PCs Sharing ADSL Connection? (Part 3)

* Support sharing of an SBC ADSL connection. Our
SBC connection uses dynamic IP addresses. I want
to share this connection among the PCs without
having to change any aspect of my "provision" from
SBC.

* I want email to be routed to it's respective PC.
I have the impression that this is a fairly standard
capability.

* I would like whatever firewall/security capability
that is appropriate for our home network. This is one
part of the networking world about which I am pretty
ignorant.

* I want to pay the lowest "going rate"--but I don't
want to be "penny wise and pound foolish". Can you
recommend a good place for me to do this shopping?

---See Part 4---

Bob Millen wrote:

 > * Support sharing of an SBC ADSL connection. Our
 > SBC connection uses dynamic IP addresses. I want
 > to share this connection among the PCs without
 > having to change any aspect of my "provision" from
 > SBC.
The router would get the IP from SBC; router may be set to provide a
range of IP addresses to the LAN via DHCP, and that range may be set to
any valid set (usually defaults to one of two 'private' IP ranges).

 >
 > * I want email to be routed to it's respective PC.
 > I have the impression that this is a fairly standard
 > capability.
Email is not routed - each PC would have to access the sub-account
(assuming you set them up with SBC) assigned to the user currently on
that PC. Easily done with the mail utility by only setting it to get the
chosen sub-account.
 >
 > * I would like whatever firewall/security capability
 > that is appropriate for our home network. This is one
 > part of the networking world about which I am pretty
 > ignorant.
 >
Routers provide a level of security inherent to NAT, expecially if you
use one of the private IP ranges (10.0.0.n or 192.168.n.n), which are
not routable over the internet. Beyond that, firewall capabilities vary
between makes and models; most home users don't have advanced firewall
needs, and these are met by most routers. Suggest you read more about
firewalls at sites like dslreports.com.

 > * I want to pay the lowest "going rate"--but I don't
 > want to be "penny wise and pound foolish". Can you
 > recommend a good place for me to do this shopping?
 >
You can research some of the most popular models at dslreports.com, too.
Best Buy, CompUSA, etc., often have good prices for consumer use
routers, and you may find good deals on new and used routers on ebay
(that's where I found a great deal on my SMC wireless router with card
for my laptop).
 > ---See Part 4---
 >
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