need help with networking!!!

[yangus]

i know this probably don't belong in here but i really need help immediately! ok i'll cut to the chase: i have 2 computers in seperate rooms and i wish to link the two through their network cards. My runs windows 2000 while the other is on xp home. the purpose of doing this is so i can share a internet connection i got going on a wireless network that's used by the whole house (except for the xp computer since we can't afford another wireless nic). right now i'm rather puzzled at how to do this since i don't have much networking experience. any help is appreciated!

[tjh011]

Well if you just want to link them through 2 normal NIC's you could do that, but the computer with the wireless NIC would have to be on to use the one with XP on it (Im sure you already knew that). Instead of using a CAT5 cable that is straight through, you need to switch one of the connectors to a cross-over cable. There are probably better sites out there, but this one with give you a little more information:
http://www.defcon1.org/html/Networking_Articles/Cat-5/Cross-Over/cross-over.html

They are also sold already crossed over too.

[TRILIGHT]

The problem is a lot more complex than a crossover cable alone will solve. You have to provide routing on the 2k system between the regular NIC and the wireless NIC. It's also complicated if the IP distribution in the network is provided by DHCP from a router or something. Usually, they are defaulted to 192.168.0.1 and act as the gateway for the network. The reason this complicates things is that the easiest way to provide routing on the 2k system is to set up "Internet Connection Sharing" on the wireless NIC. Doing so, however, will force that NIC to the default 192.168.0.1 and it will attempt to behave as a gateway for the network. You can see the problem here. If in fact, the IP addresses are provided from the router on a NAT network, you will need to change the entire network addressing to compensate for implementing ICS on the 2k system. It's hard to say without more specific information about the network setup.

Another route you could take is the bridging option that is built into Windows XP. I've not tried it out yet but I'd imagine it's pretty simple. Of course, you'd need the XP system to be the one providing routing so the 2k system would have connectivity. Really, you'd save yourself the headache altogether if you just saved the $80-100 and bought another wireless NIC! Afterall, the $15 you're likely to spend on the crossover cable alone would get you over 10% of the way there! :) It would also, of course, eliminate the complexity of the setup and not force two systems down if the one providing the routing had a problem and had to be shut down.

[yangus]

wha thanks guys. i acutally did a little investigation myself after i posted this and i think i have a good idea of what i'm gonna do. according to http://www.homenethelp.com/web/howto/windows-xp-bridge.asp, i can connect 2 seperate networks together with xp... which i believe is what u were talking about TRILIGHT. after reading ur explaination in the first paragraph, i think i'm utterly confused since i'm not very knowledgable in networking :confused: tell me if i'm right on this though: if i install xp on both system and connect them using the software bridge function, will both be able to share the internet connection coming from the wireless router connected in another room? or am i gonna have some issues with the ip addresses like u stated in the first paragraph? lend me ur knowledge on this subject!

[TRILIGHT]

Well, like I said, I have not used the bridge function of XP yet so I'm not exactly sure how it will behave. If it works like I think it will, it should provide a bridge between the two installed NIC's and you will be able to use a crossover cable to give the other system connectivity. Now, whether or not that will affect the connectivity for the system providing the bridge, I can't say. I would assume that it would not and both systems would share connectivity.

If the bridge function works like I assume it would, you should not have to worry about setting up any of the IP routing. The question though is whether or not you would also be required to enable ICS (Internet Connection Sharing). If so, it will most likely default to 192.168.0.1 for the address and that address may already be in use by your router. Type "IPCONFIG" at a DOS prompt and tell me what your system's IP address is. It's hard to say for sure on all of this without knowing your network setup. Also, what kind of router do you have?

[TRILIGHT]

Nevermind. I just read that site and have a better understanding of what XP is doing. If it works as they say it does then you will not have to worry about ICS at all. If your router is providing IP addresses automatically via DHCP then you should only have to set up the bridge and you're good to go. Just remember you need a crossover cable and you will need to leave the "bridge" PC on for the other to have connectivity.

[yangus]

hey thanks man for your advice. i just purchased the cables and i'm gonna try it out tonight. i'll tell you how it turns out ok? thanks again!