At 17:45 06/18/00, Richard Lumley wrote:
>I am having a problem with 2 networked computers being online at the
>same time. I got hooked up to Time Warner Roadrunner about 10 days ago.
>A service man did my networking and everything worked fine for about a
>week. A few days ago my secondary computer wouldn't connect to the
>internet. I have a 5 port ethernet hub. I come out of the cable modem,
>into the hub. I then use 2 ports to hook to the primary and secondary
>computers. I can bypass the hub, hook directly into the cable modem and
>the secondary computer connects. I can hook the primary computer
>directly into the cable modem and that works. I just can't run both
>computers online at once. When I run thru the hub, the primary computer
>is always online, but the secondary computer won't go online. Just keep
>getting a check server message. I think it must be something in the
>network settings on the secondary computer. My son uses this and I don't
>know if something got changed or not. Roadrunner will not give me any
>support on networking, even thought I pay $10.00 a month for the 2nd
>computer. I only want to use the computers for internet sharing, not
>file and printer sharing.
>Primary Computer: 450 Compaq Pentium lll windows98
>Secondary Computer: 166 Compaq windows98
>Ethernet Hub: Linksys 5 port ethernet hub


Hi Richard

I assume you checked your connections by trying different ports on
the hub and it made no difference.

Will the secondary computer connect if the first is powered down?
If so, I would think the problem might be with Road Runner. If
you can connect, your Network settings should be okay. (You want
to be getting your IP address and DNS servers "automatically" from
Road Runner's DHCP server. Your default gateway should also be
provided automatically by Road Runner.)

If you run "Winipcfg" (from the Start Menu) on each computer, do
they get their own IP address? (Using Winipcfg, try to renew the
"lease" if you don't see an IP address for one or the other machine.)
Road Runner should assign IP addresses based on the MAC addresses of
the NICs in your machines. (The MAC address will also be reported by
Winipcfg.) I have Road Runner and they have changed my IP address
three times in the last 11 weeks. When that happens, I have to either
reboot or use Winipcfg to request a new IP address.

Seems to me that since you are paying for two IP addresses, each
machine should be able to get one. If you can't, I'd suggest
cancelling the extra IP address and trying something else. You could
add a second NIC to the primary machine and use "Internet Connection
Sharing" (ICS) software to get the second machine on line. (One NIC
in the primary computer would connect to the cable modem and the
other NIC would go to the Hub. The secondary computer need only
connect to the hub.)

You could upgrade to Win98SE for $20 (it has built in ICS) or buy
one of the many utility programs that do this. Cost...$10 to $20
for a 2nd NIC and $20 for the Win98SE upgrade. It would pay for
itself in four months. http://www.timhiggins.com/ppd/sharingcable.htm
has directions on sharing a cable connection with ICS.

A second method would be to buy a Broadband Router. (They can be
had from $70 to $160.) You would plug the cable modem into the WAN
port on the Router and plug your Hub into the LAN port on the
Router. The Router would assign IP addresses to every computer
connected to the Hub. The Router would also deliver limited firewall
capability...blocking most uninvited attempts to access your
computers from outside your LAN. See
http://www.timhiggins.com/ppd/hwrouters.htm for information and
reviews of the Routers that are available. Since you already have a
hub, you only need a "one port" Router (one without a built in hub
or switch.) I have a four port Linksys router and it works just fine.
Their one port version should be about $100.

If you want to discuss any of this, get back to the list or email me
privately.

Regards,
Bill
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