Getting Internet to 2 PCs

[Andrew1990]

ok thank you very much.

 

[mxnerd]

You are welcome. But why don't you wait a week and get a router instead?

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: Andrew1990
So to use my one PC as a router, will I need to use a Patch cable or crossover when connecting the two PCs?

No matter what crossover cable would work.

If one of your NICs is MDX you do not need a crossover.

Note: All Giga NICs are MDX by default, bieng MDX capable is part of the Giga Standard.

 

[mxnerd]

Originally posted by: JackMDS

Note: All Giga NICs are MDX by default, bieng MDX capable is part of the Giga Standard.

Thanks, Jack. I don't even know this. I just know almost all new routers/switches support MDX.

 

[Lemon law]

Originally posted by: JackMDS

Originally posted by: Andrew1990
So to use my one PC as a router, will I need to use a Patch cable or crossover when connecting the two PCs?

No matter what crossover cable would work.

If one of your NICs is MDX you do not need a crossover.

Note: All Giga NICs are MDX by default, bieng MDX capable is part of the Giga Standard.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By way of curiosity, should I ever decide to use a router, if I bought a gigabyte router or some MDX capable router, could a cross over cable be used interchangeably with a patch cable?

 

[Lemon law]

By way of clarification, I was responding to the flat statement made by mxnerd that "Router is way better secure and you don't have to turn on another computer when you need only one."

 

[mxnerd]

Other members can judge whether my statement is flat.

If you are still using dialup, here is Jack's instruction
http://www.ezlan.net/DialUp.html

Get a cheap DSL if you can, there is no reason to stay with dialup. With DSL, you don't need a router with dialup capability.

And yes, crossover cable can be used. Most switches/routers are MDX capable now. No need for a gigabits switch/router.

My final post.

 

[drebo]

Lemon Law isn't using dialup. He's got two DSL modems and flops IP addresses around depending on which computer he turns on first. The fact that he doesn't need to have both computers on to access the internet (which IS a requirement to use ICS) is IN SPITE OF, not BECAUSE OF, his decision to "use ICS". Normal implementations of ICS are not going to involve two DSL modems. Nor are they going to involve swapping IP addresses based on which system connected to the internet first (this is, I assume, done out of ignorance, as there's no need for it, even in Lemon Law's convoluted topology). Basically, he's jumping through hoops that a $20 device could do perfectly well. ICS can work if you only have two computers, but there's a lot of overhead, it's inefficient, and it's just plain easier to use a router.

Do you need a NAT firewall (read: consumer router) to have security on the internet? No. Do consumer routers make life a shit-ton easier? Yes. Is it worth the $20? Hell yes.

If you have to dig a fence post hole, are you going to use a fence post hole digger or a trowel? Think about it.

 

[mxnerd]

Wow! Can't believe it.

Oops. This my real final post.

 

[kevnich2]

Originally posted by: drebo
Lemon Law isn't using dialup. He's got two DSL modems and flops IP addresses around depending on which computer he turns on first. The fact that he doesn't need to have both computers on to access the internet (which IS a requirement to use ICS) is IN SPITE OF, not BECAUSE OF, his decision to "use ICS". Normal implementations of ICS are not going to involve two DSL modems. Nor are they going to involve swapping IP addresses based on which system connected to the internet first (this is, I assume, done out of ignorance, as there's no need for it, even in Lemon Law's convoluted topology). Basically, he's jumping through hoops that a $20 device could do perfectly well. ICS can work if you only have two computers, but there's a lot of overhead, it's inefficient, and it's just plain easier to use a router.

Do you need a NAT firewall (read: consumer router) to have security on the internet? No. Do consumer routers make life a shit-ton easier? Yes. Is it worth the $20? Hell yes.

If you have to dig a fence post hole, are you going to use a fence post hole digger or a trowel? Think about it.

This pretty much sums it all up.

And to answer lemonLaw's question, yes you can use a crossover cable with Gigabit NIC to link 2 computers together but honestly, most people just connect each computer up with a switch or a SOHO router but then that would be doing it the easier and simpler way and you just wouldn't do that.

Gigabit NIC's pretty much eliminate the need for a crossover cable (Data sent and received over the same pairs of wires instead of with Fast Ethernet where 1 pair sends and another receives)

 

[JackMDS]

Concerning the Modem scheme that reminds me an old joke.

A guy wants to drive from NYC to Boston and asks a friend for driving directions.

The friend says: "Take the Holland tunnel, drive south to Philadelphia, then turn around and take I-95 all the way North to Boston.

The Driver looks puzzled and said: "But I do not have any reason to go the Philli, and you adding 4 hours to trip".

Do not worry said the other, you would get to Boston with my instructions too.

 

[kevnich2]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
Concerning the Modem scheme that reminds me an old joke.

A guy wants to drive from NYC to Boston and asks a friend for driving directions.

The friend says: "Take the Holland tunnel, drive south to Philadelphia, then turn around and take I-95 all the way North to Boston.

The Driver looks puzzled and said: "But I do not have any reason to go the Philli, and you adding 4 hours to trip".

Do not worry said the other, you would get to Boston with my instructions too.

HAHA Nice one

 

[VirtualLarry]

I set up ICS once on my friend's XP machine, when he wanted to connect his PS3 to the internet, and he didn't have a router. His cablemodem was connected to his PC via USB, so that left the onboard NIC port free, for the PS3 to plug in to.

Surprisingly, it worked pretty well. I thought it would lag his connection badly, but no, not unless he was also using the PC to access the internet.

So, ICS can work in a pinch, but getting a real router is the far superior long-term solution.