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How do I share cable among two computers?

P

Pundit

Senior member
It's for my gf's dad, who deleted 4 hours of her work last week. One is a WinXP box and the other is a 98SE (probably a Pentium 100 - dunno if there's PCI though, probably is). They are adjacent to each other. What is the least expensive hardware that I need to split the cable between them? Currently, the cable w/modem runs through the WinXP machine. I would appreciate any help you can give me 🙂

Edit: Uh, it just occured to me that this should be in Networking or GH forum. Duh! 🙁
 
A Netgear, Linksys, or similar router would be the easiest, ICS through the XP machine would be the cheapest.

Viper GTS
 


<< ICS through the XP machine would be the cheapest. >>



So, would I just need a NIC and cat5 then?
 
Im not a fan of ICS, i always seemed to have problems with it (But then again, im an idiot sometimes, so that could be to blame) Personally id stick with a cheap hardware router. You can usually find a good deal in Hot Deals for around $45 every so often...
 
Two NIC's and some twisted pair networking cable is the minimum you'll get away with. You can then share the connection using some internet connection sharing software (even windows own ICS is good enough). I would have suggested a router on top but that's undue cost to what you probably need.
 
yup... but the only thing i don't like about that is the host computer has to be on. i like to turn off my pc's at night... and if i were sharing my cable that way... if someone else in my family wanted to use the net while i was sleeping... they would be SOL 😛 u can find pretty good deals on cable routers in the hot deals forums from time to time.
 


<< yup... but the only thing i don't like about that is the host computer has to be on. >>


Well, she actually does keep her computer running all the time.

I'll see if I can get a cheap router though. Thank you for the help so far! 🙂
 


<< yup... but the only thing i don't like about that is the host computer has to be on. i like to turn off my pc's at night... and if i were sharing my cable that way... if someone else in my family wanted to use the net while i was sleeping... they would be SOL 😛 u can find pretty good deals on cable routers in the hot deals forums from time to time. >>



True, that's an annoying disadvantage. Just depends if he's willing to shell out to save the inconvenience. Guess I didn't see it so much as my computer is on all the time 😛 Even if I did turn it off, no-one would be using any other computers between say 12am - 7am.

 
I?d definitely buy a router (I would personally choose the SMC 7004ABR). Each computer will function independently, which is far more convenient to set up and maintain.

Troubleshooting the network connection is easier. Most of the good ones have a built in firewall. Both computers do not need to be turned on in order for one to function. It also makes for no hassle what so ever if you want to hook up a laptop or two every so often.
 


<< Have you checked the networking forum? >>



Yes, and I read some of the AT articles on the subject as well. Just trying to get as much info as I can. Also, the OT people seem more intelligent than any of the other forums 😉
 
I'll second that approach. I have that same router and the setup was amazingly easy and painless. The other benefit is that a router will act as a hardware firewall of sorts.

Fausto
 
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