Does anyone know if its possible to connect 2 PC's onto one BT Broadband line,if so what cables would i need and how would it affect the speed if both PC's were online at the same time

 

Mog, yes it's possible. In fact that's how I am connected, except that I have three machines on my little network.

You do need a network card in each PC and a hub to connect them all.

I have not found having more than one user at a time slowing things down - it's still pretty quick whichever way you look at it.

 

Silent Monkey
Thanks for the above,but i'm a bit computer ignorant. All i have is 2 PC's at home and would like to use both online at the same time. £20 sounds good but what is actually needed.....Help

 

Whats needed, at the simplest a network card for each PC and a crossover cable to connect the 2 cards together. 5 or 6 pound for each card and a few quid for the cable depending on what length you need.

"Frog" is the affectionate or otherwise name given to the Alcatel USB modem supplied by BT (guess it looks like a squashed frog)

Is it the XP system thats running the USB modem at the modem (assuming it's USB you have)? Done it with 98/95/2000 combinations but don't see why there should be a problem with XP.

Email me as profile if you want any detailed info.

 

Cheers

 

SM,

I thought you were going the crossover cable route. I had major problems when I tried to use ICS with a crossover cable. Basically it wouldn't work and Microsoft said it wouldn't, so I got the hub. It could be however that with XP they have cracked it.

Cheers

 

Lost me there.......

 

We have 2 Windows XP machines, network cards and a 3com hub. The frog is connected to one machine and XP takes care of sharing.

The only down side is if the non frog machine wants to use the net the other pc had to be on. To get round this get a DSL router, but these are expensive.

Also make sure you have firewall on the frog machine and on both if you go for the router.

David

 

XRS
I've used ICS on a crossover cable, only for a quick test though. If it came to it though I could find him a 10Mb hub and it would still be under £20 all in

Mog
I think XRSs reply was aimed at me, so don't worry if it lost you. Throw in a few pieces of jargon to preserve the mystique is the best way

 

You could go for a DSL/CABLE Router/Switch it works a treat and you dont always have to have 2 machines turned on .
www.linksys.com

Thanks
Gazza

 

Hello

The best solution is probably a hub, but I have used a cross-over cable between two computers and ICS worked fine...

Steve.

 

Unless youve got a tight budget I wouldnt skimp and buy a cheap NIC when u can get a decent one for £20. You only need the hub if you want to link up more than 2 PC's now or you think you will in the future. The best option is to get a router specifically for ADSL/Cable so you dont need a main "gateway" PC to be switched on for all the other machines to access. However one of these will set you back the best part of £100. Ive often thought of getting one as my PC is in my bedroom and with 5 fans its a tad noisy to keep on 24*7.

 

Perfectly possible

If you're using the "frog" then simple way is network 2 systems and run ICS (assuming windows OS) on 1 system. There are better ways though, routers etc. If it's just 2 PCs you can network them for around £20 total.

Where in Bucks are you, can show you several systems using ADSL at the same time if you want to see speed implications. General browsing you'll see little or no difference.



[Edited by Silent Monkey - 2/10/2002 5:22:36 PM]

 

Whats a frog and how can a network card and cables cost £20.Forgot to say 1 PC running Win 95 and the other Win XP if this makes a difference

[Edited by Mog - 2/10/2002 5:36:54 PM]