On Fri, 04 Nov 2005 11:34:10 -0500, Rick Kunath wrote: > Are you wanting to do this with just the existing hardware, or > would be adding some really cheap extra hardware be possible?
Since it's not something critical, "cheap" would be the operative word in obtaining extra hardware. > As far as extra hardware, I can recommend two routes. > > If these machines are wireless capable, you can share a dial-up > connection using an Orinoco Residential Gateway model RG-1000, > which has Ethernet input or can use an built-in internal 56K modem. > I did this for a while, and then moved up to the next > recommendation. (These RG-1000 units are no longer made, but are > available cheaply used.) As a matter of fact, both machines are wireless capable and they both have internal 56K modems (which I've never used). > If you have access to a toss-away junk old PC, you may want to > think about setting up a stand-alone hardware firewall for dial-up > sharing. I've been cleaning out old stuff. However, my old stuff is really, really old -- for example, I just sent an 8088 to a recycling center. I still have an old computer (i486) running Windows 98 with some legacy Windows and DOS software -- 52Mb of RAM and 4Gb hard disk. I believe, but am not sure, there is one i586 left with 128Mb of RAM and two 6Gb hard drives that I still need to wipe the hard drives before I recycle it. I'll have to look. However, you need to be specific as to the capabilities of the "junk." Some junk is junkier than others, and my junk is particularly junky. > You can use almost any junk PC for the job, and run the > simple to set up IP Cop dedicated firewall Linux distribution. I > used this for years on dial-up, sharing with up to 6 machines. It's > got a lot of advantages, caching DNS, transparent proxy, persistent > dial-up connection, and a lot more, that really speed up the > dial-up experience. You'd need an external serial modem and an > Ethernet switch on the firewall's Ethernet output, but the setup > works really slick. I believe the i586, if I still have it, has both a serial and ethernet port. > And, you don't have to redial when rebooting > machines. If you have to use dial-up, this is a *really* nice > improvement. (I also had wireless access via the IP Cop firewall on > dial-up, using the RG-1000 wireless access point then in bridged > Ethernet mode, in addition to wired Ethernet.) I don't think the i586 has wireless. > I can send along more details if you want to give this a shot. Please do. I believe all of the options people have suggested require I do something along the lines of a little network. And, that means I have some homework to do regardless of the actual method I try. If I still have the i586 and it fits the description of a computer that could do this, that may be the way for me to go. Thanks, deedee Registered Linux User #327485 WordStar Users Group Community: http://wordstar2.com/WordStar_Users WordStar & Linux: http://wordstar2.com Mailing Lists: http://wordstar2.com/mailman/listinfo -- _______________________________________________ Search for businesses by name, location, or phone number. -Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10
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