My personal recommendation would be a D-Link DI614+ wireless router. It has a
built-in firewall, which won't do you any good for dial-up, but it will
connect up to four wired computers and more than enough wireless users with
the same device. If you ever upgrade to broadband, it has the built-in
capability of connecting directly to the broadband modem, and then you CAN use
the built-in firewall. Plus it's only about $75, so it shouldn't break the
bank.

If you only have a dial-up connection, you would have to use one of the
desktop computers as a psuedo "server". Here's the rub: Interent Connection
Sharing is built-in with Windows 98/2000 Pro/XP. Not so with Windows 95. If
there just isn't ANY way you can upgrade one of the desktops, you will have to
find a proxy application that will run on Windows 95 to do this for you. With
the 98/2000/XP ICS setup, they would automatically dial the modem on the
"server" machine if it was not already connected to the Internet and one of
the other machines was trying to connect. A third-party proxy application may
or may not have the capability in Windows 95.

As far as actually setting it up, start here:

http://freepctech.com/articles/articles.php?ArticleId=86

We could write an entire book on the subject (o.k., maybe just a little
booklet), but there are plenty of resources on the Internet that already
outline the process.

One more thing. The machine that is going to do the dial-up must be on (not
sleeping or hybernating) when the other desktop or the laptop makes an
Internet connection request.

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Kyle Elmblade
[log in to unmask]

>===== Original Message From PCBUILD - Personal Computer Hardware discussion
>I'm just starting to learn about networking.  I have two desktop computers
running WIN95B.  I have a laptop running WinXPHome.  All have internal modems
for dial-up Internet connection.  My objective is to network all three so they
can simultaneously connect to the Internet.  The laptop may or may not be
present when the other two computers need to access the Internet and I would
prefer that the laptop be connected wirelessly so it can be moved from room to
room.
>
>My idea is to connect the two desktops through an Ethernet network and then
wire this network to a wireless router.  The laptop would connect wirelessly
to the router. If that is possible my next question is how to make the
internet connection.  Can I simply use one of the internal modems already in
one of the desktop computers?  Would the other computers in the network be
able to share that In
>ternet connection too?  If sharing an internal modem won't work do I need to
connect and external modem to the router for the internet connection?
>
>Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

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