Hi there!

I have a 2MB broadband account with Tiscali. I have my own D-Link ADSL Draft-n Modem/Router that I currently have two PCs wired to (both in same room). I cannot move this.
My wife will be running a B&B at the other end of our house.
All the walls are metal-lathe construction so wireless reception at the other end of the house is ZERO.
My questions are:
1) Can I run a very long Cat5 cable (about 40yards) from a spare socket on the modem/router to a wireless router at the other end of the house to enable wireless access there? Are there problems setting this up? Do I need to give out passwords etc?
2) My own two PCs have file-sharing enabled - how do I stop guests having free access to my files? Or is this not a problem - sorry I'm a network idiot!
3) How do I 'Stay Safe' and avoid problems of guests downloading illegal stuff on my account?
Sorry there are so many questions but the guys at PCWorld don't seem to know much....

Chris Cullen

Cat 5 cable & one of these

Thanks saspro!
Scary price though - got to survive on public sector pay...too much for me!
Would some form of wireless 'extender' do the job?

Wouldn't do the security you require. If you've got an old pc then this would work (with a suitable access point)

Or surely Chris could build a basic new PC that would be up to the task and still keep the price lower than the dedicated thing? I doubt much power would be needed from a PC to carry out such tasks.

Chris could, although a £20 ebay job will do.

I prefer the dedicated solution as it comes with a ticket printer & is designed for the job.
As it's a business expense it can be written off against tax

You could do it on the cheap with a basic home router.

To keep your computers and their files private you could have your machines on a different subnet to those at the other end of the cable. Setup a static route from a router on the end of the cable to the 'main' router and you won't be able to contact them, and they won't be able to contact you.

It doesn't prevent them from downloading anything illegal, but nothing can really. Perhaps you could just get them to sign something when you give them the password if you choose to have one????

::EDIT::
What router do you have? If it supports VLANs then that's job done - just a simple configuration and throw an AP on the end. You could always buy one that does support VLANs, and use your current router as an AP down the other end if it can (ADSL routers can't usually, cable ones generally can).

Thanks Nick

Sounds closer to my price range

Chris

Feel free to post again if you would like some help with choosing the gear and setting it up.

Folk round here are pretty friendly and usually very helpful!

You could try using a Powerline or Homeplug connection. Some brands actually supply wireless repeaters to go with.