Please suggest an alternative for sharing my Internet connection over 802.11b ADHOC

[CZroe]

My cable ISP allows me to use multiple IP addresses by simply plugging each additional PC into a regular hub. This is GREATLY appreciated so I can get around limitations af NAT. I can't afford an access point, so I am doing this in ADHOC mode. I connected one PC to the cable modem and it leased an IP and was online. I connected an 802.11b PCI adapter and told Windows XP to bridge the two network cards. After doing so, my laptop was able to get online with it's own IP address (My PC was acting as the "hub" and the laptop did lease its own IP address). However, the connection starts out fine, then nose dives. The pings to a usual website go from 30-40ms to 14,000-33,000ms and everything disconnects, usually within a minute or two. I've tried changing channels and turning off all equipment in my house to eliminate interferance as a possibility (ADHOC mode does not show connection and link quality) but it did nothing. I asked for help on the forums, but no one seemed to know what the problem was. I specified IP addresses and transfered over a GB fine, so it has nothing to do with the network hardware.

What alternate methods can I use to share the Internet connection? Is it possible to take advantage of my cable co's opportunity for multiple IP addresses with any alternate methods? If someone could show me how to assign an IP address through XP Pro's built-in VPN server I'd be very greatful! That would be an elegant way around NAT...

 

[piasabird]

Motorola 4200 Surf Board Modem has a USB port and a Ethernet port for installation that is bridged. Plug 2 computers into one cable modem and go. Your ISP may be keying into your MAC Address on your NIC Card making it hard to substitute one computer for another by just changing the IP address.

 

[CZroe]

That's just it.... They're NOT doing that. I've connected eight computers simultaneously and all worked flawlessly all night. I beleive they are misconfigured, but I've told them about it many times over the past few years and they haven't done anything about it. Once an IP addresses is leased to a specific ethernet card, it "follows" it from PC to PC (Even between cable co nodes, as my friend and I discovered) so they do look at the MAC addresss somewhere. If I have to, I'll use NAT for the 802.11b connected PCs but that means my laptop will not be as usefull as my PCs, making wireless less desireable overall