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I am trying to setup a LAN network in my house. I pay for one regular cable ISP for downstairs and pay for another same one but with static IP upstairs. I’m trying to setup a LAN network between the two without any of them sharing either internet connection.

Your question prompted a lot of discussion around here in an attempt to answer it. I consulted with my very own tech support, and his main question was why would you want the system set up this way? The only reason we can guess is that you are in a roommate situation and for some reason each of you needs to pay for your own Internet connection. After mulling it over for a while and drawing a bunch of diagrams, we’ve decided that it can be done if you really insist on paying for two ISP connections and don’t want to share.

LAN Setups

The usual reasons for setting up a LAN (Local Area Network) in the home are to allow two or more computers to share data, share printers, scanners and other networked devices, play music or games together, video conferencing and most of all, to share an Internet connection. There are ways to set up the LAN so that areas of one hard disk are not accessible by others on the network.

Setting Up Your LAN

First off, you are going to need a fair amount of cable and a switch. Luckily both of these are pretty inexpensive to get. You also won’t need routers for your computers, assuming that each one is connected to the Internet directly through its own modem. You will then need a switch that is connected to each computer via cable and you need to set up TCP/IP filesharing on each machine. Each computer also needs to have its own name, but be in the same work group.

There may be a way to do it wirelessly - it’s much easier and cheaper to run cable if you can - and the best way to explain the process is to point you to an article in Wikipedia on how to set up a Wireless Distribution System.

Hopefully, this set up will work for your needs, depending on what you are looking to share between computers. If not, you might want to consider a conventional LAN setup and opt for ISP sharing.

Our home computer is Windows XP, with Telstra(bigpond) ADSL 2 for the Internet connection. Our son has an Asus Eee PC 701SD. We need to know if he can use his laptop for the Internet without any leads, ariels etc., or do we need something else to be able to do this? Telstra told us it’s not possible and would cost us $150 for them to send someone around.

Wireless Networking

It sounds like you are talking about setting up a wireless network for your house. It’s actually pretty simple to set up and is not as daunting as it sounds. A network will simply allow more than one computer to share an Internet connection, a printer and even share files if you wish to set it up that way.

ADSL stands for Asymetric Digital Subscriber Line (don’t worry, there’s no test later) and it is data technology that transmits information over copper telephone lines so that it is faster than a dial-up connection. In order to use this connection wirelessly with more than one computer, you will need a wireless router. If you want to use a computer over a wireless network, your computer will need a wireless adapter - the laptop probably already has one, but you can put one on a desktop PC if you want to put it in another room. Most of them you simply plug into a USB port on the unit.

Wireless Internet Set Up

Your Internet connection runs into your home over a telephone line. It will then run into a modem (which you probably already have hooked up). The modem converts the computer’s digital signals into a frequency that can travel over phone or cable lines. You will then plug the wireless router into the modem. The wireless router will send signals to the laptop and desktop computers (most home networks have a maximum of four computers that can be used with it), a lot like the signal for a cordless phone.

I’ve edited your question, but you say that you don’t know anything about the Internet and computers. While this isn’t a very difficult thing to do, you may want to pay a professional to come and set it up for you. Or, if your son is old enough and has the interest, he can read up on the Internet about the exact steps he will need to take and the equipment he will need and tackle the job himself. Don’t tell him how much the company would charge to set it up, but you might want to give him a tip for his efforts. We can also answer specific questions about the set up as long as we have all of the information at hand.