Preface : I live in the middle of nowhere and affordable/reliable broadband is slow getting to me. I was at a town meeting where the new local cable provider is planning having broadband available to my area my March Phone company wont set a date but will be offering fiber to my house some time this year.

My Question : I have cat 5e run pretty much to every room.
I am looking to set up a network. A small home LAN.

Are there any good tutorials-websites- forums on linux home lans?

I am looking to connect:

1. Amd64-FC3 64 box
2. P2 SLack 10 box.
3. P3 Hp 3390 laptop running Slack 10. (Wireless.)
4. AMD2600+ Gentoo box
5. P4 Dell XP box -(wife work computer)
6 dell 600m Knoopix on my work xp laptop.(Wireless)
7. Xbox
8. Xbox running GentooX.
9. Series 2 DTivo
10. Dell Axim x5 (Wireless)
11.Playstation2 with network adapter..
---p2 Compaq deskpro hopefully running Smoothwall 2.0.
---P1 Ibm laptop maybe for DSL or Vector.
---Fujitsu Stylistic 1000 - Looking to put pebble on- ala O'Reileys Wireless Hacks.

Like I said before I have the cat5e run. I need to add connectors and wall plates.
I am guessing I am going to need a router - gig switch - 5-7 gig nics - short lenghts of cable from wall to computers.

I would like to Install Smoothwall on old P2 computer.
I would like to use it for firewall - snort ids - squid - dans guardian - a couple other things I can't remember now. I would like this network as secure as I can get it.

I am tempted to do wireless via the fujitsu stylistic 1000. Worried about wireless security. I'd hate to spend a bunch of hours setting up smoothies and updating and patching systems to have an intruder walk in through wireless.

I have been reading home networking books, but some of the lingo and terms go over my head

I am a linux and networking .

I am looking for any guidance - wisdom - suggestions - I can get.

Thanks.

Regards,
Blair

I am asking these questions now to save up money to get equipment before broadband arrives.

Your lan connection from cablemodem is 10baseT .. phone compay will probably give you same (I doubt it will be 100 Mb)
Vz will put a 622 mb link .. but the home adapter would probably not be more than 100BaseT .. and even that's
wishful .. because 622 downstream and 155mbps upstream will be shared by 32 subscribers (at least)

In the home forget about cables .. that's a mess you should avoid if you can.
If you want to have it .. fine, otherwise seriously consider wifi 802.11G (54mbps .. some even do 108 on it .. but that's proprietary).
noone is going to steal your bits .. the range on these things is rather small .. < 300 feet .. in an apatment it will be an issue
in homes generally not .. it's like your cordless phone .. and security is pretty easy to setup.

Get a 100BaseT switch (8/16 ports or so ) they are cheap .. connect the cable/phone adapter to it through a wireless router .. and what ever can
connect to the switch keep it there, others like laptops, let them be on wireless.

Gb interfaces are still expensive and really really really not needed for most computers .. I doubt if any of the machines you listed can really carry on a sustained transfer on that link .. 100 BasetT internally in the home is more than enough .. even with the number of machines you have listed.
The switches do a great job of making "point-to-point" connections. I hope all the machines you have listed are NOT talking to one machine in the middle. .. if that is the case, it might be (and again with a big grain of salt) wise to put GB interface on that machine and on the 100BaseT switch
(you will have to get a switch with GB uplink too) .. This would be an expensive solution.
100BaseT cost is around $10/port .. I think Gb is about $100+/port. (Wireless aournd $30/port)

I don't know any current books, but get a router (netgear/linksys/belkin .. etc) they have pretty decent help menus's to let you setup everything

Winsnomore thank you for taking the time to read my long post, and for posting. NJ nice I was born in Cape May.

I still haven't really grasped the idea of networking.

I figured cable comes in to cable modem --> firewall -->router (firewall and router might be the same box.) --> individual computers assigned ip's by dhcp.
Not sure if I need a hub or switch somewhere in the mix here.
I would like 10/100/1000 nics on the smoothwall. I would like a gig nic on the amd 2600+ - the amd64 had dual gig on mobo.

I am not sure of the connections I can make to the tivo, but I would like it to be fast . Same goes for xbox. 1 xbox might be webserver soon. I also forgot the Playstation2 in the first list , that has a network adapter.

I planned on using wireless for any portable devices. (2 laptops, a tablet, and a handheld.)
WEP for wireless is useless. I am a novice and I can crack it.
I plan on using antennas to boost my wireless range so I can get reception in my neighborhood or at least my street.

I am trying to build whatever router or firewall or gateway I need. I have the scrap equipment to do it. As far as I can tell linux is more than capable of these projects. Smoothwall for firewall. I think most distros have minimal router installs for dchp servers and such.

I would like to use Squid for proxy.
Dans Guardian for content filtering-(kids)
Snort for IDS .
Anything else I should be looking for?

I have been reading up the best I can on this, but some networking lingo escapes my comprehension.

Am I on the right track?

Winsnomore - I don't think Vz is doing DSL here(not close enough to co(?). Its so other technology. Guy near me said 5x faster than cable @ 15up 15down.

DeadPenguine ..
I have no idea what you are into .. but it's not a simple thing.

You will need a switch or two to connect all these boxes together .. you can get routers to do it too, but per port cost of a router is higher than a layer-2 switch .. so if you have a lots of ports, use a switch and uplink them to a single router .. the router will let you connect to the "outside"
world.

Yes CableModem/FO adapter .. put out a simple ethernet connection .. you don't need router if you are going to connect a single machine, but
for anything else you do need one.

Secondly .. you are trying to expand range by antennas .. .. well yes and no, remember it's a 2 way street (RX/TX) .. and "both" sides have to have a higher gain antenna .. and higher gain in this case means they become directional.

Winsnomore thank you again for taking the time to help.

I have a lot of reading to do.

Been doing a little already, and like you said previous most of my equipment is not capable of gig speed anyway.

10/100 seems the smart and price concious path at this time.

Giving up on gigabit for now.

Regards,
Blair

hmm ive been doing a rading on this post but i am trying to comprehend the length of networking you are getting into...

is it a.) making a wifi server for your neighborhood?
is it b.) making your network avalable around your street?
or is it c.) making a network avalable to just you and your home?

ive been reading and it seems as if you would like to do a and c. but please let me know so i can better my help at any linux information and networking information that i may help you with.

thankz.

I am currently running a dlink 10/100 wired router connected to a linksys g router with the bigger antennas.
I will be putting a pc in my car. I would like it to be able to sync and update my mp3's traffic info and rss feeds as I start my car and drive down the street.

I am a novice computer user with a good understanding of pc hardware / software, but I have a hard time grasping networking in general.

I have some cisco routers and switches and pix firewall i will be playing with in a month or two. I hope that will help me get a better understanding of ip addresses and etc....

Thank you.
Blair

man if you are going to do that you are going to have intenas out the ying yang and boosters to amplify your signal. The signal coming out should be encrypted using a WEP key. LEt only the users you trust use it. The best way to go about this is connect using a acess point. Eather way you look i think this is aprox. a 1 to 5 k doller project that can be done. It is vary possable to pull it off. I personally would do it but i dont have the money.. also note that linksys has came out with a multi point extender. This is like your average cable spliter... it creates multipul acess points off a router or acess point of a single point connection. I myself do have this set up through my house so i get full connection but note that a router can only hadle 4 people at one time... so your looking at the following so far:

-buying boosters or signal amps
-buying large atennas or you could try old satalite receavers( known to go ten miles point to point without anything being in the way of the signal.)
-loads of wires to get what you need outside and having it being within regualtory city or state code so people in town dont complain and it has to be taken down. That has already happened to a buddy of mine.
- routers which it seems you have or better yet an acess point which would be better. if you can wait tell wimax comes out or wireless n which has a farther broadcast range then g.

mounting them will be a pain too. With everything set up correctly you can pick up serveral access points or open computers. The setup has a possability or ranging for miles on end if done correctly. you may want to add an external attenna outside your vehicle and also add a booster and have some sort of charger connected into your laptop as well. This will increase the range of your network.

anything else just ask i could probly help.

My project is on hold for a couple more months. I had to make the jump to HDTV. Spending all my disposable income on a 50" HDTV.

I have been all over the place reading up on what I want to do.

I am lacking in:
Time to read everything I want on Networking.
Money to buy all the stuff I need. But, I have found a lot on Ebay for fair prices.
My own car to put it in. I am using a work fleet vehicle.

Thanks for the info.

Regards,
blair