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    A few questions on Networking, any advice would be appreciated

    Discussion in 'Networking and Wireless' started by rezzone, Jul 15, 2007.

  1. rezzone

    rezzone Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi guys,

    I kinda need some help on a few things, sorry if these questions sound a bit daft, I've never done this before.

    I have a desktop running XP connected to a 4 port router via ethernet. I recently purchased a laptop preinstalled with Vista and now want to connect to the Internet (not wirelessly) on the laptop too.

    1. Do I just purchase an ethernet cable and use it to connect the laptop to one of the other three ports on the router and I'm good to go?

    2. If so, will this cable be the right one to get?

    3. If so, will the length of 15m have any effect on the speed of using the Internet?

    4. Will there be any problems connecting an XP desktop and a Vista laptop to the same router?

    Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.
     
    rezzone, Jul 15, 2007
    #1
  2. bmwrob

    bmwrob Notebook Virtuoso

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    1. Yes
    2. Yes
    3. I don't think so. My own cable is 6' long and I can't see any difference between the machine it connects to the router and the machine on which the routher sits. lol
    4. No
     
    bmwrob, Jul 15, 2007
    #2
  3. CodeMonkeyX

    CodeMonkeyX Notebook Deity

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    3. I believe Cat5 is good upto around 100 feet before you start getting serious slow downs. 15 feet will not cause you any problems, especially for just internet browsing. Because your internal network pipe is about 10 times bigger than your internet pipe anyway.
     
    CodeMonkeyX, Jul 15, 2007
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  4. thegsrguy

    thegsrguy Notebook Deity

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    Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6 are all good to 100 feet. After 100 feet, there is too much noise and cross-talk...signal will not be strong enough to offer you a valid connection.

    Make sure you get Cat5e, or Cat6 if you can...better quality cabled that will handle higher speeds better.

    You can run any OS on the same router since they rely on the TCP/IP communication standard.
     
    thegsrguy, Jul 15, 2007
    #4
  5. CodeMonkeyX

    CodeMonkeyX Notebook Deity

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    I was under the impression that Cat6 was only compatible with 1GBit Ethernet and above? I thought you had to have Cat5e for regular 10/100 Ethernet.
     
    CodeMonkeyX, Jul 15, 2007
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  6. hehe299792458

    hehe299792458 Notebook Deity

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    Cat6 cable is compatible with 100/10 based Ethernet. It's just that it has the extra bandwidth for gigabit
     
    hehe299792458, Jul 16, 2007
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  7. rezzone

    rezzone Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks a lot everyone for the helpful replies, I now understand what to do. Now to purchase a cable and get connected.

    Thanks again!
     
    rezzone, Jul 16, 2007
    #7
  8. Reezin14

    Reezin14 Crimson Mantle Commander

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    This is correct.
     
    Reezin14, Jul 17, 2007
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