Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless Access Point Router with 4-Port Switch

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a) A Linksys Wireless Access Point (WAP) Router combined with a 4-Port Switch (£99.87). You see, I KNEW it had 4 of something, but you’ve got admit, “bisexual foot-warmers” sounded more interesting!

b) A single Linksys Wireless USB Interface (£57.57), both by Linksys Networking.

OK, OK, I know that nearly 160 quid is twice as expensive as the peer-to-peer wireless solution, and EVEN more than a hard-wired ...
...APPEARANCE

Most Linksys “boxes” are the same shape for stacking purpose, and indeed the feet interlock onto indents in the box below. Since my box is a router, switch and wireless access point all rolled into one, I don’t anticipate needing to stack anything. I you need a further router to add on more ports, then you might need to take advantage of the modular design. (Note: This would only give you three more ports though, as you ... more

Funny how things snowball, isn’t it?

There I was a couple of weeks, thinking that I’d just got my PC set-up just how I wanted it – broadband connection, flat 17” LCD screen, hi-fi sound, plenty of RAM and disk space and a none-too-shabby processor speed, when into the Nibbles household comes another supposedly broken-down PC, a kind of payment-in-kind for services rendered to a lady colleague at work.

“Hmmm”, says my wife, tentatively, “a second computer WOULD be quite handy, especially on Sundays when I’ve got paper work to catch up with (and by implication, when I’M using it!).”

“Of course”, says I with a cavalier flourish,” I could always network it with the main PC upstairs”.

I knew a dangerously marginal amount about networking, as I was the only person in the office who knew how to unblock print queues, and reboot the server! I was also fairly experienced in wiring up and connecting PC’s to a Local Area Network (LAN), having spent two weekends grovelling with my arm down various under-floor ducts in Euston Tower, in amongst the fluff and the Warfarine rat poison, shouting “up your end!” and similar innuendos to my boss. Don’t lick your fingers after you’ve been doing this.

I explained that networking the extra PC along with our main PC would bring such benefits as shared printers, shared My Documents files and, if I could swing it, shared broadband internet access.

Like most technical “solutions”, there is more than one way to skin this particular rabbit, even in a home environment.

Firstly there’s PEER-TO-PEER WORKING

This is arguably the simplest but possibly inferior way, involving the connection the PC’s together in some way. The VERY simplest way is to use the Windows Direct Cable Connection facility, using the serial (COM) ports for what is known as a “null-modem cable”.

If your PCs don’t share the same room, and assuming that you could buy a long enough cable already with its plugs, any routing of the cable would have to involve passing the said plugs (about 1” long) through holes in the wall unless you are prepared to solder wires after the event.

Being connected by COM ports limits line speed to 115 kbytes/second, which is slower than the “proper” method of linking peer PCs together, which is to fit a network card in each. These are then linked by Ethernet-type cabling. This speeds up the connection by a very large margin, making the loading of files from the remote drive much more practicable.

Here again, the cable connection needs to be run from room to room, and in my case, between storeys.

As you would expect there are pros and cons to this approach.

On the plus side, you have ease of set up.

The down side, is that the machine which actually has the physical internet connection and the desired peripherals, printers etc. HAS to be running for the second machine to be able to surf, print and access shared data.

Since I had last anything to do with LANs, things have happened. Wireless connection is now possible, and more importantly, reasonably priced. For example, www.dabs.com sell a PAIR of external USB-port wireless network adapters for £80 including VAT.

So, from a neatness point of view, a cordless solution is the only viable one for me – I hate decorating with a vengeance.

Given that my neighbour has a broadband link, and several PCs all packed into the corresponding little bedroom, he seemed like an obvious person to ask for advice.

He said something like “What you want is a 50 megaton dongler, with a built-in 4-watt bisexual foot-warmer, and a USB cordless vibrator”, or at least, he may as well have done.

Actually, I jest, as I did understand every OTHER word, and gleaned that the “box” I would be getting, would

a)let both machines access the Internet, irrespective of whether the “main PC” is turned on,

b)let both machines use the upstairs printers and a common directory source, but only when the “main PC” is turned.

I’d also have a permanent hardware firewall, although only of a quite basic kind, so I won't uninstall those free copies of Zone Alarm just yet!

WHAT I ACTUALLY BOUGHT

a) A Linksys Wireless Access Point (WAP) Router combined with a 4-Port Switch (£99.87). You see, I KNEW it had 4 of something, but you’ve got admit, “bisexual foot-warmers” sounded more interesting!

b) A single Linksys Wireless USB Interface (£57.57), both by Linksys Networking.

OK, OK, I know that nearly 160 quid is twice as expensive as the peer-to-peer wireless solution, and EVEN more than a hard-wired version, but do bear in mind that the extra PC was only a gift.

We’re still wavering about locations both within the house, and also where we’ll actually be living in a couple of year’s time so the wireless solution makes perfect sense both from the flexibility, and saleability of the house points of view. It wouldn’t be every homebuyer’s choice to find the house wired like the CIA’s Headquarters.

One further benefit of this particular router, is that it accepts both a physical hard-wired connection from the main PC, and a wireless link to the other PC, thus although being dearer in itself, it only requires one wireless adapter for the remote PC, to be purchased, not one for each PC.

APPEARANCE

Most Linksys “boxes” are the same shape for stacking purpose, and indeed the feet interlock onto indents in the box below. Since my box is a router, switch and wireless access point all rolled into one, I don’t anticipate needing to stack anything. I you need a further router to add on more ports, then you might need to take advantage of the modular design. (Note: This would only give you three more ports though, as you loose one of your four port capacity in cross-linking the boxes)

The front panel has the usual array of “pretty lights” to show WAN activity (Internet traffic in my case), which PC ports are in use, and whether the radio link is working. All physical connections are around the back, so it looks quite neat. As you can see from the inset above, it’s blue and black and looks like a cross between a large modem and an old style handheld mobile “brick”.

INSTALLATION (SUCH AS IT IS)

The wireless router intercepts the cable from the broadband modem and the PC’s network card, thus a physical main Internet connection is maintained. As with fitting a new VCR in between the aerial socket and the telly, they give you the one extra cable that you’ll need.

This makes it easy to revert ot "plan A" if the router becomes faulty - you just by-pass it.

I like to take the step-by-step approach, fitting only the main PC to the “box” first. The USB wireless link for the second PC could wait (for another opinion, you’ll be relieved to know). This ethos makes it easier to trace where you have gone wrong.

In reality, you don’t have to do too much to kick off, because there is a CD-ROM with the exhortation “RUN ME FIRST” written in 2” letters on its envelope. So, before breaking and remaking ANY connections at all, you run the disk, which duly notes your current Internet settings, and talks you through the rest of the process, including the physical connections, what to switch off and so on. One slight logistical error comes to light though. At the end, it announced, “It is now safe to turn on your PC”. So what was I using to view the CD-ROM, guys?

Of course, this gets the kit working. There are many more refinements for which the 114-page manual, which is a .pdf file on the CD-ROM or downloadable in advance from www.linkksys.com, is a must, like setting up the encryption on any radio links to prevent digital eavesdropping on your infant network.

Don’t forget that these wireless links could carry up to 1500’ in ideal conditions, although 90' indoors seems a more realistic limit.

You configure the router by accessing its own internal web page which you could put in “Favourites” to speed up the process, and which is protected by an “Admin” password, which by default is….errrr…..”Admin”!

FACILITIES

As well as allowing two PCs to use the one common broadband Internet connection, with or without its partner being switched on, the second PC can now use both the Canon laser and the new HP inkjet upstairs.

It can also share a common directory of My Documents, instead of having document versions of differing vintages in two places. Of course, the main PC needs to be turned on for these latter activities. I won’t go into the detail of this here, because it’s not actually anything to do with the Router, more a function of Windows, and this can differ slightly, depending on your version. I'm running a mixture of XP and 98SE quite successfully though.

The main PC can access the router’s set-up and set time limits to the other ports on the router – invaluable if you want to make sure that other users, e.g. the kids can’t sit and surf the web all bloody night! This does NOT replace “net nanny” facilities so leave these in place, if you’ve got them.

You can also use it to access your PC from anywhere on the Internet, using Virtual Private networking. I can’t think of an application for this at the moment, but since when did that stop me?

CONCLUSION

I realise that for anyone with one PC, or living the life of Billy Nomates, then what I have constructed will be of little use, unless you've got a use for VPN. I have on occasions decided to use the downstairs PC for surfing, remembering at the last moment to run upstairs and turn the modem and router on (they are on their own plug point so that the upstairs PC doesn’t need to be switched on too). However, this is a bit like having to walk across the lounge in search of the TV remote control, so now I tend to leave the pair of them switched on permanently!

Given the low 2nd hand value of any PC, however much it cost in the first place, home networking is an excellent way of buying into a technology upgrade, and wringing as much Value-For-Money as possible from older kit. My Pentium 350 works just fine as an extra terminal for surfing.

FOOTNOTE

My neighbour has made a further suggestion since getting this all up and running. Why don’t I get a third PC, to insert into my network upstream of everything except the modem? This can then act as a full firewall to the whole system, without having to relax my grip on fire-walling. At the moment, I have had to “lower my guard” slightly to allow each PC to talk to the other. This doesn't involve leaving any ports actually open to hackers, but it leaves them visible, instead of "stealthed" which is not ideal.

A third PC eh? Hmmm, it needs thinking about! I can feel another "cascaded" upgrade coming on.

 

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