On 26 Nov 2002, at 0:09, Duncan Jones wrote:
> I have two desktops that are running Windows XP Pro. I am looking for a
> compatible router or hub to connect them thru my cable modem. If anyone
> has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.
Routers and hubs are quite different devices, and work at different
"layers" of the network. To know which sort of device you need, we need
some addotopnal info about your service.
If your cable provider supplies you with separate addresses for each of
the XP machines (most cable providers offer extra addresses, at a slight
additional charge, so you should know whether you have this service or not),
then a hub can be used to connect the Ethernet ports on your two XP machines
and your cable modem together. You may prefer to use a switch for this,
especially if you plan to have a lot of traffic just between your two
machines without going over the Internet.
If you only have a single address on the cable, which you want to share
between your two machines, there are two basic approaches:
1. Put a second Ethernet card in one machine, so you can "daisy chain" the
other off of it with a "cross-over" Ethernet cable, and run gateway software
(such as ICS, which I believe XP includes) on the PC that connects to the
cable modem.
2. Connect a router, using an optional router feature called NAT ("Network
Address Translation"), to the cable modem, and connect the PCs to the router
using a hub or switch. Several models of router for home use include a
built-in switch for this purpose, combining both layers of function in one
component.
Note that in the latter case, your cable company may have already locked
your service to the *hardware* address of one of the PCs. If this is the
case, you will need to configure that address on the router so the cable
company believes it is your (single) machine. Most home routers offer a way
to do this.
David Gillett
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