Researching Routers

The number of households that have more than one computer is increasing, and families want to share resources among them. One of these resources is the internet connection. Although newer versions of Microsoft Windows offer software that enables two computers to share an internet connection, consumers with high-speed connections such as cable or DSL also can use a router to share internet access. You are to go to a local computer store and investigate cable/DSL routers.
1. How many ports do these devices have?
A DSL/cable router typically has four ports.

2. How much do they cost?
According to , these routers cost something in the price range of $47.84 and $75.

3. What physical medium is used to connect the devices to the router?
The physical medium used to connect your devices to the router is the RJ45 cable.

4. Can a printer be shared using a router?
Since a router is a switch which has additional features, and a switch allows communication of computers and devices across a network, then a printer can be shared using a router.



5. What type of network topology is used?
The network topology used in this case is a star network. Therefore, if a device or computer goes down, then the entire network will not go down.

6. What additional hardware is needed to network the computers to the router?
In order to connect computers to a router, apart from the RJ45 line, you also need each computer to have a network interface card. This enables access to the network.

7. If you had a high-speed connection and multiple computers, would you purchase a router?
No I would not.

8. Why or why not?
This is due the fact that a high speed broadband internet connection allows multiple computers to connect to a network with little or no noticeable loss of speed. Hence there is no need to buy a router for the purpose of sharing devices and communication on a network.

NIC cards for Notebooks and Desktops

URL Model Price $ Type
http://reviews.cnet.com/4024-5_7-275713.html 73 Notebook
http://reviews.cnet.com/4024-5_7-275713.html
76.58 Notebook
http://www.amazon.com/dp/
94.99 Notebook
http://www.amazon.com/dp/
39.99 Notebook
http://offers.cnet.com/
78.39 Notebook
AVERAGE = $72.59

http://www.nextag.com/ Dell NetXtreme 49.99 Desktop
http://www.nextag.com/ HP 118042-001 49.95 Desktop
http://www.nextag.com/ 3Com 44-59 Desktop
http://www.nextag.com/ Alvarion 4,153 Desktop
http://www.nextag.com/ Dell Broadcom 150 Desktop
http://www.nextag.com/ HP PCI: Compu Vest 250 Desktop
http://www.nextag.com/ HP PCI: Sillworks 230 Desktop
http://www.nextag.com/ SWA-4000 79.95 Desktop
http://www.nextag.com/ CP Technologies 20 Desktop
http://www.nextag.com/ Cisco: Lanstreet 1,869 Desktop
http://www.nextag.com/ Cisco: California Computer 4,497 Desktop
http://www.nextag.com/ New Western Digital (WD TV) 89.90 Desktop
http://www.nextag.com/ HP CPQ 161105-001 39.95 Desktop
http://www.nextag.com/ Broadcom Wireless 802.11G 32.00 Desktop
http://www.nextag.com/ Toshiba 90 Desktop
http://www.nextag.com/ Dell 89.99 Desktop
AVERAGE= 733.42
The best price for a NIC for a notebook is $39.99, can be bought at Tigerdirect.com; that for a desktop can be bought for $20, at nextag.com.
NIC for desktops are more expensive because the desktop is larger.
Two models that have internal networking capability are as follows:
Notebook: Dell and Toshiba
Desktop: Macintiosh and Quadra

WIFI Standards

Persons looking to buy wireless local area network equipment have an array of choices. Many products conform to the 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n wireless standards collectively known as Wi-Fi technologies. Additionally, Bluetooth and various other non Wi-Fi technologies also exist, each also designed for specific networking applications.

802.11
In 1997, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) created the first WLAN standard. They called it 802.11 after the name of the group formed to oversee its development. Unfortunately, 802.11 only supported a maximum network bandwidth of 2 Mbps - too slow for most applications. For this reason, ordinary 802.11 wireless products are no longer manufactured.

802.11b
IEEE expanded on the original 802.11 standard in July 1999, creating the 802.11b specification. 802.11b supports bandwidth up to 11 Mbps, comparable to traditional Ethernet.
802.11b uses the same unregulated radio signaling frequency (2.4 GHz) as the original 802.11 standard. Vendors often prefer using these frequencies to lower their production costs. Being unregulated, 802.11b gear can incur interference from microwave ovens, cordless phones, and other appliances using the same 2.4 GHz range. However, by installing 802.11b gear a reasonable distance from other appliances, interference can easily be avoided.
• Positives of 802.11b - lowest cost; signal range is good and not easily obstructed
• Negatives of 802.11b - slowest maximum speed; home appliances may interfere on the unregulated frequency band.

802.11a
While 802.11b was in development, IEEE created a second extension to the original 802.11 standard called 802.11a. Because 802.11b gained in popularity much faster than did 802.11a, some folks believe that 802.11a was created after 802.11b. In fact, 802.11a was created at the same time. Due to its higher cost, 802.11a is usually found on business networks whereas 802.11b better serves the home market.
802.11a supports bandwidth up to 54 Mbps and signals in a regulated frequency spectrum around 5 GHz. This higher frequency compared to 802.11b shortens the range of 802.11a networks. The higher frequency also means 802.11a signals have more difficulty penetrating walls and other obstructions.
Because 802.11a and 802.11b utilize different frequencies, the two technologies are incompatible with each other. Some vendors offer hybrid 802.11a/b network gear, but these products merely implement the two standards side by side, that is, each connected devices must use one or the other.
• Positives of 802.11a - fast maximum speed; regulated frequencies prevent signal interference from other devices.
• Negatives of 802.11a - highest cost; shorter range signal that is more easily obstructed.

802.11g
In 2002 and 2003, WLAN products supporting a newer standard called 802.11g emerged on the market. 802.11g attempts to combine the best of both 802.11a and 802.11b. 802.11g supports bandwidth up to 54 Mbps, and it uses the 2.4 GHz frequency for greater range. 802.11g is backwards compatible with 802.11b, meaning that 802.11g access points will work with 802.11b wireless network adapters and vice versa.
• Positives of 802.11g - fast maximum speed; signal range is good and not easily obstructed.
• Negatives of 802.11g - costs more than 802.11b; appliances may interfere on the unregulated signal frequency.

802.11n
The newest IEEE standard in the Wi-Fi category is 802.11n. It was designed to improve on 802.11g in the amount of bandwidth supported by utilizing multiple wireless signals and antennas called MIMO technology instead of one.
When this standard is finalized, 802.11n connections should support data rates of over 100 Mbps. 802.11n also offers somewhat better range over earlier Wi-Fi standards due to its increased signal intensity. 802.11n equipment will be backward compatible with 802.11g gear.
• Positives of 802.11n - fastest maximum speed and best signal range; more resistant to signal interference from outside sources.
• Negatives of 802.11n - standard is not yet finalized; costs more than 802.11g; the use of multiple signals may greatly interfere with nearby 802.11b/g based networks.


What about Bluetooth and Others?
Aside from these four general-purpose Wi-Fi standards, several other related wireless network technologies exist.
• Other IEEE 802.11 working group standards like 802.11h and 802.11j are extensions or offshoots of Wi-Fi technology that each serves a very specific purpose.
• Bluetooth is an alternative wireless network technology that followed a different development path than the 802.11 family. Bluetooth supports a very short range, approximately 10 meters and relatively low bandwidth (1-3 Mbps in practice) designed for low-power network devices like handhelds. The low manufacturing cost of Bluetooth hardware also appeals to industry vendors. You can readily find Bluetooth in the networking of PDAs or cell phones with PCs, but it is rarely used for general-purpose WLAN networking due to the range and speed considerations.
• WiMax also was developed separately from Wi-Fi. WiMax is designed for long-range networking, spanning miles or kilometers as opposed to local area wireless networking.

HP Motherboard Specifications

Part / Feature Specification / Support
Motherboard description
• Motherboard manufacturer's name: MSI MS-7184
• HP/Compaq name: AmethystM-GL6E

CPU/Processor
• Socket: 939
• Supports AMD Athlon 64 X2 (up to 4800+) and Sempron (up to 3200+) processors

System bus
• 2000 MegaTransfers/second or 1600 MegaTransfers/second depending on the processor

Chipset
• Northbridge: ATI RS482
• Southbridge: ATI SB400

BIOS features
• The mainboard BIOS provides “Plug & Play” BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the board automatically
• The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface (DMI) function which records your mainboard specifications
• Supports boot from LAN, USB Device 1.1 & 2.0, and SATA HDD

Form factor
• Micro-ATX: 24.4cm X 24.4cm

Memory
• Four 184-pin DDR DIMM sockets
• Supports dual channel, eight memory banks DDR 333/400 DDR DIMMs
• Supports 2.5v DDR SDRAM DIMMs
• Maximum HP/Compaq approved memory is 4 GB* without ECC

Expansion slots
• One PCI Express x16 graphics
• Three PCI
• One SCSI connector for PCI Extender Card for two additional PCI slots (optional)

Video graphics
• Integrated

Serial ATA
• 2 SATA connectors
• Each connector supports 1 serial ATA-150 disk drive

Onboard audio or audio card Controller: AC-97
• Realtek ALC658C 6-channel CODEC chipset
• Location: Integrated

Onboard LAN
• Realtek 8100C
• 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet controller

Back panel I/0
• One PS/2 mouse
• One PS/2 keyboard
• One VGA
• One Parallel
• One IEEE 1394
• One RJ-45 networking port
• Three audio connectors: line in, line out, and microphone
• Four USB (2.0)
• One S/PDIF out

Internal connectors
• One floppy port supports 1 FDD with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes
• Two IDE connectors for up to four IDE devices
• Two serial ATA ports for up to two SATA devices
• One PCI Express x16 graphics slot
• Three PCI slots
• One PCI extender board connector
• Four USB 2.0 ports on two headers
• One CD audio input header
• One auxiliary audio input header
• One headphone-out header
• One IEEE1394a header
• One CPU fan connector
• One system (chassis) fan connector




 







1 - PS/2 mouse port . This port is for a PS/2 mouse.
2 - Parallel port. This 25-pin port connects a parallel printer, a scanner, or other devices.
3 - IEEE 1394a port. This 6-pin IEEE 1394a port provides high-speed connectivity for audio/video devices, storage peripherals, PCs, or portable devices.
4 - LAN (RJ-45) port. This port allows connection to a Local Area Network (LAN) through a network hub.
5 - Line In port . This port connects a tape, CD, DVD player or other audio sources.
6 - Line Out port . This port connects a headphone or a speaker. In 4- channel and 6-channel mode, the function of this port becomes Front Speaker Out.
7 - Microphone port . This port connects a microphone.
8 - Coaxial S/PDIF Out port. This port connects an external audio output device via a coaxial S/PDIF cable.
9 - USB 2.0 ports 3 and 4. These two 4-pin Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports are available for connecting USB 2.0 devices.
10 - USB 2.0 ports 1 and 2. These two 4-pin Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports are available for connecting USB 2.0 devices.
11 - VGA Graphic Adapter port. This 15-pin port is for a VGA monitor or other VGA-compatible devices.
12 - PS/2 keyboard port . This port is for a PS/2 keyboard.

Microsoft Office Specifications Updated

The following are specifications for Microsoft Office:

CPU
Office XP requires a Pentium processor with a clock speed of at least 133 megahertz (MHz), meaning that the processor sends 133,000,000 pulses per second.
Operating System
Office runs on the following operating systems:
• Microsoft Windows XP
• Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me)
• Microsoft Windows 2000
• Microsoft Windows 98
• Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 6.0a (SP6a)
Memory
Windows XP:
128 megabytes (MB) of RAM is required for the operating system, along with an additional 8 MB of RAM for each program running simultaneously. That is, 128 million bytes worth of storage space for temporary storage in random access memory, with an additional capacity to hold 8 million bytes for each program.
Windows 98:
24 MB of RAM is required for the operating system, in addition to an additional 8 MB of RAM for each program running simultaneously. Therefore, 24 million bytes of temporary storage space, with an additional 8 million bytes for each program running concurrently.
Windows Millennium Edition (Me) and Windows NT 4.0:
32 MB of RAM is required for the operating system, also an additional 8 MB of RAM for each program running simultaneously. This means 32 million bytes of storage space with an additional 8 million bytes for each program being run at the same time.
Windows 2000 Professional:
64 MB of RAM is required for the operating system, plus an additional 8 MB of RAM for each program running simultaneously. This is 64 million bytes worth of temporary storage space with an additional 8 million bytes of temporary storage for each program being run parallel.




Available Hard Disk Space
The following table shows the default amount of space required for each edition of Office.
Edition Approximate Disk Space Requirements
------------------------------------------------------------
Standard 191 MB: 191 million bytes of storage space

Professional 230 MB: 230 million bytes of storage space

Professional 276 MB: 270 million bytes worth of storage space
with FrontPage



Approximately 115 MB will be installed on the same drive where the operating system is installed.

The amount of disk space varies, depending on multiple factors.
Disk Drives
A CD-ROM drive (or compatible DVD-ROM drive) is required to install Office, so that there can be exchange of data from a CD or DVD.
Monitor
A Super VGA monitor with at least 800x600 resolution and 256 colors is required.
Pointing Device
A Microsoft Mouse, Microsoft IntelliMouse, or compatible pointing device is required.
Other Requirements
Some Office features have additional requirements.
Multimedia
A multimedia computer is required for sound and other multimedia effects. A hardware accelerated video card or MMX processor provides improved graphical rendering performance.


Speech Recognition
Speech recognition requires the following:
• A Pentium II 400 MHz or higher processor; that is, a processor pulsating 400 million pulses per second
• 128 MB or more of RAM, 128 million bytes worth of temporary storage space
• A close-talk microphone
• An audio output device
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later version
E-Mail and Internet
Microsoft Exchange, Internet SMTP/POP3, IMAP4, or MAPI-compliant messaging software is required for e-mail. Microsoft Exchange Server is required for certain advanced collaboration functionality in Microsoft Outlook. Some Internet functionality may require Internet access by means of a 14.4 Kbps or greater modem or a high-speed connection, and payment of a separate fee to a service provider; local charges may apply. The 14.4 kbps means that 14,400 bits worth of information can be processed each second.
Handwriting
A graphics tablet is recommended for handwriting input features.
SharePoint Team Services
• Pentium 200 MHz or higher processor; that is, 200 million pulses per second.
• Microsoft Windows 2000 running Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0.
• 128 MB of RAM, indicating 128 million bytes of storage space.
• Your hard-disk usage varies, depending on configuration. For a typical installation, 70 MB of available hard-disk space is needed. Custom choices may require more or less space. For planning purposes, you need a minimum of 5 MB disk space for the Web site and database for each newly provisioned Web site. 70 MB of disk space means that there is the capability to store 70 million bytes of information; likewise, a 5 MB disk space is 5 million bytes worth of storage space.
• Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) or Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 or later.