Crossover cable, is that all I will need for 2 PC's?

[techmonkey]

Hi all,

I have two PC's (the one in my sig and an old Pentium 3). I want to network them are and would like to do it via a physical cable rather than Wi-Fi as they are both in my room and pretty much right next to each other.

I'm new to networking but is it simply a case of plugging one end of a UTP Cat5 into the network port on my main rig and the other end of the cable into the network port on my second rig? I would be using a cross-over cable rather than a straight through cable obviously. Does this mean that I could network the two without having to use anything else like a switch/hub/router?

Also if this is possible would I be able to access the internet from my Pentium 3 PC if I have a USB modem plugged into my main Pentium 4 rig?

 

[Burbleflop]

Yep, a crossover cable would negate the need for a switch.

If you want the other PC to access the internet via your P4, you need to look at ICS - Internet Connection Sharing.

 

[techmonkey]

Cheers for the responce, I'm gonna give it a shot tonight and post back if I have any problems. The Network Setup Wizard will probably sort everything out for me when I get them connected.