815 ms is a *huge* length of time for ping response between two computers 
on the same local subnet.  Something is clearly not right.

  I've seen two scenarios where "A can oing B, but B can't ping A".  The 
rare one results from an address conflict where some third machine is using 
the same address as B -- I think we can assume that's not your issue.
  The other is where some misconfigured firewall is partially blocking 
traffic beteen the two machines.

David Gillett


On 17 Aug 2007 at 6:43, Loy Pressley wrote:

Date sent:      	Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:43:17 -0500
Send reply to:  	Personal Computer Hardware discussion List
             	<[log in to unmask]>
From:           	Loy Pressley <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:        	Re: [PCBUILD] [Fwd: Connecting Two Computers]
To:             	[log in to unmask]

> Hi David and all,
> 
> Thanks for this reply and I apologize for the delay in answering.  There 
> was a family emergency here and I have been away for awhile.
> 
> I configured the network as you recommended below, i.e., one computer 
> has an IP address of 192.168.2.1 and the other has 192.168.2.2.  I can 
> "ping" 192.168.2.2 from 192.168.2.1 and get the following reply and get 
> a round trip time of average = 815ms.  I CANNOT "ping" 192.168.2.1 from 
> 192.168.2.2 -- the "ping" request just times out.
> 
> I want to be able to share files and printers on this network. The 
> printers are all connected to the 192.168.2.1 computer.
> 
> BTW, the WinXP Pro computer, 192.168.2.1, has a NVIDIA nForce Networking 
> Controller. The WinXP Home computer, 192.168.2.2, has a 3Com Etherlink 
> XL 10/100 PCI.  When I enabled the network on 192.168.2.1 I got a notice 
> that it was connected at 100mb.
> 
> Thanks for the help...again, I apologize for the late reply.
> 
> Loy
> 
> David Gillett wrote:
> > On 26 Jul 2007 at 13:30, Loy Pressley wrote:
> >
> >   
> >> I want to connect two computer for file and printer sharing.  There is 
> >> an Ethernet connection on both computers. I bought a crossover cable 
> >> with RJ45 connectors on each end and connected the two computer using 
> >> the cable.  When I made the connection, one of the computers began 
> >> flashing that a network cable was disconnected.  I ran the network setup 
> >> wizard and told it to ignore the disconnected cable.  It doesn't flash 
> >> any more but neither do the two computers appear to be able to see each 
> >> other.
> >>
> >> I am a complete buffoon at this.  All I want to do in connect two 
> >> WinXPSP2 computers. One has WinXP Pro and the other WinXP Home.  
> >> According to everything I could find, all I needed was the right 
> >> crossover cable and I was ready to go.  I ordered the cable and hooked 
> >> the two computers together and no joy.  For this simple network  I think 
> >> I have all the hardware I need.  I certainly do need some help setting 
> >> it up, though.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.
> >>     
> >
> >   Although it is possible to use a crossover cable to make a point-to-point 
> > connection like this, Ethernet is designed to use a hub or switch to 
> > interconnect multiple host machines.  So each machine will need an IP 
> > address configured for its Ethernet adapter.  These addresses need to be 
> > distinct, but within the same address range.
> >
> >   The default configuration is going to say "Obtain address automatically", 
> > but this requires that some machine, with an address configured, be set up 
> > to hand out addresses to other machines.  If you enable ICS (Internet 
> > Connection Sharing) on one of the machines, it can do that, but that may 
> > require that t also HAVE a separate Internet connection.
> >
> >   A simpler approach is to assign each machine an address in a common 
> > private range.  If you go through the Network config to the properties of 
> > the Ethernet connector, and look at TCP/IP proertires, you'll see three 
> > boxes -- address, subnet mask, and default gateway.
> >
> >   All addresses that start with "192.168." are private, and are intended to 
> > be used with a mask of "255.255.255.0".  Many retail network procts such as 
> > routers come preconfigured to use the 192.168.0.x or 192.168.1.x ranges, so 
> > let's use 192.168.2.x, where x is 1 on one machine and 2 on the other.
> >
> >   The default gateway is the address of a devide that connects this private 
> > network to other address groups, including the whole internet.  Since you're 
> > not connecting it, you can leave that blank.
> >
> >   Once that is set one each PC, they should be able to see each other.  From 
> > the one that is 192,168,2,1, open a command prompt and type "ping 
> > 192.168.2.2".  You should get four responses showing a very brief time for a 
> > packet to reach the other machine and a response to be received.
> >
> > David Gillett
> >
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