Bolshi,

I went down the home socket route. Here are some alternatives

http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/default_ShopGroup.asp?ShopGroupID=61

And this looks like a good idea.

http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopSearch.asp?CategoryID=336

My problem is caused by living in a Victorian flat with thick walls. WiFi will hardly go from room to room - but the socket system (with Wifi as well) is brilliant.

TP

Bolshi, there are actually a number of options:

Note that it is not sufficient just to plug into the master socket -- you need to disconnect the internal wiring at the master socket and reconnect it after the ADSL splitter, but of course you don't then need filters on any other sockets. This is what the engineer would have done when he pronounced the master socket better. This applies to all the options below.

1. Get BT to relocate the master socket to near your computer. This is probably the best technically unless you want wireless access in other rooms. BT charge for this, I think 30-50 or so. You can also do it yourself but it is illegal to do so.

2. Put the router downstairs and run a 100Mbps Ethernet cable up to your office (subject to any uppety wife). Probably next best technically.

3. You can try leaving everything as it is but disconnecting the bell wire in each socket. This is the third wire in a telephone cable, it is not normally needed by modern phones and has a tendency to act as an aerial picking up AM transmissions which interfere with ADSL.

4. Probably the worst solution technically is the wireless router. Personally I can readily tell the difference between a wired and fixed connection while browsing (although both are acceptable). Points to note are that the nominal speed is the total bandwidth, not in each direction, and will never be attained. So even a router claiming 108Mbps does not do more than 20-30Mbps in terms of throughput. Get a PC card of the same make as the router and if you use USB ensure that both computer and card are using the more modern USB 2.0, otherwise that will limit your bandwidth.

Phew! That's given me some things to ponder. Many thanks everyone.

"subject to any uppety wife"? Love it :-)

Help required please,i use one pc for a small business project which has a email address setup for say sales@****.co.uk,is it possible to add another email address to OE from a different host company like admin@****.com,so that i can keep 2 sales email address on the same computer,is it a case of just adding it in the setup????

Rick....

It is 'tools', 'accounts', 'mail', 'add'

Mega Bucks

You should be able to add as many email addresses as you want to OE and you should be able to set up a rule to direct messages from the 2nd account to a different folder. I'm not sure how easy it is to specify the 2nd email address as the sender on outgoing messages, but another way would be to install Thunderbird Mail Client and use that for your 2nd account.

Thanks folks.

If you set up multiple accounts in OE you will get a drop down list in the From field of any email you compose, allowing you to alter the sender from the default.

If you add extra mail acounts as above then it allows you new Email addresses for output. You can then choose when you compose a new message. The only problem is that often the Email server on your ISP may not allow Emails sourced from a different Email address ending (ie not one of their accounts).

I have both emails up and running and as K said a dropdown list appears,the only trouble is both the emails go into one inbox is there away around that so both have there own inbox folders ????

Rick.....

Rick

Yes, click Tools - Message Rules- Mail... There is an option to process mail from a specified account.

I have just installed NTL cable broadband at work. Have plugged into my laptop and it works, no setup - just acts like a network connection.

Now I need to connect it to my network and I don't know how to do this. Do I simply plug it into the router and it should work or do I have to connect to the main PC first (which acts as a 'sort of' server' but is still used as a desktop in its own right? The engineer cam and went whilst I wasn't there.

SC

You should use a firewall/cable router to connect to the NTL network and then plug your local network, including the laptop into the safe side of the firewall.

Thanks Optimist. That sounds easy enough :-) Will I need my network reconfiguring with a new router / modem or will the existing settings still work? Presently using Netgear router.

What happens if I plug the lead from the cable modem into the router, no firewall, but the XP firewall switched on on each machine?

edit - I guess from you saying "the safe side of the firewall" means it would be unsafe to do so.

Edit - have just seen a posting to say that NTL cable broadband should be plugged into a router and not used with a different cable broadband modem router. Will check the security on our routers to see if they are firewalled.

SC

The best way to set it up is:

ASDL/Cable Modem which connects to the internet

Firwall connects to the Modem

Network Hub plugs into the safe site of the firewall

Local network computers connect to the network hub.

This should be the minimum setup for any internet connection and will be OK for most people although yo can put extra protection in.

You can buy combined Modem/Firewall/Hub units which work fine but IMO you should never plug a computer directly into the cable modem even if it has a software firewall or is a stand alone unit. Any individual firewall on computers in a local network has got to have holes in it so that the local machines can talk to each other. Although it should not be possible to exploit these, don't take the risk.

Thanks Optimist. That's exactly what I needed to hear. We've got the network hub and the cable modem. Time to look for a hardware Firewall.

The term "hardware firewall" always troubles me a little, because it is really no such thing, but seems to imply a degree of protection that really isn't there.

Routers are simply computers, usually running an embedded form of Linux, with a user interface provided via HTML to a browser.

Typically, they provide three functions: ADSL modem, router and local network hub, plus a wireless connection to the hub.

All firewalls are software, but the firewall inside a router has a specific useful property in that it performs Network Address Translation. In other words, the IP address of the computer on the "inside" isn't exposed to the Internet. This will protect the computer against direct hijack attempts. But it doesn't do anything to prevent viruses embedded in email attachments arriving at the target machine.

I would certainly avoid ever attaching a computer directly to the Internet via one of those ghastly USB ADSL modems.

Thanks MM. I was aware that a hardware implement is really dependent on embedded software. Anyway, it looks like we have to go down the firewall + router course as there don't seem to be any standalone firewalls. Using netgear at the moment. Any recommendations? (we need 1 x 16 port & 2 x 8 port i.e. 3 sites).

And don't go getting all excited about VPNs just yet. I'd like to walk before I can run ;-)

SC

First of all I totaly agree with MM's comments but would add that one of the reasons the standalone firewalls are generally more secure is that the only software they run is the firewall and therefore there is less chance of any other software compromising it. Also, it means that the security is concentrated in one place rather than being duplicated accross several PC's.

If you are happy with Netgear, then check out their Firewall/routers/Modems. I have used their ADSL units and they seem very good. I think they also do a cable version. Many of their routers will also support secure VPN but this may take some settin g up.

If you buy a Firewall/Modem then you should be able to plug your existing network hubs straight into them.

There are standalone firewalls availible, they will probably cost more but possibly offer more security depending on the cost. If you are reasonably sure what software and web pages your users are using then the entry level units should be OK (for now).