rjsincs

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Currently i live in a double with my parents on one side, me and my gf on the other. they have the internet feed over their house then theres a router and my pc is cat 5 to it and my laptop and wii are wireless to it.

i would like to make my own network with my 2 external hd and printer all which only have usb connectors. is there a way to relatively cheaply buy a router to connect to my parents router then run cat 5 to my wii, pc, and have some adapter to connect my hds and printer to the router so its similar to the pic i made below?

first off can i connect a router to a router? second is there a usb to cat 5 adapter that would work with my hds and printer without connecting directly to my pc so i dont have to leave it on?

i ultimately want it so that the hard drives act like a central file storage location and i can retrieve the files on my pc and laptop and also have a network printer. eventually i may make a home entertainment computer that would be hardwired to the network also but thats in the future.

am i completely asking for way more than is cheaply possible or is it feasable without spending like 500$ i have everything except the router so its too late to buy a printer or hard drive with a cat 5 connector.

thx guys

im copying this in BOTH and Comps for extra eyes

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Juan.©amaney

You can do that with a really cheap ($60) router.

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rjsincs

what about the usb connections? i was under the thought that routers were only cat 5 or do some have usb ports also?

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BackdoorJesus

easiest way to do what you want is to jack the printer & the HD's into your PC, then share them on the network...don't think you can just network an external HD by itself.

If you have ethernet on the printer, I'd jack that into the router, but it does not sound like you do.

You could get a print server, but that would be extra bucks, to plug the printer directly into the router, or get another router that has a print server in it, but that would be even moar money & you would need to co-locate the router & printer.

The first way I mentioned you can do tonight with what you have on hand, the only caveat being that you would need to keep your PC on to use the devices from your laptop.

For me this is no biggie since my PC is on all the time anyway but I understand some folks don't like to have as big a carbon footprint as me LOL.

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Juan.©amaney

yeah just hook up the usb shit to computers and enable sharing accross the network, turn off firewalls and shit to allow other people to access them, as far as the hard drive, set it up on one of the PC's as well and allow sharing to it.

Ryan showed me how to direct connect to the PC I have over in the office which is how I was able to use the webcam on it to see if people were touching my shit....assholes hah

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Juan.©amaney

only downside to doing it that way is that the PC always has to be on in order to use the printer

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rjsincs

thx very much guy i was afraid id have to have them connected to my pc to work. its not a big deal im just trying to minimize my electric usage. i guess for what its worth its not really a big issue to leave it on or just turn it on in the morn and off at night. ill get a router next time i see one cheap. i dont wanna let my rents in my network. something about their son having 600+ gigs of pron because of their internet may not sit so well lol. atleast this way its prolly easier and cheaper in the long run. the price id prolly have to pay for all the adapters and what not would prolly be more expensive then leaving my pc on for 20 years.

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Juan.©amaney

you can pick and choose which people are able to use them in the network selections. also, you can set your computers to sleep and allow the printer to wake it up...or whatever the real terms are

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elfoozo

The cheapest of any brand router will do what you're trying to do. Newegg lists several in the sub-$30 range.

I got an EDIMAX PS-1206U USB to Ethernet print server for one of my USB printers a while back for like $34 new. And even though my printer wasn't listed as "supported" it works like a charm. I'm sure there are plenty of new USB print servers on the market to tie in your printer.

Also you can pop open your USB external drives and see what type of hard disk is inside.

If they're about the size of a pc's cdrom drive they'll be 3.5" form factor. Depending if their interface is IDE or SATA you can pick from several of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...CE&Pagesize=100

The first 5 are under $100. The Netgear does two drives in one device for $69.99.

And even if the drives are not 3.5" form factor, there are cheap 2.5" to 3.5" adapters available.

So what is that... around $140 to do what you're trying to do?

edit: just looked at your diagram again, it shows two routers already. So you already own your own? Drops the cash outlay even more.

rjsincs

no i have to buy the 2nd router but that shoulnt be a prob like you guys said their cheap. an n router wouldnt really have any benifits to my system because i have all g hookups right?

so would i be able to use the hds and printers while the pc is asleep? i never thought about that. again its not a big issue to leave it on but any little thing helps

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rjsincs

well i def want a wireless router and i was leaning towards d-link. i was thinking maybe the di-624 http://www.pacificgeek.com/product....59&ID=88540&P=F

it seems around 30$ refurbished. im thinkin as long as it has 4 ports and wireless it should work fine for my needs. unless you have a better suggestion with easy setup im open for opinions.

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Jimi

You live...

with...

your parents?

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"I don't care if they're black, white, purple or green. Awww hold on now. Purple or green? You gotta draw the line somewhere. To hell with purple people. Unless they're suffocating. Then help them."


January 2009, the end of an error.

Jimi

Also, install Linux, run one PC as a server, and all problems solved.

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"I don't care if they're black, white, purple or green. Awww hold on now. Purple or green? You gotta draw the line somewhere. To hell with purple people. Unless they're suffocating. Then help them."


January 2009, the end of an error.

rjsincs

not with next to. i still sponge food, internet, etc with very low rent and have half of a double to do anything i want with. all the perks of living at home but i only see them when i want to. best of both worlds.

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