2 networks into one

[Merlin45]

Ok, I now have 2 different networks, One in the house, One in the garage (business).

I want to tie the 2 together, but havent figured out if I want to do it by hardwire or wireless.


Pros?

Cons?


anyone else doing this, easy setup? without wireless router? just 2 wireless network cards?

I know it can be done., but havent firgured out which is the best way to go.

I dont have to worry about anyone finding my wireless signals, I live way out in the country. Road is about 1/4 mile from house. Security is not a question, I know how to take care of that.

I just want to be able to control the business from the house, and vise-versa.



I have the cat5 cable here, but no ends on it. Have to go buy a crimping tool, Or I buy wireless cards.........


Decisions, Decisions...................................

Hubs no problem, have 2 10BaseT 24 port hubs, 1 24 port 10/100BaseT, 3 8 port 10/100 baseT and 1 4 port 10/100baseT hubs......


So my real problem is wanting to run the wire so its not seen, or setting up a wireless connection.............................

[Bok]

That's precisely what I did just last week.

Bought two Belkin wireless routers, configured one as a bridge, the other as an access point, configured them to only allow each other's mac address, connected one to my main lan, the second to a switch in my garage feeding 5 pc's.

Done. Fairly simple and only $100. No wireless cards needed.

Bok

[Shish]

You can get very cheap (not sure US prices but <$30?) combo bridges/access points/repeaters mostly with the same chipset and from 11Mbps upto 54Mbps+. 2 of them off a hub/switch with the rest of the networks hardwired in and a little bit of addressing work, depending on whether you want to separate them or not, and away you go. Very easy and can cover quite large distances as some war drivers have found out so always add SOME security, even if it is only the basic as it doesn`t slow anything down much if at all.
As for addressing, basicly depends on whether you need segmenting or not to stop too much Broadcast flooding which more applies to very large networks (even some home farms) more than your need for security. Standard addressing scheme would be one of the 192.168.x.x (private, non routable) with the 3rd digit changed for splitting into segments. That`s the easy and simple answer. Splitting doesn`t mean you can`t access all segments if you want. Hardwire only if you want more speed as wire speed will always be around double or better wireless upto even cheap gig cards if you want to transfer very large files regularly.
Dlink firmware/software is usable on many of the cheaper (but same chipset) access points to make them into access point/bridge/repeaters and I`ve had 4 chained up to cover a large building with no wire connection to any of them.
Seattle community wireless site used to have most of the best info and links for doing this sort of thing.