Need help in Extending my Home Network

[Abheek]

Currently I am using a simple home network which is configured to connect a Desktop computer, One Laptop and a printer which is shared over LAN. Internet connection is shared between all the computers. Now i want to connect more computers to the network but i want to share the same internet connection. Currently i am using Dlink router to share the internet over my network, also all the PC's have Windows XP installed on them with a Realtek NIC card. Please suggest some solutions to extend this network

[Techno01]

Getting an Ethernet cable (depending on the pc's to be connected) and a HUB. HUB will be perfect solution for your problem as the network does not spread beyond 100 meter's. Connect all the PC's and the printer to the respective ports of HUB. Connect the cable coming from the router to one of the ports on the HUB. Configure the NIC of all the pc's to dynamically obtain IP. This will help you share the internet connection on all the PC's.

[deveritt]

HUB will make the situation worse if the number of computers are more. Switch will help you to share the same connection over your network. Connect all the computers to the switch using ethernet cable. Remember to use straight cable to connect all the computers to switch. Connect the wire coming from the router to in one of the port of the switch. Now configure the NIC according to your needs. Once the configuration is done, you will be able to access internet on all the computers.

[Trio]

You can replace the router with a 3 layer switch which are readily available these days. As you are using a home network, it does not require much of routing. 3 layer switch are capable of handling both routing and switching functions. You can select the switch according to your needs. No of ports required will be decide by the number of devices you want to connect. Configuration and connection will be the same as with a layer 2 switch.

[johnson22]

Instead of going for wired network, you can implement wireless network if the computers have wireless connectivity. Get a Dlink DIR wireless router, which has 4 lan ports and 1 serial port. Connect the DSL line to the serial port and connect the rest of the computers through WIFI. Log in to the router and configure the SSID, authentication password and the Authorization type. Once configured, save the settings and restart the router. Now search for the SSID of the router through the computers and click on connect. It will ask for authentication password. Enter the password which you have saved while configuration and press enter. Check the signal strength after connection.

[GhostRider]

Wireless Access Points can also be used to extend the coverage area of the network. There are many manufacturers who produce Access points for home network. The access points can be linked using WIFI or by using wire to connect it to router. To use access points you will need to configure the SSID which is different to the ROUTER. Router will communicate with the Access points and access points will communicate with the computers. Therefore the computer has to connect to access point instead of the router.