Good morning everyone

Litle question this morning for you super experts out there.

At home ive got 2 seperate networks that are used by different peeps from the houshold for various reasons. They work fine.

Here is quick setup:

1st network:
cable modem connected to router connected to 2 other computers. Used for Bittorent, internet.

2n network:
DSL modem connected to router connected to 2 other comps. Used for gaming and the internet.

I reside in the second network and i would like to be able to SEE network 1 from my DESktop.

My comp setup:
-network card as 2 inputs, 1 is used right now to connect to router. the other is free.
-I use win XP home edition

and i dont know alot about networks, just the basics.

Can i get my computer located inside 2nd network to see the 1st network, or at least 1 machine inside that network?

Thx for any hlp guys, its appreciated.

Scleros

So this would be a dual router-on-a-stick setup with the two networks superimposed on both switches...

Only comment: nontraditional networking arrangements tend to expose firmware weaknesses and lead to behavioral funkiness in consumer grade gear.

chuckhole

So true. Our switches are much more costly than "consumer grade". There is a big difference between $49.95 and $2,000+. I say plus because some of them have multiple fiber modules and that can get really expensive.

However, in a home environment, you are not going to expose hundreds of computers to the same risks. So, performing a little out of the box work is not out of the question for some people.

patpai

thx for that, like i said, im not network savy at all, i know my way around computers, but this stuff sounds chinesse right now.

how do i get my hands on a SWITCH??? is that like a router? i dont mind buying one as loong as its not like 200$ for it or something...lol

PS sorry for late reply, been awfly busy and reading all the replies now, i think im geting lost alot more hehe

PS2
I do know that both my routers right now have wirelless capabilities, does this add complessity to my problem or i can just set my network up regularly and once it works, focus of the wireless stuff..
Basically what im asking is that once i get my network going using ur aproach for example, am i guna have dificulty using the wireless function or if it will just work well as before.

PS3
Keep in mind right now, that i've only been doing plug-n-play setups. What i mean is that i didnt configure anything except for paswwords and some very minute things. I didnt mess with mac addresses etc.. Duno how

chuckhole

What is a switch? It is a way of connecting one to many devices. Some of your routers have small 4-port switches built into them.

There are two basic types of switches: managed and unmanaged. The unmanaged switches range from the simple to ........well, simple. They are inexpensive and can be found for less than $6-8 per port. The managed switches ranged from the relatively simple to the very complex. With these types of switches you can configure each port such as activate/deactivate, select the speed, frame size, connection speed, STP metric, VLAN membership, etc.

The main difference between a switch and a hub is that even the simple switches are inteligent devices. Think of it like a postman delivering the mail. Can you imagine having to deliver mail to a house on a street with many houses? The postman will have to stop at each door, knock, wait for an answer and then ask the homeowner what their name and address is, check the letter and see if it is for them. If not, go to the next house and do the same until the postman finds the right homeowner. This is how a hub works. Whereas a switch keeps a list of the addresses that are connected to it. In this case, the postman goes from street to street same as a hub but once the right street is found, he then drives down the street to the correct address and then delivers the mail. Now if a switch is connected to another switch and so on, the more ports you have on the network, the more efficient it becomes. Could you imagine having to stop at hundreds of houses just to find the right one? All that talking and questions you have to ask?

This is why switches are more efficient than hubs and given the cost difference, hubs are not sold much any more.

A managed switch gives you much more control over each port. You can isolate ports from each other with the use of VLANS. Virtual LANS are defined as logical network segments. Similar to a router which routes from one network to another. VLANS isolate the network into segments to streamline the traffic. Also, managed switches have logs in them that will log errors and events. You can also look at the port statistics to see if a specific port has a problem. As you can imagine, these type of switches, depending on size, number of ports, type of ports, etc. they can get very expensive - anywhere from $20-$500 per port.

patpai

Ok thank you very much for that explaination.
So lets say i get a switch qround 80$ at BestBuy and bring it home.

I basically have the switch and my 2 above seperate networks. Connection wize, do i connect 1 port behind the switch to an empty port behind router in NT1 and then i connect router in NT2 to the back of my switch?

Once i do that, is my network wired correctly for me to start configuring the switch to see both networks.

As i mentioned aboved, i want a computer from Nt2 to see a computer in Nt1, if i get that, i'll be very happy...

thx...

urtech1

ok, what u would have to do is....run a physical wire (striaght through) rj45 cable from the free nic card on ur computer to the network 1 router, than ur connection would be active, change the ip address, subnet, gateway, primary dns for that connection to match the settings on the router, afterwards make sure u are in the same workgroup, if all is well than ur connection should be good and u will see all computers on ur network 2 and network 1, and u should have interent connection from both directions,

GOOD LUCK ,
YURIY

patpai

Ok, i will give that a try and let you know if i make it