Hi Robert,

> Tentatively,
> Comp 3, the 486, would be the first one on the cable connection
> [serve as a firewall].
> Comp 2 would come next [storage only] and
> Comp 1 last.
> (Possibly at some later date I may want to be able to hook in
my
> laptop to upload/download data to Comp 1)
>
> 1. Does this make sense and is this chain configuration the way
to go?

I may suggest (but maybe I'm wrong) that you put your faster PC
directly on the connection but disable the file & printer sharing
on the network card provided by the Cable company.  You can then
install a software proxy on this computer to have a better
protection.  And doing it this way, you still can share files via
the OTHER network card with your other 2 computers.  The main
reasons (because there are 2 of them) for doing this are:

1- Your 486 is more likely to fail to support Cable modem
properly because of its processor speed and other hardware
bottlenecks
2- You probably use the 400MHz computer more often than the 2
others, so you would only need to leave 1 computer "on" while
accessing the web instead of 2 or 3 computers.  In other words:
why turn 3 PCs on all the time if you don't use them very often
for the net or any other network applications?


> 2. What hardware, cable etc. should I get?

Can't help you there, I live in Canada and have no idea if the
ADSL/DSL/Cable stuff is the same up here.  ;-)


> 3. Would a ready-made kit fill the bill?

Don't know... I'm with ADSL (not cable) and had the technician
come to my place to install it, even if I'm a technician myself!
I just wanted to make sure the FIRST installation was done right
and then I could see how the guy does it and do it again if I
ever format my hard disk (which happened once, since then, but it
was NOT related to the Internet access).

Hope this helps!


Stephane Vaillancourt
CODECO
[log in to unmask]
http://www.codeco.qc.ca

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