> Hey i just did a search for *network router* with web ferret and found us! > > under the description: 'build a network at home' > http://avenir.dhs.org/articles/hardware/network-howto.html > > shoulda looked in here first <duh> But of course. :) This is actually a strange coincidence. A friend said basically the same thing tonight-- that he did a search on google (great engine), and got back av web at the top of his list. Interesting, eh? :) > It occured to me that sharing internet connections and sharing files between > my lan would require more than just a hub....98 wont let me separate the two > functions. > Maybe NT will? Not sure what you mean by "separate the two functions." They are two separate functions already... > how is a router different from a switch? They're actually pretty close. A router is a box that connects multiple smaller networks together, and directs packet traffic to the correct network. Switches do the same sort of thing, but usually on a smaller scale, say within the same network. They can be used to route too, though. > I wanna share internet connections, and have my file sharing invisible to the > internet....would one of these do this? Somewhat, but that's not what they're designed for (you can configure a router to do this), and the pricing is unbelievable -- you could *easily* spend $50,000 on a decent switch for a decent-sized network. What you want is a firewall. Read the ipchains and firewalling howto's, and you'll be set. John -- # John Madden weez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ICQ: 2EB9EA # Sys-Admin / Webmaster, Avenir Web: http://avenir.dhs.org # LANdb: Network Admin Database - http://avenir.dhs.org/landb/ # NCPweb: Web-based frontend to ncpfs - http://avenir.dhs.org/ncpweb/ # Linux, Apache, Perl and C. All the best things in life are Free! ======================================== Avenir Web's Computers Mailing List List Modes, Subscription, and General Info: Go to http://avenir.dhs.org/mailing.html List Archives: http://avenir.dhs.org/archives/ Administrative Contact: weez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Get computer help: http://avenir.dhs.org ========================================