Home networking options between old and new PC? Any advice?

[tjbiscuit]

I am trying to help advise a friend on his options for setting up a home network for the below PC's listed below. His ultimate goal is to share files between the two PC's, surf over a modem from either PC (he might want to surf using both PC's at once too), and to share his existing printer which has a parallel interface.

I know there is a "network in a box" kit by linksys, but was wondering if there was any other options which would cost less. I thought about using 2 NIC's and a hub (pretty cheap), but was not sure if he should use this type of setup to allow both PC's to surf the web at the same time. He is basically trying to limit his cost for whatever he sets up.

Current PC's:

Old PC (Pentium 120) has no USB ports, one parallel port, probably a serial port (not sure on this one)
New PC is a desktop, cannot remember speed, appears to have a parallel port and USB ports. It was one of those Cheap $700 Dell desktop deals.

Any suggestions on network options would be appreciated.

Thanks...

Biscuit

 

[MiniMe69]

well if you use a hub...then your need 2 IPs...some ISPs only offer 1 IP and you have to pay extra for another IP. If you use a DSL/Cable Router then you only need the 1 IP and this will still allow 2 or more computers to access the internet. It may cost a little more but it is the best way to go unless you have 2 IPs you can use. If so then just use a hub or switch.

 

[Iron Woode]

The cheap route: use ICS or Sygate, etc. Add a nic to both and a crossover cable to join them. Use TCP/IP. Both machines can surf at the same time and share files as well. The drive that is to be networked must be shared as well. Networking the printer is very easy. Set it up as a shared printer on the host machine and then install the appropriate drivers for it in the other machine. Then tell windows to use the networked printer after it has been detected. This can be a little tedious though. Consider internet security as well like Zone Alarm.

Drawback: the host machine must be on for the other PC to surf and print.

 

[skimo]

BB is selling the D-Link DI-704P router/switch with print server for $79.99 and has two rebates for $50 bringing it down to about $30. Buy 2 NICs for $15 ea and you have a system capable of supporting 5 PCs on a network where they can all access internet at the same time, share a printer, and share files.

 

[tjbiscuit]

Thanks for the suggestions. He set it up last night using two NIC's and a crossover cable. His old machine with win 98 seem to not want to use the right driver for the card, but he managed to finally get it to work correctly. The newer machine has Win XP on it, and when he went to set it all up, an XP wizard did all the work for him, including giving him a disk to install the needed components on his old PC.

Once he got past the Win 98 machine, he said it went smooth and quick, and is up and running as we speak.

Thanks again...

Biscuit

 

[ghaynes]

I have a question? Does this router work well with XP?? I saw some other posts saying they had problems with running XP with the router and that the print server funtion wouldn't work. Is this true?

 

[neuralfx]

<< well if you use a hub...then your need 2 IPs...some ISPs only offer 1 IP and you have to pay extra for another IP. If you use a DSL/Cable Router then you only need the 1 IP and this will still allow 2 or more computers to access the internet. It may cost a little more but it is the best way to go unless you have 2 IPs you can use. If so then just use a hub or switch. >>




.. no you dont, you dont need static IP's to use ICS, which is all he will need, whether he uses crossover/hub/switch/whatever .. he doesnt need to purchase two static ip's for this, or even use static ip's for that matter .... .....
-neural