It used to be (way back a few years ago…) that there were two standards (K56flex and X2) for 56K connections, but no more. If you try to share a connection with anything slower, you’re really not going to enjoy the results. So if you don’t already have one, go get a modem capable of supporting a speed of 56,000 bits per second (56kbps). If you’re going to share your connection, you need the fastest connection possible. It includes a handy interactive Home LAN Decision Maker, that can generate a shopping list of components for your network. If you’re new to networking, I recommend you read this CNET article. LANs can contain devices other than computers, for example, printers, print servers, storage devices, etc. If you don’t, or aren’t sure, then read on.Ī LAN, or Local Area Network is a group of two or more computers, physically close together (usually in the same building), that are linked to each other. If you already have an Ethernet-based LAN, then you can go on to the next page. Don’t want to run new wires for your network? Check out the information on phoneline and wireless networking products.īefore your computers can share your Internet connection, they need to be able to share with each other! This means that you’ll have to connect them together to form a LAN.

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