[deep_eyes]

OK heres the deal, I have two computers. One is a desktop, the other is a laptop. Im trying to network between two using a Netgear Ethernet Switch. (yes very old). I wanted to make a home network between my desktop and laptop using physical lines, however because also my desktop is connected to my Cable Service Provider (u cant share the connection), it makes my laptop get little or no connectivity. that i kinda know why. but what i dont know is why both computers cant communicate with each other.

The desktop is on WINXP=Professional on SP2.
The laptop is on a WINXP=Home on SP2 (dell).

so to give u an idea of the setup, the Broadband is going into the cable modem, which goes into one LAN Card on my desktop. the second LAN Card goes out to the Ethernet Switch which in turn is connected to the laptop thru its Lan card.

any ideas? (please avoid the, BUY A NEW SWITCH OR ROUTER lines...)

[Grey Wolf]

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/hnw_bridge_install.mspx

That enough?

[karajorma]

Not a huge fan of ICS but this sounds like the sort of thing it was designed for.

PracticallyNetworked.com has a nice guide on how to set it up.

[Grey Wolf]

So, take your pick. Network bridging or Internet Connection Sharing.

[deep_eyes]

Originally posted by Grey Wolf
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/hnw_bridge_install.mspx

That enough?

this would mean connecting laptop directly to the desktop with coaxial right? like a connects to b?

[deep_eyes]

Originally posted by karajorma
Not a huge fan of ICS but this sounds like the sort of thing it was designed for.

PracticallyNetworked.com has a nice guide on how to set it up.

unfortuantly i cannot share a cable connection so theres no internet sharring be default cause of my ISP, i just want to connect between 2 computers and share files, run lan games etc, but the desktop is the primary internet user.

**note im reading ur suggestion, ima try it cause it has some extra info i am finding useful.

[Grey Wolf]

Originally posted by deep_eyes


this would mean connecting laptop directly to the desktop with coaxial right? like a connects to b?

No, this would be done using a crossover networking cable between the two computers, if I understand it correctly.

[karajorma]

Originally posted by deep_eyes
unfortuantly i cannot share a cable connection so theres no internet sharring be default cause of my ISP, i just want to connect between 2 computers and share files, run lan games etc, but the desktop is the primary internet user.

**note im reading ur suggestion, ima try it cause it has some extra info i am finding useful.

The connection is shared at the level of your PC. The ISP still only sees one PC connected to it.

[Descenterace]

Originally posted by deep_eyes


this would mean connecting laptop directly to the desktop with coaxial right? like a connects to b?

*does double-take* Coaxial?

Your computers use Thinwire? Ouch.

[Martinus]

Originally posted by Descenterace


*does double-take* Coaxial?

Your computers use Thinwire? Ouch.

[color=66ff00]Was thinking that myself.

Quick ICS guide:
1: Go to your DSL connection's properties and select the advanced tab, select the appropriate tickboxes.

2: It'll tell you that it's reconfiguring your LAN connection in the 192.168.0.* range so make sure your other computer is in the same range but has a different number.

3: Connect both computers together using a crossover cable.

4: Make sure that all sharing is allowed between the NIC's but that your firewall blocks sharing onto the internet.

5: Use ping or just try to open a page in Firefox on the ICS client machine to test the connection.


I've got his to successfully work with both winxp, win2k and linux (was simpler with linux ). The firewall is the biggest potential source of problems, in zonealarm I had to add a new trusted zone with the 192.168.0.* range before it would work.
[/color]

[deep_eyes]

well i was using coaxial in a generalization meant another term. thanks for the resources, hlp went down so i had to run for a few minutes but ima try these sources u guys dished out earlier. thanks a bunch, will reply when i see some results.

grey, yea i got the same premise from the bridge connection. brb in 2 hrs.

[Liberator]

Originally posted by Descenterace


*does double-take* Coaxial?

Your computers use Thinwire? Ouch.

My internet comes in on the same line as my television(rg59, IIRC).  You get yours differently?

[Grey Wolf]

You don't use it for networking though. For that you use Cat 5e or Cat 6.

[Descenterace]

Liberator, thanks for nudging my brain. Yeah, providers like Telewest use something like coaxial cable for dedicated broadband cables, but only as far as the house.

Mine comes in through the phone cable, through a splitter/filter, and into an ADSL modem. From there on, it's Cat5. UTP cables are standard for LANs these days. The days of Thinwire ethernet are (thankfully) gone, although there're bound to be companies who still use it.

[SadisticSid]

Someone mentioned network bridging, I wouldn't use it if you use File and Printer Sharing on the host (directly internet-connected) as it has screwed it up completely on my setup. As long as you don't mind having a static unchangable IP for your second network device on the host ICS is probably the safer bet.