PC-PC networking without a hub?

[fondoo]

i heard that with one patch cable, i'm allowed to do networking with two computers.
how is this possible and are there any configurations i need to configure on my
NIC. please let me know. thanks in advance.

 

[sohcrates]

all you need is a NIC in each machine and a 'crossover cable'

just make sure file and printer sharing is enabled, and that they're both on the same workgroup, and your set.

are you just sharing resources? or do you want to share an internet connection as well?

 

[fondoo]

whats the difference between a CAT5 patch cable and a crossover cable?
or are they the same???

 

[sohcrates]

in a patch cable, the wire goes straight through from jack to jack...with a crossover cable, certain wires are crossed, to allow the computers to talk to each other..you can think of it as "one-way" versus "two-way"

 

[Quad]

they're slightly different. the cross over cable has 2 wires inside switched, or literally crossed over.

if u used a hub, the hub provides the cross-over for you. so a straight-through cable will be fine.

but if u don't have hub (like you) the cross over cable provides this cross-over within the cable.

i believe this "cross-over" is necessary in order to communicate across the network

 

[Ladi]

Crossover cables are readily available from compusa/radio shack-type stores for about the same price as regular patch cables. You can also find "crossover adapters" which are basically 2 back-to-back female rj-45 connectors wired together so that 2 regular patch cables plugged into it become a crossover cable; these run fairly cheap -- around $1-3ish.

~Ladi