Just after a bit of advice on the cheapest way to connect my 3 PC's upto a broadband connection.

This is for my halls and so far BT have said it can be done for £180 but that seems far to expensive.

The phone line is in the kitchen and the 3 x PC's are within 20 feet away. Closest 10 feet way and furthest 20 feet max (bedroom and kitchen on the same level)

How can I connect 3 units to this one broadband connection?

Thanks

^ You can buy yourself a "4-port Broadband Router".. I think you can get them cheap as £40 from www.ebuyer.co.uk.

Just buy:
1x 4-port broadband router(make sure its not "cable") £40ish?
3x 10m Network cables £30ish?
3x 10/100 PCI network cards. £15ish?

The cheapest way is to use one PC as the proxy, but this means that one pc has to be on for the others to connect to it - it also isnt THAT reliable. This could be done for the cost of a £7 switch and a few cables and network cards, total of probalby less than £20.

The best way to go is to have a router. Now cost of this will depend if you already have an ADSL modem, if so you can plug the modem into the router, if not, you will need one with a built in modem.

If you dont have a modem already:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=2318358980&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=48449

3 x 10m cables @ 3 quid each
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=2318380031&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=25531

Network cards @ 3 each:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=2318393953&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=42061



To sum up, network cables, cheap and fine. Router, cheap, not sure if its any good, but i would think its ok! The network cards are also cheap, most people would probably say steer clear of cheap NIC's because if reliability, but ive been fine with a load of these ebuyer NIC's before, and at £3 a piece, who cares!

So thats net connection shared for £55 and should work happily for years to come.

HTH, Elliot.

ADSL router with a built in modem is by far the easiest way.

D-Link do a nice one for around £60. All you do is give the router all your ISP details - as if you were setting up an ADSL modem - and then set basic information into the DHCP config.

Now set your client PC's to automatically pick up an IP address and your away. You don't need to have any computers on all the time with this method, you just need the router on.

Your shopping list will be:

ADSL router with built in modem
Network card for each PC you wish to connect
Network cables for PC to Router

Rob

Woody, do a search mate, this question has been posted about a hundred times now!

B

thanks for the tips lads, i've got a clearer picture of what to do/buy now.

cheers