[hotani]

Ok, I have cable internet and a G4 with a static IP. It needs to keep that. Now I need to get a PC laptop on the internet.

What is the best way to do this?

Can I go:

cable router -> G4 (2 network cards) -> hub -> pc1, pc2, etc...?

or is there some other way I should set it up?

(yes I searched... couldn't find answers to this - although it is admittedly pretty basic)

EDIT: ok, how about this?

cable router -> hub -> g4, pc1, pc2??

where the g4 is assigning itself its current ip address. hmmmmm.

[John Strung]

The router is by far the best way to go.

[hotani]

huh?

you mean the current cable router, or get a new fancy shmancy router?

[John Strung]

If by cable router, you mean what is commonly called a cable modem, then yes, I mean a fancy/schmancy $20 - $40 cable/dsl router like the LinkSys BEFSR-41.

[hotani]

cool, thanks.

so I'm assuming this new router would take the place of my current router the cable company gave me, allowing me to do a setup like:

router -> hub -> g4, pc1, pc2, etc..

?

[skalie]

Wouldn't it be modem -> router -> computers?

[John Strung]

No. The router your cable company gave you is likely just is usually called a cable modem.

What sort of IP address does your computer get from it? If the IP address is in one of the following three ranges, then you already have a router and don't need another one. If it isn't, then you have a modem and need a router in addition to what your cable company gave you:

Private IP address ranges:

10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255
172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255
192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255

Assuming what you have from your ISP is a cable modem, then your setup is:

Cable modem > 4 port cable/dsl router > up to four computers.

If you have more than four computers then you need a hub or switch to uplink to the cable/dsl router to accomodate the additional computers.

[larkost]

The cable company almost certainly gave you ca cable modem, this is not commonly called a router (it does contain a simple type called a bridge.. but that is a bit too much information). You would need to get a second box, a router (also called a dsl/cable router), this would be hooked up to the cable modem, and then share the connection to you r mac and the new PC.

You said you needed to keep the computer where it is, is this because you are serving from this computer? You can still do this, but you will have to know what ports you need, and then forward them from the router to your current computer. Almost all cable/dsl routers do this.

[hotani]

ok, that makes sense.

Currently my machine is assigned an outside IP - I access that IP when connecting via SSH or web.

I'll go pick up a real (4-port, cable/dsl) router then, and throw that in the mix.

Thanks for the input.

[skalie]

If it's for a laptop you could also consider getting a wireless router.

[hotani]

yep. That's my plan. I think i'll get the Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router and a card for the laptop.