How do you connect 2 PC's to broadband

muffler

A question here for the technically gifted people on the boards.

I have broadband on my own PC but the kids have a Pc of their own in an upstairs bedroom. Probably like a lot of households I cant get on to my own PC cause the kids are playing games or whatever and making use of the old BB.

Is there anyway I can get them (or their PC I should say) connected to broadband on the same line?

If it can be done and cheaply I would certainly invest a few quid to get peace.

Not very well up on these things so all replies would be much appreciated.

the_viper2kie

What you need is a simple crossover cable. Providing both computers have an ethernet port all you gotta do is connect them together using this cable and set up internet sharing in control panel. Do not confuse this cable with a striaghtforward ethernet cable they look the same i.e. the same connections on each end but are wired a little differently.
The other way is to get an ethernet hub but this adds complications. Is there a USB and ethernet port on the BB modem? if so you could connect your pc using the usb and run some simple networking cable up!
hope that helps and if anyone wishes to correct me feel free!
HK

muffler

Thanks Viper.

I think my own broasband is connected via USB. The modem is the standard one supplied by esat/bt. I wouldn't be 100 or even 10% suer as to how to go about this but it appears on face value that it can be done simply enough.

Captain Trips

muffler wrote:

A question here for the technically gifted people on the boards.

I have broadband on my own PC but the kids have a Pc of their own in an upstairs bedroom. Probably like a lot of households I cant get on to my own PC cause the kids are playing games or whatever and making use of the old BB.

Is there anyway I can get them (or their PC I should say) connected to broadband on the same line?

If it can be done and cheaply I would certainly invest a few quid to get peace.

Not very well up on these things so all replies would be much appreciated.

Get a proper DSL router that will share the connection out over ethernet. There are plenty around for maybe 100 quid or so. I recommend the D-Link G604T which is what I used.

dub45

muffler wrote:

A question here for the technically gifted people on the boards.

I have broadband on my own PC but the kids have a Pc of their own in an upstairs bedroom. Probably like a lot of households I cant get on to my own PC cause the kids are playing games or whatever and making use of the old BB.

Is there anyway I can get them (or their PC I should say) connected to broadband on the same line?

If it can be done and cheaply I would certainly invest a few quid to get peace.

Not very well up on these things so all replies would be much appreciated.

If your pcs are on different floors then a wirelss solution would appear to be the best of your options if not necessarily very cheap - an all in one wireless router/modem plus a wireless card for the kids pc prob cost you about 160 euros or so - presuming that you connect your own pc via ord cable to the router. Wireless routers like the linksys wag54g or the netgear 834g cost about 120 euros and are very easy to set up. Card for the pc cost you about 50 - 60 euros. If you go down that route people on here will give you plenty of advice on set up etc.

Capt'n Midnight

If you don't mind leaving your computer on while they are surfing you could install proxy server software on it. The main advantage here is that you could track internet access, once they know that then they should keep away from the nastier sites.. Also means you don't have to deal with "internet connection sharing" which would be nice if it worked, lots of threads on it not working. Also means you don't have to buy any new HW apart from a cable.
www.marx-computers.com - on the Network section there is a 20m crossover cable - €12

To be honest you are better off buying a router since the firewall features in them will keep out a lot of nasties.

padraigf

Just get a 20 euro switch/hub. Connect the modem to the hub with a length of network cable. Then run one length of cable from each pc to the hub. Problem solved

Don't listen to all the advice to buy a 100 euro router for the firewall or whatever. Theres a basic firewall in the modem that you get with esatbt and its more than enough for home use. Ive been running 6 months on mine and not a peep out of it with the setup I described.

To summarise, you need:
A hub or a switch. The cheapest one you can find is grand
3 Lengths of network cable. (Cat5)

the_viper2kie

I think i remember reading before that the esat bt modem just has usb so the switch think may not be an option. My setup is exactly as described with a switch in place but i've got the eircom netopia modem. If some1 can clarify if the esat modem has ethernet port tha'd be great or even if you could post the model number up. Though esat did that to stop the sharing of the connection...

The_Conductor

Jumping in a little late- but not to worry.

A few options:

Switch
Its possible that you may be able to feed your BB modem directly into a switch- and thereafter use two ethernet connections for a 100 mbps link to both machines. Cost- about 30 Euro. Pro- Cheap and Easy. Con- Cables all over the place. Komplett have a CNet 8 port switch for 22 Euro, and the cable would be about 4 Euro X 2 for two 15 meter lengths.

Wireless Router
Belkin have a nice 802.11G/(a) router (possible datatransfer of 112 mbps- i.e. faster than a regular network card needs). It also has ethernet ports on it. Pro- No messy wires, relatively easy to install. Con- Cost- about 140 (presuming you use ethernet on the PC upstairs where the BB connection is- and only need to get a wireless card for the PC downstairs). Possible to pick up one of these second hand for maybe 40-50 (I got one here on boards a while back).

Regular Router
Doddle to install- firewall and all sorts of protection against nasties. Also- because you are assigning dynamic addresses to all machines attached- you can run a regular network easily. The 3Com office connect on Komplett is about 60 Euro, and cabling is about another 10. However once again you have a cabling problem (in all honesty the cabling is more of a bother than anything else).

Networking by electricity
I have a colleague who swears by this- personally I think its a bit mad. You can get a plug that plugs into your regular electricity socket- and a USB cable to the plug and literally do the same at the other end. Pro- no wires all over the place. Con- its a lot slower than the alternate methods. Marx-Computers had these on special a while back- think it was less than 30 Euro all inclusive.

If its something that you intend to have in place for a while- go for a proper wired connection and try to have the jobbie as neat as possible. Err on the side of caution and get your cables longer than you will need them (keep under 100m though). If you have cable ducting you might be able to feed it downstairs with other wires- and have it fairly out of sight.

You do have loads of relatively cheap and cheerful options- the main one that I would keep away from above is the networking by electricity one (because the speeds are a hell of a lot slower).

S.

muffler

Thanks to everyone for their contributions. I have a better idea now as to what is required. Not over-familiar with some of the jargon but it is making sence.

One of my sons would have a fair idea as to what to do so I will get him to read the posts and hopefully duly oblige.

Thanks again

Gyck

I'm using one of these with a prestige 623 from esat. You're using it through USB: do any of the machines have networking built in?

Mutant_Fruit

Just get a 20 euro switch/hub. Connect the modem to the hub with a length of network cable. Then run one length of cable from each pc to the hub. Problem solved

Strange, i was 99% certain this setup could not work. The reason being you'd have to manually assign IP address to your 2 computers, and unless your "modem" was a router with NAT, you'd end up getting no internet access or, at best, you'd only get one online at any one time.

Are you 100% sure that a switch, two crossover cables, and a modem (NOT a router/nat box) are all you need? to share the internet across both simultaenously?

The_Conductor

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

Strange, i was 99% certain this setup could not work. The reason being you'd have to manually assign IP address to your 2 computers, and unless your "modem" was a router with NAT, you'd end up getting no internet access or, at best, you'd only get one online at any one time.

Are you 100% sure that a switch, two crossover cables, and a modem (NOT a router/nat box) are all you need? to share the internet across both simultaenously?

Some modems can release more than one IP address at the same time (e.g- the Cayman crap that Eircom used give out to people). It is possible. You would probably use regular patch as opposed to crossover though? What I have seen done is the modem few directly into the switch- along with both PCs- a little unothodox- but it worked. Would not work on a modem that logs a single hardware address (along the lines of the NTL modems).

Hmmm- food for thought.

garthv

If you are an IOL BB user just ring them up and tell them you have a new pc and you need a router to connect both pcs. Theyll send you out a Prestige 600 series route free of charge and one of the pcs will connect thru usb and the other will connect thru the netowrk card

Adey2002

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

Are you 100% sure that a switch, two crossover cables, and a modem (NOT a router/nat box) are all you need? to share the internet across both simultaenously?

Plugging the BB Modem and 2 PC's into the switch dosen't work, but having a second network card in one of the PC's and having the BB modem plugged into that does because you can then assign an internal ip to one and the BB ip to the other.

muffler

I think I should get a few of you up to Donegal for the weekend. Its brilliant to get all the replies although there seems to be a wee bit of a difference of opinion.

It is in fact Esat/Bt who I am signed up with. The modem they supplied me with is the ZyXEL model. I know it is connected via USB. The other PC details I am not sure of. I got it second hand from my son's employers. They have about 250 PC's and I assume that there is some form of network system in it as they are used at his work which involves processing insurance claims.

Just to make you all jealous. I picked it up for €160. My son took the monitor which was 20in. and paid €80 and he give me his old 15in. monitor and I got the rest

---

Pent 3, 20 gig hard drive, think the processor speed is about 1800, 128 RAM. etc Not bad for €80.

Anyway I'm not sure what other bits and pieces are installed in that PC but I will get my eldest son to have a look at it and report back in the next couple of days.

lomb

just have a look at the back of ur modem. there should be a usb plug, the power cable , and if theres a square connector thats the ethernet out. if u have that on your modem and u can run a cable to the other pc it will cost u not more than 20 euro for the bits. on the other hand if u cant cable them to gether or too hard then get a wireless setup from dabs or komplett. just ask on boards for a recommended package.

garthv

Just to make you all jealous. I picked it up for €160.

ive gotten three routers from east bt for free........
anybody want to buy one?€160

digitaldr

I've got a Belkin 54g router with built in firewall - got it from here Elara I picked it up and saved the €10 delivery charge. They're also cheap in Harvey Normans but PC World are outrageously expensive at least twice the price from what I remember. It's very easy to set up and hasn't given me any problems. It also comes with a parental control filter - they give you 6 months subscription free (I don't think it's too expensive after that). I haven't really used it but apparently you can choose which computers on the network you want to filter.

Naughtily I've recently picked up a Belkin wireless access point which I'm using to share my DSL connection with my-in-laws accross the road! Also very easy to set up.

Fr Dougal

lomb wrote:

just have a look at the back of ur modem. there should be a usb plug, the power cable , and if theres a square connector thats the ethernet out.

This sounds like the Netopia Cayman modem, which I have.
I use the USB cable for the PC beside the modem and I've run an ethernet cable to the other PC. Both work fine, online at the same time.

Johnny Storm

smccarrick wrote:

....(e.g- the Cayman crap that Eircom used give out to people).....

Hi Dude,

Slightly off topic - sorry.
I have a Netopia Cayman from Eircom. Is it really crap (ie should I get rid of it?) or this that just a figure of speech?

regards

AdMMM

Well it depends on whether you are having problems with it. If its going fine for you then theres no need to upgrade!

Johnny Storm

|.Murderer.| wrote:

Well it depends on whether you are having problems with it. If its going fine for you then theres no need to upgrade!

It works great for me so far. I have used it to connect two pcs to teh net and to each other - no problem. I have noticed a few negative comments about it on thois board and other and wondered it its generally rtecognised as "crap" or not?
I have had come problems getting it to work with my Linksys wrt54gs BUT that could very well be my problem rather than the Netopia Cayman.

I must say that i really like the name "Netopia Cayman" ... it sounds very exotic....

The_Conductor

Johnny Storm wrote:

smccarrick wrote:

....(e.g- the Cayman crap that Eircom used give out to people).....

Hi Dude,

Slightly off topic - sorry.
I have a Netopia Cayman from Eircom. Is it really crap (ie should I get rid of it?) or this that just a figure of speech?

regards

I probably shouldn't have been so negative.
Quite a few of us in this area have had hardware compatibility issues with the Netopia Cayman modems. That said, it is perfectly capable of releasing multiple IP addresses and apart from freezing the odd time when continuously left on (easily solved by rebooting it) its a cheerful enough piece of kit.

As said above- if it works for you- definitively do not replace it. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

vibe666

i hate to do it, but i have to stick up for the cayman.

i used tow rok for eircom.net and before they got it there was no end of trouble with all the modems they had been supplying were a nightmare to support due to the number of problems they had.

when the cayman came along everyone in support breathed a sigh of relief.

I know it's not perfect, but it's a damn sight better than what came before it.

you also have toconsider that one of the primary concerns for eircom giving people modems is that they need to be cheap enough that they can give them away to people, AND be reasonably reliable.

ot having a go, it's just that as most of the people who've got broadband will only have had it since the caymen came in, not many people remeber the days before.

i went with esat, and got the zyxel modem, and i've had no end of trouble with it disconnecting me (sometimes after only a few hours).