Bridging Advice Needed

chigley

chigley

chigley

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Joined
14 Oct 2009
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272
Location
Bolton/London (home/uni.)
Hi all,

Could do with some advice.

I've only got one ethernet port in my university room, but two computers - one desktop, and my MacBook. The desktop is currently wired in and the MBP is connected wirelessly.

The wireless signal is terrible - I really need to come up with a solution where both computers can be wired.

It's against the rules to install an ethernet switch at the port or anything like that, so that's out of the question.
My original idea was to install a second ethernet port into my desktop, and set up bridging. Ordered a PCI ethernet card, only to discover that I can't fit it in due to my graphics card and sound card (tried all possible combinations, it's not going to work. Also managed to scratch my graphics card in the process, fail :()

What could I try next? I suppose a USB ethernet port is a possibility? Or are there other solutions I've not considered yet? Is there any way I could do it just with a USB cable? All I really need is to share the wired internet between the two computers.

All advice appreciated, cheers :D
 
Any solution is either going to be against the letter, or at least the spirit, of the rules you’re operating under.

A router is the simplest solution, but you’ve already stated that it isn’t an option.

You should, as you say, be able to connect via the desktop if you had a second network card (USB or PCIe in the top slot). Depending on how the rules are drafted this may also considered to be a breach of the terms.

How proactive is the enforcement, and what would they do if they caught you?
 
Cheers for the responses :)

Basically the main rule is that I can't make any changes to the physical infrastructure of the network, which rules out switches/routers.

I didn't even realise PCIe network cards existed, that's probably the best plan, as I can definitely fit one of those in with ease. Then I'd be able to connect the PC and MacBook by ethernet (crossover, right?) and everything would should work fine.

Failing that, I may have to consider MAC spoofing with routers/switches. They won't ever physically see my setup - the only risk is if they can detect it across the network somehow.

Thanks!
 
If you buy a Gigabit NIC you won't need a crossover cable. In fact if the MBP has a Gigabit NIC then you wouldn't need a crossover cable anyway.

A router (MAC spoofed or not) is the simplest option. Whether they’d be able to tell or not depends on how much they actually care. I’d guess that their main concern is to make sure that you don’t do anything that’ll impact the smooth running of the network.

Don’t just connect a switch.
 
bremen1874 said:
If you buy a Gigabit NIC you won't need a crossover cable. In fact if the MBP has a Gigabit NIC then you wouldn't need a crossover cable anyway.

A router (MAC spoofed or not) is the simplest option. Whether they’d be able to tell or not depends on how much they actually care. I’d guess that their main concern is to make sure that you don’t do anything that’ll impact the smooth running of the network.

Don’t just connect a switch.
Click to expand...

Why no switch, out of interest?

I'll try a PCI-E NIC w/ bridging first, as I don't think that that's even breaking the rules, then if that fails it may be time to consider MAC spoofing a router.

Cheers
 
With a switch each device connected would need a different IP address on their network.

With a router you only need a single IP address on their network that’s assigned to the router’s WAN port. Your devices will use IP addresses from your local address range (which would need to be different from theirs).

Bridging through the PC may be against the spirit of the rules. You’re just using your PC to do the routing instead of having a dedicated device.

As long as you don’t do anything to break their network they’ll probably leave you alone.
 
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