Need Router for LAN?

1668 · Post by **1668** » Mon Jul 22, 2002 11:46 am

I have a NT4.0 server and 3 switches. Do I need a router for LAN?

Thank you in advance

Boston_Bob · Post by **Boston_Bob** » Mon Jul 22, 2002 1:04 pm

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Tue Jul 23, 2002 10:42 am

For a local area network....no you do not need a router, a hub or switch will do.

Now if you want your local area network to gain/share access to the internet, like say a cable or DSL or some sort of T-1 connection, then a router is my preferred way of doing so.

And most routers these days have a built in hub or switch of various #'s of ports so you can use one device for both your LAN and internet sharing.

1668 · Post by **1668** » Tue Jul 23, 2002 10:55 am

I have a T1 DSL. can this imporve the access speed, if I add a router?

cause someone told me NT server can act like a router. If it is true, then which one is better? Using existing NT server as a router or setup a router hardware?

Thank you

Boston_Bob · Post by **Boston_Bob** » Tue Jul 23, 2002 12:05 pm

Well a T1 and DSL are different beasts. Im guessing you have a DSL at 1.5Mbit, which is the same speed as a T1, altrhough still not the same thing.

NT Server can act as a router for your purposes, I have never set it up with more than just a few static entries, so I cant really give you advice on that. It will work if you have the excperience and time to set it up.

I think most people in this forum would recommend a hardware router. Most residetial ones have pretty simple interfaces (many web based) and you just plug em in and go. This would be the easiest way for you in my opinion.

Out of curiosity, you have 3 switches. Is this going to be any sort of business location? or is it stictly a home setup? If it is a business you may want to go above the quality of routers most often mentioned in this forum. They will be more expensive and learning something like IOS fr Cisco can be a challenge but may be worth it for you.

my 2 cents

1668 · Post by **1668** » Tue Jul 23, 2002 2:12 pm

Yes, this is for my company used, I have a cisco router with ethernet adapter too. But I did not use it, because no one in my company know how to configure it. What I know this router is configured for leased line at 128mb. And we are changing to ADSL at 1.5mb now. that is why, I try to take out the router.

Can I ask you one more question, since you know my situation. Is about IP address. The question is, Can I use this IP (202.188.xxx.xxx) replace the 192.168.xxx.xxx

IP 202.188.xxx.xxx to 202.188.158.xxx.xxx
subnet mask 255.255.255.192

I'm a programmer actually, since the company network admin resigned one month ago. My boss ask me to replace him, and I don't know about networking. I hope you can help me.

Thank you very much

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Tue Jul 23, 2002 2:56 pm

I prefer a hardware router over software methods of sharing....quality routers....have their own CPU and RAM to process the data, instead of bogging down a server with yet some other task.

I don't know exactly what internet connection you have yet, or at what speed you're actually at. But going with something in the more robust SOHO range of routers would be my preference for you...setting up offices on various flavors of broadband/internet connectivity is what I do for a living.

I love these routers Nexland makes for Symantec:

http://enterprisesecurity.symantec.com/ ... 2704&EID=0

Boston_Bob · Post by **Boston_Bob** » Tue Jul 23, 2002 8:18 pm

If you are going to connect this network to the internet you cannot use the 202.188.x.x addresses. These address are owned by "TMnet Telekom Malaysia". If you use them you will be effectively cutting that portion of the internet from ever communicating with your network. Not to mention if yor router communicates with any upstream routers you could have a whole lot more headaches.

You have several options. You can lease (from your ISP) enough IPs for every machine on your network OR you can use a private network and NAT. The private network MUST be set up within
the following ranges:

192.168.x.x OR
10.x.x.x

These address ranges are set aside exclusively for private networks like yours. Your router will have to run what is called NAT (Network Address Translation) and with the exception of incoming requests (like public web/FTP servers) everything will work fine. For these servers you will have to set up some forwarding rules on the router. This way when a request comes in it is passed on to the appropriate internal node to process it.

Most routers will also provide you with a DHCP server, or you can use NT for this as well. You should have the DHCP set up to give out IPs in your private range with the router as the default gateway and unless you are running your own DNS server use the DNS provided by your ISP.

I know this is a real rough overview, but i hope it helps.

1668 · Post by **1668** » Wed Jul 24, 2002 1:17 am

I know what you said. and I know what to do now. Thank you so much, Bob.

hardnut · Post by **hardnut** » Fri Jul 26, 2002 8:51 pm

Just to point you in a slightly different direction, try having a look at http://www.ipcop.org/ for a software solution that will cater for all your needs.

IPCop is a software firewall based on linux, forked from the Smoothwall project.

I use it at home on my own network, including a web/game server on a seperate interface to my 'safe' local network.