Re: Networking at Home

["C. Oda" <craig@example.com>]

On Mon, 26 Aug 1996 glynn@example.com wrote:

> I`ve a few questions
>  1. What do I need to set up a decent network ?
>     (I don`t want the null modem cable solution )
>     Network Cards ; Cabling ; ??Hub??
>     Approx Prices would help as well

You can pick up cheap ethernet cards for about 3,000 yen from
someplace like Plathome in Akihabara.  These will probably be 
NE2000 or NE2100 clones.  These are supported by Linux.  If you
get the crossed cables you don't need a hub.  If you are unsure
about if the cables are crossed or not, tell the salesperson that
you are only connecting two machines.  The 10Base-10 cable will 
probably be about 800 yen.  The cost depends on length.  If you
place to connect more than two network devices, you need a small
hub.  You can probably get one for 12,000 yen or so.

I used to run two machines connected with crossed 10baseT with
no hub.  It worked fine. 

   ----- end of reality check ------

If the company is paying for it, you might want to go with
3Com Vortex 100Base-T cards (18,000 yen) and a 100BaseT hub.
Plan for the future.  The 100BaseT hub is expensive.  

You could also could with 10-Base-2 if your network is going
to remain small.

Questions to ask yourself:

   1) where is your network going to be in 3 years?
   2) how many machine will be on your network after 6 months,
	a year?
   3) what type of applications will you be running on your
	network?


If you really need the speed, you might want to look at ATM.
You can do things like guaranteed bandwidth and virtual networks
with ATM.

Are you going to connect your Home Area Network to the company
with dialup LAN ISDN connectivity?  You might want consider the
Ascend Max 1800 which can do four simultaneous 128Kbps BRI connections
to give you 512Kbps access.   Or, you can look at the Ascend P50,
Yamaha RT-100, or similar model to give you 128Kbps for your HAN.
Routers run from about 100,000 to about 200,000 yen.   

-------------
Craig Oda 	craig@example.com	
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