Here are some thoughts on DSL.
First, how many IP addresses do you want? IP addresses are both a blessing and a curse. When you connect your computer to the internet by phone, you usually get a "real" IP address - that is, you can communicate with the rest of the internet directly. The reason it's a mixed bag is that while you can transmit and receive files over most protocols very easily with a real IP (ftp and instant messenger systems work very well), it also means you're directly exposed to attack from hostile systems.
Most DSL (and cable) plans give you a single dynamic or static IP address. A dynamic address may change from time to time, and a static one always stays the same (
www.queststudios.com has a static IP address - it is always 63.247.72.210, unless you change hosting providers. DNS, domain name service, converts internet names to IP addresses, transparently for most cases). This IP address is then assigned to your router. Everything behind the router is then on something called a "private network" - often IP addresses using a scheme of 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x, which are special reserved ranges for private networks. Connections to the outside world go through the router and are converted through Network Address Translation, or NAT. The best analogy to this is that in an office, you may have to dial 9 to get to an outside line... and people outside
cannot dial you directly either.
In this sense, private networks are more secure just due to the address translation. The router will attempt to intelligently route information to the correct computers on your network, but usually it can only do this if you have initiated a connection from your internally networked computer *first*. You have to configure the router specially if you want to provide a way for the outside world to contact one of your computers specifically.
On a DSL connection it becomes more important than with a phone connection to beware of infection or attack from outside systems, because those attacks can compromise your system that much more quickly, and with an always-on connection, you'll be attacked almost continuously.
A discussion of public versus private IP networks can be found here:
http://www.wmld.com/tech/privateipnums.htmlSide comment: In any case where you are setting up a new computer with a brand new OS install, unless you have Microsoft's service packs on a CD already, I strongly recommend setting the system up behind NAT before downloading the patches, because your system can be compromised in the time it takes to download the patches before you can even apply them!
If you want, you can order from many DSL providers the option of having "static IPs." This can provide you with more real IP addresses for your internal computers, useful if you want to host anything directly off of your DSL system, and as I mentioned before, if you use instant messaging, that tends to work better too. (IM systems don't do so well sending/receiving files between two people if both individuals are behind separate Network Address Translation systems). In your case, Tom, you probably will do just fine using an all-private network behind your router. Static IPs for your computers usually costs more money and the benefit is small for most people compared to the trouble they can bring.
Now, on to your new internal private network. Actually, you can already put multiple computers at your home online simultaneously with a single dialup connection, using either Windows ME or Windows XP, with a software program built-in called ICS, or Internet Connection Sharing. Using a single system to dial out, that system can also behave as a router for additional home network computers, and it does its own NAT thing. Surprised you never thought to set that up! Earlier versions of Windows had ability as well, but only with shareware or commercial add-on software that did the same thing (such as WinGate:
http://www.wingate.com/).
Networking together your PCs, you'll want to get 100baseT cards. The number at the front represents the data speed; 100 is 100 megabits per second, or - after subtracting overhead of the TCP/IP protocol - roughly 10 megabytes per second. By comparison, a 10baseT card would give you 1 megabyte per second. I don't even think you can find 10baseT cards anymore. And, you can certainly find 100baseT cards even in old trusty ISA format, though you may have to do a little extra hunting. A quick search on Pricewatch.com doesn't find much - but I did find this:
http://www.ictcompany.com/store/productn.asp?item=3C515-TX. You can pop one of those in even your 386 with Windows 95. You might even get one of those working on your Windows 3.11 system with Microsoft's free TCP/IP drivers that they released in '95.
Why get 100baseT (10 megabytes per second) rather than 10baseT (1 megabyte per second) when your DSL speed won't come anywhere close? (256k is roughly 25.6 kilobytes per second - or only .0256 megabyes per second!) Well, it's still nice to have your internal network speeds working well. You'll be able to transfer data from one PC to another in the blink of an eye, without having to write it to a floppy disk or CD-ROM. You can network all of your PCs together very easily using ethernet (RJ45 connector - looks a bit like a phone plug but it's wider). I do not recommend using coaxial cable for your network - it's a nightmare because you have to connect all of your computers in serial. Use ethernet, and run all of your cables to a common switch (usually most routers have at least 4 RJ45 recepticles, and contain a network switch, free). Note, there are even faster speeds, but, "Gigabit" (may be called 1000baseT) is still too pricy for the home user, so I wouldn't worry about *that* much speed. 100Mbit, however, is cheap (no more so than 10baseT, really) and fast enough that you can use a 52x CD-ROM drive on one computer read a CD-ROM that you're accessing over the network to another computer, at full speed! Pretty cool stuff.
If you need more networking ports to connect your computers, you can buy a network switch. There are actually two kinds of simple network routing devices - switches and hubs - if you need one, get a switch, they're better than hubs generally, and the price difference in the 100Mbit range is not all that different anymore.
If you want to go the professional installation route for your networking, and run it through the walls, you can get everything you'd need at The Home Depot. A brief article on home wiring is here:
http://www.wap.org/journal/wireethernet.htmlNow let's hop a step into the future - how about wireless? You can avoid the fuss over the cables and everything if you buy a wireless card for each computer. Some DSL providers even provide a router that includes wireless routing these days, or, you can connect a wireless access provider (WAP) system to your router. Then, you add a card to each computer. Disadvantages: This may not be so compatible with older OSes (Windows 3.1, 95), it's more costly (the cards and WAP are not cheap), and speeds are slower (even the "turbo" or "108g" systems in reality give you about 1/4 of the speed you'd get from a 100Mbit system). Finally, there's all the wireless terminology to learn - such as 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g ... just so you know, you'd want "g" if you go this route. "a" and "b" are pretty much dodos by today's standards.
Well, that's a quick primer on the issues that come to mind.
Oh, one last thing - you can find a lot more information on DSL at
http://www.dslreports.com/, lots of FAQs, and also support for searching on availability in your area - find out if you're stuck with a single provider or if others could provide a better deal.
I went ahead and searched on your address & phone number, and the information was a bit sparse; it didn't list the offer you have, but it does mention Earthlink Satellite Direcway data. You might want to consider it - it's higher
latency* (I wouldn't recommend trying to play World of Warcraft over a satellite link) but the download speeds look like they'd be better than DSL. But ouch, pricey... $70/mo?
And uploads are not much better than the phone line. Oh well, here's the link for you to look at:
https://store.earthlink.net/cgi-bin/wsisa.dll/store/product.html?product=satelliteStill surprised you can't get /cable/ internet there...
* Latency is a function of both speed and distance. Latency is the time it takes for data to travel between one point and another and back again. If the speed of the interstate by your house is 65MPH, that's how fast traffic travels on it, but there's a higher
latency between your home and St. Louis than between your home and Green Bay.
