networking questions

[forcer]

i want to set some sort of network/connection sharing thing up at home.

but dont really know how to go about it.

basically i will have my main computer, which i use now! i have broadband connecting from the wall... to my cable modem, then to my ethernet card.

i will be buying a laptop, which i want to be able to use this connection, but only wireless so i can move freely with the laptop!

there will also be another computer in the house, which i will want to connect with aswell it wont be moving so it being wireless isnt really needed but that doesnt matter.

i would also like them to sorta have accounts...so my account would be the main admin account full privs. and then a limited account for other house members! my college uses novel client for this, would i just use the same thing, or something smaller?

any help appreciated.

what hardware? cables, cards, software etc... do i need?

if i'm using the laptop is it possible that it will show my hdds from my main system as network drives or something?

my knowledge on laptops is pretty limited, do laptops connect wirelessly through a card, usb ethernet? is it easy to emplement into old laptops ie all having a slot, or just certain things i need to look for

 

[chastity]

Ok first you need to get a router with a wireless access point and a switch. I would go with a Linksys prodect like that myself but there are others. You will need some cat5e cables plus any network interface cards for the systems that will not be moving. Now for the laptop you can get a pc card that allows wireless access you can get wireless builtin to the laptop. There we would need a little more information

 

[Mainframeguy]

chastity is right -

a little mor einfo that might help is when you come to the WAP point you could probably easily get one that comes already with a couple of USB dongles, then you could use them, one for the laptop and one for the other machine.

I would suggest configuring your network right first before you worry about the access rights and permissions - one step at a time and it may well be that the users are "naive" enough you can just use XP limited user accounts (at least that is my guess). BTW if you go with the dongles you might not need any CAT5, but you will probably be spending a little more.