putting together a home network...and im just learning...help please?

Another consideration you should take into effect is speed. There's one major manufacturer of networking equipment that has some IEEE 802.11A equipment that can allow for transfer rates of up to 72 MBps. They also have some enhanced 802.11B equipment that will let you get up to 22 MBps. These are all half duplex speeds, BTW.
If you're going to be doing large file transfer, I'd stick with CAT5E. There's a multitude of cable management and hiding equipment that can make things a lot more organized looking. Hope this helps.

v_squared_over_r

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Originally posted here by Joey_Batch_File
For starters I would use Windows 2000, connected through an "8" port hub just in case you plan to expand.

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While its good for him to get the extra ports to allow for expansion, I'd say go for a switch rather than a hub. The price difference between hubs and switches is neglible now, but the performance increase is lovely...

When purchasing switches/hubs/routers, I recommend that you check out what the transfer latency is... If the switches latency is too high, then you will notice it when your running tests on your network or just giving it a severe work over..

You may want to consider a wireless router with a built in hub. That way you can play with both. I have a linksys and love it. I can walk around with the laptop or plug in the cat5 for faster speeds. I currently have a 3 system setup with plenty of expansion room.

To go with what Matty_Cross said; if you just want to run your main internet connection off of one computer on the network and have it act as a proxy for the rest of the computers, then go for the switch. If you are thinking of trying to have them all connect over one broadband connection you will most likely need to use a router. Wouldn't want to get your service terminated. ;)

A good quality and well priced router, that is good for a small home network is the SMC Barricade.
There are a few different models, such as their wireless model, which I believe all offer similar features, just over different media.

Take a look at the Barricade Matrix if your interested...

The SMC7004ABR is pretty much ideal for a small home network of only a few PC's, but unfortunately if only has 4 ports, which doesn't give much room for expansion without purchasing additional hardware. There is a 8 port version, which makes it pretty much perfect for the nerd's home network. :P And since its got lots of features such as a firewall, DCHP Server etc, you can do so much with it....

And of course, if you find that its too small port-wise, since they are so cheap, you could buy 2!! j/k

And No, I don't work for SMC... I just like the router...:P

Here is what I have done with my network:

I started by getting a cable connection using a Motorola Surfboard SB4200. From there I have a 4 port LinkSys Cable/DSL router. Three of the connections go directly to PCs through out the house. Two of them running WinXP and one running WinME. The fourth connection goes straight to a 5 port LinkSys hub that has two computers attached to it. One of the PCs is a Redhat 7.3 Box and one running WinME. So far I have had no problems with any of the connections and occasionally my friend attaches his Laptop to the network and it works flawlessly. I would like to add a wireless access point so I can get my PDA hooked up but havent had the time lately.

I'd be glad to lend my assistance and answer any questions.

If you plan on setting any kind of webserver check with cable/dsl to see if you get a static ip address. In my area cable assigns dynamic ip addresses, dsl gives a static ip.

I agree with soia, however I have had cable for the last 5 years and my ip address has never changed.

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Originally posted here by soia
If you plan on setting any kind of webserver check with cable/dsl to see if you get a static ip address. In my area cable assigns dynamic ip addresses, dsl gives a static ip.

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About the webserver part... If you are talking about normal ADSL subscriptions, like most home users have, you need to keep in mind that the upstream speed is not high. Since ADSL means Asymetric Digital Subscriber Line only your downstream is fast, usualy up to 1Mbit but your upstream is in most areas something like 128k. Therefor if you want to run your own webservice/website your adsl or cable connection will be a "little" to light. You need to check both speeds (up and downstream) and your maximum monthly transfer limit to offer your visitors "decent" performance.

For your network a 8 port hub is enough for normal internet traffic, but if you have the extra money to spend, purchase a 10/100 switch. Or better, like adviced above, get a "router/firewall/gateway/dhcp server/switch" all in one small box available from almost all network equipment manufacturers. The SMC Barricade or the Linksys are indeed a good choice IMHO.
Another alternative is to make a linux box act as firewall/gateway. This can be done with an old box like a Pentium I or even a 80486 without HDD and linux on a floppy. For instance www.BBIagent.com or fwfloppy, there are many others. This thread discusses small spec. Firewall distro's http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=234279