XP Networking

[Bloodstein]

Hi,

I'm fairly new to networking and need help in setting up a simple network with normal filesharing facilities. I'm trying to make use of wireless as well. Below is a description of the three PCs on my network:

Desktop 1 (Win XP Pro)
This machine is the main machine that connects to the internet. It connects via 56K modem. It currently has one ethernet network card. I plan to add a 802.11b network card to it.

Desktop 2 (Linux)
This is machine connects to Desktop 1 via ethernet. It has an ethernet network card.

Laptop (Win XP Pro)
This has an ethernet network card and 802.11b network card on it. I plan to hook it up to Desktop 1 "wirelessly" through 802.11b.

Basically, I'll have:

```````````````(ethernet)```````````````
Desktop 1 ----------------- Desktop 2
|
|
| (802.11b)
|
Laptop



Now, I have a few qs:

a) I've never hooked up a linux machine to a Windows machine, how easy is this? I've always used the wizards for Win XP. I suspect, this time that would not work.

b) How do I hook up the laptop and desktop 1 using 802.11b? I dun wanna use an access point. Can I do this?

I'd really appreciate any help on this. And any references to websites will be appreciated. I'm searching the web for answers but there seems to be jus too much info for me to digest.

 

[AEB]

in order to hook up the wireless conectivity you have to have something that transmits and receives wireless signals theoretically if you didnt want the laptop to have internet you might be able to put a wireless card on your desktop and have it sharable(doubt this will work), otherwise you need an AP or router to transmit the wireless internet signals, whats wrong with using a wireless router or an AP?