small network

[rookie007]

I've been asked for making a small network (7-14 PC's). Access to the internet (main reason: email) is done by ISDN. The easiest way is to get a router (isdn) with build-in switch, but the 'onboard' switch on routers have is ment for max. 4 PC's.
Now I want to build the normal network with a 14 channel switch. For the internet access I want to use a normal ISDN-router. At a later time the ISDN-router can be replaced by a cable/xDSL-router.

My questions:
- How do I connect the ISDN-router to the network? Directly at the switch?
- Is the NETBUI-protocol 'good' enough to use (I don't have great experience with TCP/IP; I just know enough to get on the internet. The person who does the maintenace after the install knows less about networking)?
- What specifications should the isdn-router and the switch have?
- Perhaps there is someone out there who can discribe shortly what steps and choises should be made.

 

[Papa4]

I hope your ISDN device has at least ONE ethernet port in
addition to the NT1 or BRI/PRI port that your phone line
will plug into. You can purchase used Cisco model 700 or
800 routers for about $200 or maybe even less.

Once you get the ISDN link working correctly, you can assign an IP address to the Ethernet port
such as 192.169.0.1 with a netmask of 255.255.255.0

You then plug that ethernet port into a 10/100 switch that has as many ports as you need for your internal network.
Any PC connected to that switch will have a connection to
the Internet.

You must set each PC to the same Netmask, and assign a static IP address to each PC (if your ISDN box does not
have a DHCP server built in). No two PC's can have the same
IP address. You could start with 192.168.0.2 on the first
PC. Set the GATEWAY address on the PC to be 192.168.0.1.

You can purchase a 10/100/1000 LinkSys switch with 8 port for $80 to $135. You can purchase 24 port switches for
about the same price if you check CompUSA and the likes.

You MUST enable the TCP/IP protocol on each PC. Netbeui is not a routable protocol, TCP/IP is. You can have both Netbeui and TCP/IP protocols enabled at the same time.

I currently use a Cable Modem, which is then connected to
a LinkSys router/switch/DHCP server (cost $135) My LinkSys
router assigns an IP address to each PC when it boots up.
Since the Linksys router uses NAT, it acts as a Firewall
between all my PC's and the Internet. Al the world sees is the one IP address the ISDN port has assigned to it.

wfh142077