John

My PC at home is connected to broadband but trying to get to use it is almost impossible as the kids are constanty monopolizing it. So I am buying each of them their own pc that they can use exclusively in their bedrooms (something tells me they may have planned this).But unless they have internet access my cunning plan falls apart.
So could anyone help me with the following:
(a) is it possible to connect more than one PC to a home broadband connection?
(b) If it is possible can everyone be online at the same time?
(c) The home PC is plugged into a telephone socket using a splitter that allows the phone to be used at the same time as being online, will this be compromised?
(e) There are no telephone sockets in the kids bedrooms, so would I have to hardwire these in?
(f) can the extra PC's be connected cheaply and easily?
(g) what exactly will I need and how would this be installed?

Many thanks for any help

triumph

The short answer is yes.

The longer answer is, I would recommend you get a wireless router for your gateway. This would attach to your modem and manage the connection and feed your network. You could still plug your pc into one with a regular lan port, and then get wireless nic cards for each of the children's pcs to use in their rooms.

These can range from $20 on sale for no-name brands, to $50 or so for the more expensive named brands.

A router is also going to cost you in the $50.00 range. Linksys makes some good ones. I can definately recommend their WRT54G. WalMart even carries them and they are just a tad over $50.00

Everyone will be able to be online at the same time. I have 3 pcs and 2 laptops hooked up to my internet connection and it works fine. I would not recommend the hardwire route, as it is too much work for little benefit. You don't need to change any of your phone wiring either. The router will attach to your modem.

MsMcClain

If you contact your broadband carrier, they can walk you through the process. Buying (or renting) the equipment from them may be a little steep though. On the other hand, if anything goes wrong with it, they usually replace it for free.