networking

[smsmasters]

i wud lyk to network my sony vaio rx305 desktop (windows xp) with a laptop (windows xp) can someone pls guide me in the right direction on how to do this. i wud lyk to be able to share the sony rx 305's broadband connection with the laptop thru networking. is this possible. im thinking of getting an ethernet port for my laptop and connection it to the ethernet port on my other pc. i also intend on using network setup wizard to help me set up a network.

someone pls help me. im a bit wary on what i hav to do.

thanks, :smileygrin:

[EzDoezIt]

The simplest way to do this is to buy a network hub or switch.

You do not want to get into Internet Connection Sharing on your desktop, believe me.

If you use a 10/100 network switch you will get 100Mbs connection between your computers and a 10Mbs connection with your digital modem. Do not get a hub or switch that does not support 10Mbs or you will not be able to share the digital modem on it.

The one caveat is if you have been assigned a single static IP address. If this is the case the scenario gets a little more complicated. If it is not the case then you should have no problem.

[smsmasters]

i only hav one static ip. why is it not recommended to use internet connection sharing?? i just want a simple way to network two pcs. share the same printer, share the same broadband connection.


i still confused. i just want an easy way and for cheap

[EzDoezIt]

ICS is very fussy and configuring it to work can be touch and go. Maybe I just had a hard time because I'm using HPNA which is relatively new technology.

It just makes more sense to buy a switch for less than US$50 and connect your two computers and the digital modem to it and voila! No muss, no fuss.

If you want to go with ICS, you will need two NICs in the desktop. The second NIC will connect with a crossover cable to your laptop.

[VAIOneer]

You can't use a normal hub or switch to connect to a cable modem.

You will need a router - which is a lot more expensive, and generaly a lot more complicated to setup !!

[Ekshaan]

Hey Jaan, I recently came into posession of a brand new Planet Internet Broadband Router. But following the exact instructions in the manual, and the instructions for Win XP, got me no where. My PC recognises the router's IP address but is not picking up my Broadband modem's IP address. Have any suggestions? Just to avoid confusion, The connection is Broadband modem > Broadband Router > My PC. All Via Ethernet cables. I've tried everything i can think of, you have any idea what i can do?

Oh and to smsmasters, the simplest way is, when u do get an ethernet port in your laptop, link the two via a cross over Ethernet cable, (should be red most of the time) and run the wizards in Network connections. I've done it with mine.

[VAIOneer]

As I said before, routers are a lot more complicated to setup.

You have to configure the router so that it either has a static IP address (you should be able to do this from a settings webpage for the router - look it up in the manual).
Alternatively, you need to have an IP address assigned to the router by DHCP from WinXP (not a great idea).

Either way, once you have got that done, you need to make sure that your TCP/IP settings point your default gateway address to the router.
Also, you need to make sure that your modem is getting an IP address from your ISP for your router (you may need to supply your ISP with the MAC address of the router for this).

Any other problems let me know.