Question : File/Printer sharing safely/securily

I have a network with 3 computers, all XP, in different rooms and one printer. I use Westell 327w router. I setup the router's firewall to High. The internet works fine for all computers, except every couple ours the DSL & internet lights blink on the router and no Internet for 5 minutes.

How do I setup my router to use Private LAN to share file & printer without it passing the world wide web?
OR
How do I keep this secure so that internet users cannot access the computers files?

Bonus 25 points: Tell me how to fix DSL & internet lights blinking and internet not working for 3-10 mins in my case. Already tried changing filters & router, the Router is connected to wall jack, I use 3 phones and 1 fax with two filters.

Answer : File/Printer sharing safely/securily

Hi miles-of-,

Connecting to the router by all PCs does not actually use the internet to share files and printers.  If your router is resetting itself, then it could easily cause you to loose internet access for several minutes as you describe.  This may also cause your local network to fail for a few minutes, or maybe not, depending on how your router is built and how you have your network setup.

Firstly, I would try to work out why the router is resetting, or whatever is causing all the lights to blink.  One of the first places to look is the firmware version running on the router.  Early versions of many internet routers have/had bugs in them that caused the routers to lock up or reset themselves.  Many companies have released upgraded firmward that you can download and install.  This is usually done from the router configuration screens, but varies by manufacturer and model number of the device.  This page should help you determine if you need to upgrade the firmware:
http://www.westell.com/pages/support/dropdown.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0167844665.1168831975@@@@&BV_EngineID=daddijjffgfmbedcfkcfkcfin.0


Hope this helps,
Alan