MB, you can use either a hub or a switch/router, both connected in the same way. As you say, a hub is basically like extension sockets. Any traffic that is put through a hub is sent to all the connected devices. A switch/router is more expensive and filters traffic to the correct destination, so that only the computer that needs to see the traffic actually gets it. This is much more efficient in network terms since the wires connecting idle computers are not filled with traffic that doesn't have to be there, therefore higher throughput. That having been said, you won't see any difference whatsoever if you are just using the network to share the modem. It's only if you were doing a lot of file transfers between PCs, playing real-time games, etc. that it might be slower than it otherwise would be.

In connecting the hub you would put the computers that are most used on the router and the rest on the hub. It really is like extension sockets, no configuration will be required.

If you do decide on a hub and are quick about it, as it happens a very nice one is going cheap here, one careful gentleman owner etc. etc. :-)

good value hub

Kayak,

Thanks very much for the info have the system up and running a couple of minutes after your post :-)

Cheers mate..

Mega...

Kayak , thanks for your help. I have gone into Outlook Exp, then..
Tools
Accounts
Properties
Clicked "servers" Tab
Then I have left Incoming server the same, but changed SMTP to mail.btopenworld.com. Then clicked "Apply"
SORTED Now Send and Recieve throught BT Broadband with my ntlworld e-mail address.
I have my telephone calls through NTL on a BT line to keep my e-mail addresses active. They also give me un limited Dial Up Internet access, so long as I spend 15 per month on phone calls. Their tariffs are cheaper than BT anyway so its a winner all round. I can spend all day on the Dial up, just kicks you off every couple of hours, but you can go straight back on. So its a useful back up for free.
Thanks once again Kayak.

David 2000, you may notice with that solution that when you are forwarding or replying to messages sent to you, it doesn't work. That is because they are sent to your NTL account which it tries to use to send the message out again. The answer is that when you forward/reply you need to select the BT account in the drop down box in the From field. Or you could run an smtp server, but that is geekish :-)

The BT account should be set as the default account, but unfortunately it doesn't use that when forwarding/replying.

Kayak,

Make sure your SMTP server is ONLY set to allow connections from your local host else, depending on how it is set up, anyone could use your connection to relay email.

Now, for more advanced things, should you have a static IP with your ADSL, it would be possible for you to register, for instance, kayak.com (if it were available), and set its mail exchanger records to point to your home machine. Your SMTP server would then deal with the mail, and if you are using MDaemon, then it could route email into different mailboxes, allowing you to have seperate email accounts for the whole family (mdaemon supports pop3 very well.)

Just an idea. If you want to do this and need to know how to set up the DNS for it, just give me a shout...

J.

Jon, yes, I've been through all the options and set it just to accept connections from my local network. The main difficulty actually was with the ISP with which I have my mail account. Out of 10 smtp servers that I tried, theirs was the only one that wouldn't accept just the host name in the HELO message, it wanted a domain name tacked onto the end. Good security, I thought, until I realised that any "x.y" would work!

As for the rest, as it happens I did have a static IP with Pipex until a few weeks ago when I exercised the option to make it a dynamic one for privacy... and you can't go back! But to be honest I already have different mailboxes by setting accounts up with dial-up ISPs. I'll give you a shout when I want to progress to the next level of geekiness :-)

Thanks Kayak. Do a fair bit of that and auto forwarding.So if I change the incoming server too, will that sort it. Also is it the same address?

You can't change the incoming server, david, since the mail you are trying to receive is physically on the NTL server. The BT server won't have it. I don't use auto-forwarding myself but I suspect you will have problems with it since I doubt there is a way to change the account from NTL for receiving to BT for sending. I think that if you want auto-forwarding you may need to go back to dialing into NTL (and therefore sending back out through NTL) or alternatively you could set up an SMTP server as above, but that is much more complicated!

Thinking about it David, what you could do is change the outgoing server on the NTL account to mail.btopenworld.com, which should work provided you are connected to BT. Unfortunately if you then dial into NTL you (probably) won't be able to send mail.

I am looking for some software to convert wma files into mp3.
Had I look around the web and there is plenty of software around to do it but all seem to be on a trial/buy basis. Anyone know of any free software that will do the job or if I am going to have buy it any recommendations on what is the best to go for?
Regards
M

Thats what I've done Kayak. I will wait until an auto forward occurs to see if it works. I'll let you know!! Cheers

I've just bought an excellent book from WH Smith:-

"The Complete PC Handbook" Price 12.99
by the makers of PC Answers, PC Plus, PC Format
published by Future Publishing Limited

ISBN 1-85870-117-1

"Got a problem with your PC? Not any more"

Do have a butchers in your own WHS. I found it in a special stand near to the checkout. Stuff is comprehensive, well laid out and readable and extremely diverse and thorough.

Kayak, auto forwarding works as per set up I described above., so all sorted thanks for your help....

Help please on STREAMING. For some reason I am no longer able to get the Streaming working on AM Stockwatch or Charts. If I turn streaming on Charts, I just get a blank grey area instead of the chart. Is there some setting on my Internet Options I need to reset?

Thanks

Shammy,

It may be that you do not have the appropriate java plugin installed - you can get it for free by going to the following page: http://java.sun.com/products/plugin/

However, I would try restarting your pc first of all to see if this clears the problem.

If neither of these works, the please E mail me and I will advise further - ian@moneyam.com

Regards

Ian

thanks Ian, I had recently installed latest Java software - JAva 2 Runtime Environment SE V 1.4.201. I would have expected that, being the latest, would be streaming enabled. Any idea which Plug-In I would need to download for Windows 2000?

Shammy, something else you might want to consider: do you use a firewall? When I had ZoneAlarm installed I couldn't get streaming to work at all. Try disabling it if it is installed on your machine.

My right-hand screen (alas I am only endowed with 2x17" flat monitors) keeps periodically blacking out as if it is switching itself off, and then it comes back 'on'. This happens every few minutes, I've checked the connections which all seem fine. Any ideas??

Tia

Velocity, do you run off one graphics card? Have you opened the machine up to check the card is firmly seated? Have you tried switching the screens around on the connectors to see whether it's due to the screen or the base unit. Also can you swap the power supplies round?

Velocity, could be power savings? does the screen have built in power saving? check power save options in control panel.