🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <IxSudIAFkO63EwW4@urban75.demon.co.uk>, ms
<mike@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes
>Hoping someone can guide me through this minor disaster...
>
>I've got (or rather had) three machines networked at home - two desktops
>and a Sony laptop - and all was well until a truly disastrous
>installation of Office 2000 trashed the laptop, necessitating a total
>reinstall of W98. Ever since then the old PCMCIA network card causes the
>Sony to hang. 

Tried Win95?  Tried controlling via DOS?

>In a foolish and desperate attempt to throw money at the problem, I went
>out and bought the LAN kit for the OneCom 4-1 mode PC card modem that
>came with the Sony, only to realise that it's got a different connector
>- the network uses what looks like aerial leads and this one has a
>phone-jack type connector.

Your existing LAN is coaxial, this is the cheapest form of 10mbps
networking.  Your new card is RJ45 only.  You can purchase a transceiver
at a cost but it works out cheaper to buy a cheap hub with a BNC port on
it.  Connect BNC LAN to BNC port, connect UTP cable (that's the RJ45
stuff) to the hub and there you go.  Even better ditch coax altogether
and have a more reliable network.  I intend to do this at some time in
the near future.

>I've been told I've got two choices: use a transceiver thingy to convert
>the new LAN card into the old system or upgrade the whole caboodle to
>the phone jack connectors. 
>
>What's the cheapest way of doing this? I've been told I need a hub but
>also I've got to make one of my machines a server. Is this right? It
>sounds like mucho hassle.

No, just attach the hub between a node on your existing LAN and your
RJ45 network card.  All network packets will be sent between the two
media formats transparently.  It's brilliant stuff.

TB