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Cheap/Good router solution?
Okay, I have just built a new computer, and in the process of hooking everything up, I remembered that I only have one Ethernet jack on my modem. I really should have thought of this before, but now I need to hook another computer up to the internet, and I'm not sure of what way to go about this.
I had a couple of ideas in mind.
Solution 1: I could purchase a cheap router, thus solving my problems and allowing me to hook more computers up if need be. However, I am not planning on hooking up any more computers at the moment.
Solution 2: I could opt for a wireless router and put wireless cards in both computers. While this is a good solution, I'm not sure I can do this cheap enough to warrant it.
Solution 3: I could put a second ethernet card in this system and share the connection out to the second computer. While this is also a good solution, I'm not sure I like it, because of the simple fact that I would not be able to share the connection with friends that would like to come over and use it.
So, I guess what I'm asking is a couple of things. First, can you recommend which of these solutions are the best idea? Second, if you like solution 1 or 2 best, can you recommend a router/wireless router and wireless cards? Third, how hard is solution 3 to implement? Is it just a matter of popping the card in, running a second cord to the other computer, and bridging the connection? I've done some work with ad-hoc connections which involved bridging and the like, and it never turned out very well. Also how much of a strain does this put on the system used for the bridging? because this is a gaming rig, and even with what I have in it, system resources are valuable?
Also, if you need it:
Windows XP Pro
Intel E6750 2.66Ghz Core 2 Duo
2 Gb Corsair 667 Ram
(I'm assuming no other components are necessary for this thread.)
I had a couple of ideas in mind.
Solution 1: I could purchase a cheap router, thus solving my problems and allowing me to hook more computers up if need be. However, I am not planning on hooking up any more computers at the moment.
Solution 2: I could opt for a wireless router and put wireless cards in both computers. While this is a good solution, I'm not sure I can do this cheap enough to warrant it.
Solution 3: I could put a second ethernet card in this system and share the connection out to the second computer. While this is also a good solution, I'm not sure I like it, because of the simple fact that I would not be able to share the connection with friends that would like to come over and use it.
So, I guess what I'm asking is a couple of things. First, can you recommend which of these solutions are the best idea? Second, if you like solution 1 or 2 best, can you recommend a router/wireless router and wireless cards? Third, how hard is solution 3 to implement? Is it just a matter of popping the card in, running a second cord to the other computer, and bridging the connection? I've done some work with ad-hoc connections which involved bridging and the like, and it never turned out very well. Also how much of a strain does this put on the system used for the bridging? because this is a gaming rig, and even with what I have in it, system resources are valuable?
Also, if you need it:
Windows XP Pro
Intel E6750 2.66Ghz Core 2 Duo
2 Gb Corsair 667 Ram
(I'm assuming no other components are necessary for this thread.)
Comments
I used to have an old PC running Smoothwall as a router but when I started getting wireless stuff I had to get a wi-fi router.