Help needed for networking 10 computers in a community centre?

Question

Hi there

My name is Adam and i am currently doing a GAP year volunteering at a community centre in Liverpool which runs after-school clubs and other activities during the week. We have just recieved 10 desktop pc's from the local school and we are looking to connect each of them to an Internet connection in which the room the pc's are likely to be used in already has a telephone connection.

The computers are quite old as they use the following specs:
Pentium 3 Processor
64mb RAM
10Gb Hard-disk-drive
Windows 98 Operating System

What i would like to know is, what would be the most appropriate networking solution for these computers to be linked to the Internet, in which the room has an area of at least 16foot and also are there any organisations/charities that can provide grants to help cover costs for netowork and Internet setup.

Any help would be greatly appreciated
Adam McCarthy Reed

Answer 1

Windows 98 will work, but Windows XP would be easier to configure.

You NEED more memory - Have someone donate memory to you, or get it cheap off Ebay - You will need 512Mb MINIMUM, or else, these will run really slow

The hard disk size is fine - You will need to buy NETWORK cards. I am "assuming" the PC's have PCI slots, so you can buy PCI Ethernet cards. You will also need to buy a 12 port hub to plug all of the computers connections into. This is hrdwiring. You could also go wireless, but will still need to install network cards, and is more costly.

Install the network cards into the PC's, load the software to enable to network cards, plug the wire from the back of the network card into the 12 port hub. Do this with all 10 computers. Why a 12 port hub? So you have room to plug 2 more in, in the future.

Hope this helps you out - Good luck!

Answer 2

Firstly, well done, good luck and I hope it all works out.

My suggestion would be this.

You need to ensure each machine has a network card, a simple ethernet 10/100 card will suffise and they are dirt cheap. You might even get a deal on volume.

Next you need a hub with enough ports to supply all the machine that will be connected. Again a 10/100 ethernet hub is what you want. Best get one with at lest 15 ports.

Then you will need cat5 cables to link all the PCs to the hub. Do a careful map of where everything will go as this will help you determine which lengths of cable you need for each PC.

It would be a very good idea to make sure the hub is in a secure location.

Finally, you'll need to have a PC that will be nomiated to have the internet connection. I guess you will want this placed in a secure location as well, but it does not have to be that way. I image it'll be in a office next door where the phone line is.

Once all that is set up you'll need to get all the PCs talking to each other using a workgroup setup. I have no idea how this will work with all windows 98 pcs. You may need to have the internet PC upgraded to windows 2000 or windows XP. But the spec you quote is not good enough to run either.

Do some web seraching for clues on how to set up windows 98 with workgroups.

Once the network is set up and working you'll need to sort the internet sharing out. On windows XP (and maybe 2000) you can tell the PC to share the internet connection with the rest of the network. You will need to check that this can be done with windows 98. Do a web search for internet connection sharing and see where that leads you.

Good luck.

Answer 3

best of british if using 98 mate, each comp will need to have the same client/proxy and IP settings configured....once had an IT guy give up trying to link my 3pc's on 98.
XP is a doddle in comparasin.
as this will obviously not be a paid jobbie, i would try to get talktalk broadband in, get a modem/router, you can link the main pc direct to the router, then link the router to the hub, this will give access to all connected to the hub.
you can 'stack' hubs (daisy chain) so three 4xport hubs will give 12 connections, but you will need a link cable, some provide an extra port for this, others will use one of the 4 ports.
i would suggest getting a large drive for the main pc, others will be able to share this while connected....as mentioned, these will be slow but they will do the job.
going to need a lot of cabling so i suggest calling any local network fitters and see if they are doing any 'refits' as they would usually throw the old stuff out (worth going in on the scrounge and mention your plan)...the best time would be approaching the summer holidays, this is the time most schools/colleges/unis will get the work done ;)

good luck

Answer 4

Since the hard drives are not very big, I suggest that you buy a server with the grant money. The Dell entry level server is quite good value for money and saves you the hassle of building one. Get a big drive for it - 300GB or more. Then you need network cards for each PC, and a switch for 20 (better to be prepared for growth and for netwroked printers). That will set you back maybe £3000, once you get the Cat5 cabling in.
I would load Linux on the server instead of MS server. It's f-o-c and very stable. It means you can have more money to spend on the server or even afford broadband. You can then configure it to be a mail-server and a gateway for the other PCs to access the internet. In fact, you can even configure it so that the PCs (with only 64MB ram!!) can run as dumb terminals.

Answer 5

Hi Adam,

The things that you would be needing are
1. Cat5 Cables (length depends on location of your computers)
2. A Switch would be better as someone mentioned HUB in the earlier solutions.
3, Then i would suggest you to take a DSL connection as Dial-Up connection would be too slow for these many computers.
4. Then you would be needing a modem *** router that would be provided by the company which would give you the DSL connection.

Now firstly you need to fix a position for the Switch.Then connect all PC's to Switch through Cat5 cables.These should be crimped as Straight Cables. Then you connect the Switch to modem *** router through straight cable(same type as used earlier). Then you connect the modem to DSL connection that will come from phone line through splitter(will probably be provided by Service provider). Then its ready to use after setting up a Single LAN workgroup on all computers.

If further queries you can mail me.

Answer 6

i agree with litch. also if u go for dial-up connection, the net will be very slow. i suggest u a DSL connection with min.256kbps speed.