Edited 2016 (Reviewed 2003)
For most folk a router is something ignore. In 2003 when I wrote this they were complicated and costly (£120). Today they're complicated and cheap (£25 up). I'd previously used ISDN for Internet access and it was good. There were tales of routers dialling up needlessly and incurring scary phone bills. But now in 2016, with Internet over cable and ADSL these are the way we go.
It used to be that if you had ADSL you had a DSL modem connected to a PC. If you had a couple of machines and maybe a ethernet linked printer you needed a hub or switch to wire them together. You could also connect a wifi access point to the hub or switch to allow a laptop with a wireless LAN card to surf, transfer files and print from around the building. The cost of this in 2002 was £120 for the modem; £60 for the hub and £120 for the wifi AP. The computer with the modem had to be switched on the whole time.
However I bought the Netgear DG824M at £140 and was really flying. After years of struggle the result was tidy and revolutionary. It was rare to find such a setup in 2003 but it established itself over the next four years. The speed was about 4Mbits/s.
The Netgear DG824M plugs into the phone line. A PC plugs into the router with a network cable (supplied).
A setup program helps your PC to find the router and configure it. This worked exceptionally well. The jargon is explained and the dial up settings are remembered by the router. The router can now be ignored indefinitely to deliver Internet as if it was electricity.
Plug another PC into the router with an ethernet cable to make a peer-to-peer network where you can share the Internet, transfer files and share printers. The DG824M has ethernet ports for three other PC's. If you have more than this you need another hub or switch.
You can connect wireless clients to the router to pick up the Internet. What you can't do is connect to it using another wireless access point. In other words, two wireless access points can't normally talk to each other.
For most folk a router is something ignore. In 2003 when I wrote this they were complicated and costly (£120). Today they're complicated and cheap (£25 up). I'd previously used ISDN for Internet access and it was good. There were tales of routers dialling up needlessly and incurring scary phone bills. But now in 2016, with Internet over cable and ADSL these are the way we go.
It used to be that if you had ADSL you had a DSL modem connected to a PC. If you had a couple of machines and maybe a ethernet linked printer you needed a hub or switch to wire them together. You could also connect a wifi access point to the hub or switch to allow a laptop with a wireless LAN card to surf, transfer files and print from around the building. The cost of this in 2002 was £120 for the modem; £60 for the hub and £120 for the wifi AP. The computer with the modem had to be switched on the whole time.
However I bought the Netgear DG824M at £140 and was really flying. After years of struggle the result was tidy and revolutionary. It was rare to find such a setup in 2003 but it established itself over the next four years. The speed was about 4Mbits/s.
The Netgear DG824M plugs into the phone line. A PC plugs into the router with a network cable (supplied).
A setup program helps your PC to find the router and configure it. This worked exceptionally well. The jargon is explained and the dial up settings are remembered by the router. The router can now be ignored indefinitely to deliver Internet as if it was electricity.
Plug another PC into the router with an ethernet cable to make a peer-to-peer network where you can share the Internet, transfer files and share printers. The DG824M has ethernet ports for three other PC's. If you have more than this you need another hub or switch.
You can connect wireless clients to the router to pick up the Internet. What you can't do is connect to it using another wireless access point. In other words, two wireless access points can't normally talk to each other.
