On 7 Aug 2005 at 19:32, Anne Smith wrote:

> My old DSL modem died, the new one - Dynalink RTA/100+ (available only
> in Australia, according to the web site) is advertised as a
> modem/router. So far, I have only managed to get this new modem working
> using the ethernet port. When attempting to install as a USB connection,
> the modem shows up in the System list as present and working through the
> USB, but the modem won't work. I have tried it separately on all 4 USB
> ports. (This is all on the Win98SE computer.)
>
> The primary question is:-
>
> Can I link the 2 pcs using the modem/router?, then share the DSL
> connection? If so, how? Each PC has one ethernet outlet.

  The simplest option would be to install a multiport Ethernet device
between the router and the PCs.

  Such devices come in two varieties:  hubs and switches.
  A hub is purely electronic -- input from any port goes to all other ports,
and only one device can transmit at a time.  That's probably adequate for
your needs.
  A switch will be slightly more expensive, because it actually looks at the
hardware address of each packet and determines what port it needs to go to.

  Things get a bit funky trying to run a mixture of 10 Mbpsa and 100 Mbps
devices through a hub.  The simple answer is to run everything at 10; some
products support more complicated options.
  A switch, though, can run each port at its own speed (unless you get a
really cheap one that only does 10).  The advantage is that your PCs can
talk to each other at 100 Mbps while the router only runs at 10.  (Since its
maximum ADSL speed is 8 Mbps, it doesn't need 100.)

  The Ethernet cable that you used to connect the two PCs together was a
cross-over, and that's why it also works between the modem and either PC.
With a hub or switch, you'll be using "straight-through" Ethernet cables to
connect each device to the multiport device.  (Many such devices include a
port designated for "uplink" which is actually wired cross-over, so you
could use your existing cable between that port and the router.  But if you
continue to use the cross-over cable, make sure it's a different colour from
the two new cables to avoid future confusion.)


> The second PC does not have an internal modem. I have been told I cannot
> connect the pcs without installing another modem in the XP Pro pc, but I
> imagine that would slow down the internet sharing speeds.

  Another alternative would be to put a second NIC (ethernet card) in one of
the machines and have it share the router connection to the other PC.  As
you have intuited, this is not as good an approach to take.

David Gillett

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