>Bob
>
>Sorry but i missed a couple of questions. Firstly I am the network controller so I have to set it up!
>
>How do I allocate a static ip address to a pc already on a network?
>
>How do I do this without destroying that computer's ability to communicate with other pcs on the network which all have local static ip addresses eg 192.168.254.200 etc?
>
>I haven't tried pcAnywhere terminal services - you say its slow - would it be slower then VPN?
>
>Sorry about all the questions but I am feeling my way through this one.
>
>Colon

Wow - well, I don't know what your current connection is between your network and the Internet, but when you install a router it has an internal network address (192.168.254.something) and an External, public IP address (hopefully a static address assigned to you by your ISP).

Most routers can be set up to redirect Internet traffic directed to that router's PUBLIC IP address to an internal PRIVATE address that you specify. You can then use a free remote control product like VCN to control the desktop or connect to it directly with Win2K's Terminal Services. You wouldn't want to do this for more than one machine, tho....

If you have the data files and documents you want them to have access to on the network, I suggest you look at using Terminal Services on a Win2K machine with the router set to direct traffic to it. If you have data files on the individual desktops... well.... you may want to re-think that.

Luck....