Linking two PCs

LostSoul

LostSoul

LostSoul

Associate
Joined
15 Feb 2009
Posts
100
Hi all, My first post on this forum.

I have the parts for a new build PC on order and will be hopefully putting it together this weekend.

I need to be able to connect this to the internet somehow. It will be Vista 64bit. Apparently there are no Vista 64bit drivers for my Speedtouch USB Modem (It dates from 2002).

My query is, I already have a WinXP 32bit Pc with a broadband internet connection. Can I connect these two Pcs together using an Ethernet crossover cable, and could I access the internet on the new Pc via the old PC? If so how is it easy to do?

The New moBo is an Asus P6T Delux and the old one is a Gigabyte GA-K8NSUltra939. They both have LAN ports, or course.

Thanks in advance!

L
 
OK, Cheers, the router is an option I will explore.

Would a router still allow me to connect the two PCs? Or does it merely branch the Broadband line into several ?

Or would the Ethernet Crossover still be needed?

I still would like to be able to copy lots of stuff from PC to PC and I assume the LAN connectivity is the best way to do it? Its just how to do it I dont know.

I have shared Harddrives across sites and different os's at work but its a big network and all done for us.

Sorry to be such a novice, but networks really are new to me!

L
 
LostSoul said:
Would a router still allow me to connect the two PCs? Yes

Or would the Ethernet Crossover still be needed? No

I still would like to be able to copy lots of stuff from PC to PC and I assume the LAN connectivity is the best way to do it? Its just how to do it I dont know. There's Plenty of tutorials around. But tbh i've never used any as i've been networking for years so couldn't advise which ones are best for a beginner, maybe someone else has one bookmarked

Sorry to be such a novice, but networks really are new to me! Nobody was born an expert ;)

L
Click to expand...
 
LostSoul said:
OK, Cheers, the router is an option I will explore.

Would a router still allow me to connect the two PCs? Or does it merely branch the Broadband line into several ?

Or would the Ethernet Crossover still be needed?

I still would like to be able to copy lots of stuff from PC to PC and I assume the LAN connectivity is the best way to do it? Its just how to do it I dont know.

I have shared Harddrives across sites and different os's at work but its a big network and all done for us.

Sorry to be such a novice, but networks really are new to me!

L
Click to expand...


You dont actually buy a stand alone router, it usually a 3-in-1 product, a router/switch/modem. Although a stand alone router should have 2 ethernet ports anyway so you would be fine there for 2 PCs, but the ethernet/usb ports you see on a home "router" are acually the switch ports within the device.

Straight through cables from router(switch really) to your pc then just plug the other PC in the router and thats it.

The DHCP server will assign both PCs a LAN ip like 192.168.1.1 etc... and your router will be assigned an internet ip from your ISP and you are good to go.

The only option security wise in the routers settings that you may want to change is the DMZ setting, un-enabling it closes all the ports which would mean you would have to manually forward any ports you wanted to use, hence DMZ is bascially a firewall.

As for sharing files between PCs you have to run the netwrok setup wizard on both PCs and then all you need is that both PCs are on the samer workgroup which they will be after the wizard.

to see what your workgroup is, right click mycomputer/properties/computer name/change then make sure the workgroup name there is the same on both PC's
 
rz30 said:
You dont actually buy a stand alone router, it usually a 3-in-1 product, a router/switch/modem. Although a stand alone router should have 2 ethernet ports anyway so you would be fine there for 2 PCs, but the ethernet/usb ports you see on a home "router" are acually the switch ports within the device.

Straight through cables from router(switch really) to your pc then just plug the other PC in the router and thats it.

The DHCP server will assign both PCs a LAN ip like 192.168.1.1 etc... and your router will be assigned an internet ip from your ISP and you are good to go.

The only option security wise in the routers settings that you may want to change is the DMZ setting, un-enabling it closes all the ports which would mean you would have to manually forward any ports you wanted to use, hence DMZ is bascially a firewall.

As for sharing files between PCs you have to run the netwrok setup wizard on both PCs and then all you need is that both PCs are on the samer workgroup which they will be after the wizard.

to see what your workgroup is, right click mycomputer/properties/computer name/change then make sure the workgroup name there is the same on both PC's
Click to expand...

Sorry but that made me laugh.
 
If you have ADSL broadband then get a router (this acts as your switch and modem so you'll need to get the settings for your broadband) Doing it this way will allow internet sharing and sharing of files (both transfer accross and being able to open a file on the other computer providing you have shared the necessary folder)

If you have cable broadband then get a switch, does the same as above but you plug your modem into one of the ports.

Set both computers on the same workgroup, share a folder (or the whole harddrive if you like) and thats it.

Its really simple though so dont worry
 
Thanks for your help so far - has really showed me the way to go with this.

So I got a non-wireless router and its connecting to the internet. Easy to set up and nice and fast. And has four ports so ready for the new PC when I get it and build it.

One thing I am worried about, I ran a shields up test and it failed on one thing.

Ping Reply: RECEIVED (FAILED) — Your system REPLIED to our Ping (ICMP Echo) requests, making it visible on the Internet. Most personal firewalls can be configured to block, drop, and ignore such ping requests in order to better hide systems from hackers. This is highly recommended since "Ping" is among the oldest and most common methods used to locate systems prior to further exploitation.
Click to expand...

Should I be worried about this? And if so what can I do? I have Zonealarm running on this PC, and I cant figure what to change.
 
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