the other drives, a separate ATA card for the hard drive and an 18.3" lcd. I highly recomend the later. It comes with all the usb firewire and network ports you cound possibly need. I am using a router to network my cable modem with my other machines. That won't work if you have a usb dsl modem. But you can still network with either a hub, switch, or just a crossover wire to the standard Gateway nic card(of course the other computers also need a nic card). The other cpus wont have web access except thru the main machine.

[Z-man]

Oh, one more thing: if you want to share web access via a network (using nic cards, and a hub, for example), you'll need to run Win2000 on the system the DSL is connected to, so you can run something called "Webserver" (I think) which will enable you to share the web access. It's fairly straightforward to set up: not sure if Win-XP has this feature. Check with the cow. (Gateway tech support)

Regarding wireless: too new, I'd wait till the price somes down, and give the technology a longer time to develop.

-Z.

[rice_killer]

tigerdirect.com has k6-2+450 processors with 128K on die l2 cache. it makes quite a improvment in older k6 systems.

as for me, i have 1024MB pc333 ddr and a 1.67ghz xp2000+ custom built system. (i am addicted to online games)

my processor is water cooled with a porsche oil cooler as a radiator!