Networking with Telewest

[inkymike]

Hi,
I'm thinking about getting broadband with Telewest, but before I do I want to make sure everyone in the house is going to be able to access it.

At the moment I've got a 512K ADSL connection, and a wireless router that networks all the computers together (two on wireless, two via ethernet).

What I want to know is will I be able to plug the modem/router Telewest give me into this existing router (or a normal hub which I also have) and still be able to leave the other connections as they are, i.e two ethernet and two wireless connections to the existing router/hub?

Hope that makes sense. Telewest sales have said all should be Ok, and I'm pretty sure this will work but I don't trust sales people and I'd like a second opinion before I trust myslf

Cheers

Mike

[Stuart]

What router do you have?

[inkymike]

At the moment the router I have is a Netgear DG834G wireless ADSL router. So obviously I wont be able to connect the cable coax straight in.

But can I ethernet the cable modem (or router, what is it Telewest send these days?) and this router together then keep everyone connected to the existing router as they are now?

Or will that cause all sorts of conflicts?

[Stuart]

No, you cannot use an ADSL router. You need a router that is compatible with Cable (the Linksys WRT54G or GS is one a lot of members use).

[inkymike]

Ok so let me get this right.

I can't do this:

Cable broadband modem/router (ethernet cable)-> ADSL router (used only as a networking medium) -> computers (wireless and ethernet connection)

??

Could I do:

Cable broadband modem/router (ethernet cable)-> Netgear Hub -> computers (ethernet connections)

Also, is the equipment telewest provide a wireless cable router or just lan stuff?

[Stuart]

Generally, AFAIK, Telewest provide just a cable modem. This will only provide an IP for one device.

What a router normally does is use this one IP for itself, then allocates IPs out of it's own private range. It then routes the TCP/IP packets from the internal network to the Telewest modem (and vice-versa).

Your ADSL router may be fine, if it has an Ethernet port marked "WAN" or "Uplink" (which will be seperate from the other four ports). Most don't. If it doesn't it may work just as a switch, but you will need a router somewhere on the network to provide IPs.

One possible way you can get around this is to fit a second network card in one of the PCs, then plug this into the cable modem, and enable Internet Connection Sharing on that PC. The PC will then act as a router.

The downside of this is it can get quite complicated if something goes wrong, and that the PC needs to be switched on (can't remeber if it needs to be logged in) for ICS to work.

[Bob]

Make sure you chose static IP in the settings for the internet connection. I have just discovered this today. Use the web based configuration utility if your router has it - I personally found it made things easier

I would highly recommend the Linksys WRT54G

[inkymike]

Could I use the ADSL router as a switch (as you mentioned may work), and then just manually assign IP addresses to the computers on the network to over come the IP address issue?

[MovedGoalPosts]

Nope sorry won't work.

The modem can only communicate with one device / IP, and will only see one device / IP. That can be a router or a single computer. Change the router / Computer and you need to reboot the modem or it won't see the new device / IP

A switch is simply a junction box. Everything is connected, but the modem can't see everything, or alternatively if it does see everything it gets very confused and won't communicate.

More than one computer / console needed you have to use internet connection sharing or preferably a router.

My suggestion, ebay the ADSL based router and put what you get from that towards a standard router. If you ever go back to ADSL, all you'd need is an ethernet based modem.