Home Networking
I need to share my cable internet over my mac and 2 pc's, my question is what exactly will i need hardware wise? i don't need an access point, i already have the cable modem, but i don't want to run any software to share the single ip. will i need a switch/router? switches can be had for $40, but this seems to good to be true. as always, help is greatly appreciated.
Comments
Then just plub everything in and bing bata boom.
Choice 1
Get a router (with a built in switch). We use Asante both at home and office. Others are available. The router acts like a computer to login to your ISP. Then it serves up the internet connection to all of the computers connected to it (up to 254 computers). Usually the router will come with a built in four port switch. To handle more computers you need more switches. Routers are really nice as they
1) act as a firewall
2) are always on
3) are independent. No computer has to be kept on to keep the network going.
4) are cross platform.
5) fairly inexpensive (under $100)
6) If you have visitors over it is trivial to give them internet access.
Choice 2
Connect the internet connection to one computer and then use that to host the others. This requires software for sharing the connection, software for the firewall and this computer must be up and running anytime the other machines need to use the internet.
Perhaps you can tell, I think the router is by far the better way to go.