Home Networking Help Plz

[LedZep]

Hi Guys....new around here and it sure looks like the right place to be asking networking questions, so lets see if anyone can help me. First off I am completely new to home networking...so I dont have a clue and am needing a real basic guide to set this up.
Here are my specs:
Asus A8N-SLi Deluxe (Skt939) NForce 4
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Codename Venice
Hiper 480 PSU
2 gig PC3200 DDR400
2 x Leadtek Winfast 6600GT TDH 128MB PCI-X
Maxtor 80 gig hd
Maxtor 120 gig hd
Creative Labs Inspire 5.1
Win xp pro sp2

Also Im using the NTL cable modem with a 2 mb connection.
I want to attach a second pc to this one ( I believe my board having on board gigabit lan can do this with nothing more than a crossover cable???)
I have a network card installed in the second pc and am ready to go but am having no luck in getting the connection running on the second pc. I have run the network wizzard on both machines and Im guessing the problem is to do with the ip settings on both machines because ntl only issue one address? Its really been giving me a headache since before christmas and would appreciate it if anyone can tell me what to do. I hope I have posted enough information so that u guys can be of assistance...thanks for your help!!

[Hom3r]

Welcomw to the forum

The best to do is connect the PCs to a router and connect the router to the BB modem the router should assign the IPs

[patrickp]

Are you connected to your modem via USB, LedZep? In that case, yes, you can connect the two PCs with a crossover cable. If you're connecting via ethernet, then you'll need another ethernet port (i.e. a card) on the main machine.

You may need to allow each PC in the other's firewall settings, and set up file sharing if you want access between the two machines - this is one of the great assets of networking, quite apart from being able to access the internet through more than one machine.

For accessing the internet on both machines, you will need to run the ICS (Internet connection Sharing) wizard, on both machines, I think (look for it in Help). I've always connected PCs with a router, so I can't tell you more than that.

The PC that's connected directly to the internet will, of course, have to be on for the other to access the internet.

A better solution would be, as David says, to use a router. It's a more satisfactory and effective way of networking and also means that you can dump the USB connection, which will be less reliable than ethernet, and also will not be able to provide the full connection when ntl upgrade your account to 10Mb (as they should do sometime this year).

A wired router can be bought quite cheaply; CF members have posted links elsewhere to good 4 port wired routers for round about the £20 mark. A couple of points: make sure the router you get has a 10/100Mb WAN port (the one that connects to the modem as, again, a 10Mb port won't be able to do justice to the forthcoming 10Mb upgrades. And use patch (straight through), not crossover, ethernet cables with a router.

Edit: remiss of me - welcome to the forum! ;-D

[LedZep]

Thanks for the replies guys....firstly I dont have a router and was hoping it was going to be easy enough to get by without one and secondly my machine is connected by ethernet and it has a secondary gigabit lan ethernet onboard which I can connect the second one to...like this one...
http://www.ngohq.com/images/articles...0&%20Audio.JPG
I have tried it this way...but Im sure I need to change some ip settings on at least one of the machines in order for it to work? From this point on is where Im lost.

[patrickp]

Originally Posted by patrickp

You may need to allow each PC in the other's firewall settings, and set up file sharing if you want access between the two machines - this is one of the great assets of networking, quite apart from being able to access the internet through more than one machine.

For accessing the internet on both machines, you will need to run the ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) wizard, on both machines, I think (look for it in Help). I've always connected PCs with a router, so I can't tell you more than that.

The PC that's connected directly to the internet will, of course, have to be on for the other to access the internet.

This is the basics of what you want to do. If you're having trouble getting to grips with it, I really would suggest getting a router - setting up a shared connection on most wired routers literally just involves powering everything down, connecting the router to your modem and the PCs to your router, and rebooting. Boot in the order: modem - wait for the lights to settle; router - wait for it to self-test and find the active connections and then the PCs.

A router also means you can have on whichever machine you want; it's easy to add more up to the limit of the router's ports and last but not least, a 'hardware' NAT firewall - generally better incoming protection than any software firewall.

That's if you're using a stand-alone cable modem (SACM); if you're using a settop box (STB), you'll need to either register the new MAC address the STB sees (you should be taken to ntl's registration page automatically when you try to connect to the internet; you'll need the information you used to register your account in the first place) or clone your PC's MAC address to the router - many routers come with setup software that will do this for you.

[LedZep]

Again guys thanks for the help....I will try what you have suggested tomorrow and if all else fails go for a router, can you tell me if this one is suitable?
http://www.mplex.com/cgi-bin/ccp51/c...atstr=HOME:ntw

Also....does using a router affect the ability to play online games? I play a lot of BF2 and can do without any sort of hindrance in that respect. Cheers guys!

[Stuart]

No. That is an ADSL router. That router connects to your BT phone line. It will not connect to Cable.

You need a router like the Linksys WRT54G .

[LedZep]

This one then?
http://www.mplex.com/cgi-bin/ccp51/c...atstr=HOME:ntw
Its just this shop is pretty handy for me...so I can collect it monday morning...cheers

[Chris W]

yup that one will do.

[patrickp]

And don't forget to change to straight through ethernet cables, LedZep. The ethernet ports in most devices now will be autosensing, which means they will check the cable and reset themselves accordingly, but better safe than sorry! ;-)

[LedZep]

hehe...the old cables...I would have forgotten that! Just to verify...I will still be able to play games online with a router?

[Chris W]

as long as you use a straight ethernet cable between the modem and the router you will be fine. The LAN ports on that router are autosensing so either straight/ ethernet cable will do.

And yes, you will still be able to play online games when connected through a router.

[LedZep]

Just dropped by guys to say I got it all uo and running....so thanks a lot for all your help. I seriously couldnt get to grips with that till u guys advised me what to do! One more question before I go...is there some sort of software I can install which will let me monitor the other pcs usage and maybe allocate bandwidth usage etc? Cheers!

[Aragorn]

is there some sort of software I can install which will let me monitor the other pcs usage and maybe allocate bandwidth usage etc?

Some routers (eg newer Linksys models) have something called QoS built-in which provides 'guaranteed minimum' bandwidth to certain ports, but it doesn't look like yours does (assuming you got the second one linked above). There are network tools (sniffers) to monitor all traffic on your LAN, but I don't know of one thats free and straightforward to use.

[Chris W]

I used to use PRTG but your router needs to support SNMP in order for this to work....

The freeware version will only monitor three interfaces, but that should be enough for a home network.