Simple Network Question about Dual ethernet ports

[Vaxorth25]

I have a bit of a problem with a connection and i'm not sure if it will even work. I have my custom gaming rig that I build that has the GA-EP45-UD3P motherboard in it with dual Ethernet ports. I have a friend that is over at my house that needs to connect to the internet and doesn't have wireless. I was wondering if it is possible that I could have a cable the goes from the router to my PC and and then a cable that comes out of my PC and into my friends PC and if we could have internet on both PC this way so we can play WOW together. I am an EXTREME noob when it comes to networking so please help. THANK YOU!!!

 

[Guest]

Have a look in Windows Help for how to do Windows Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) it's a not very elegant way of doing what you suggest. A router would probably be better.

 

[riser]

If your router is a router + switch meaning it has 1 WAN port and 4-5 ports (that's the switch) you can run a cable from the switch portion (which obviously your computer is plugged into as well) to his computer and you both can share your internet.

Basically it looks like this:

Wall ---> Cable modem --> Router ===> computer 1 and computer 2

I can't recall the last time I saw a router that was strictly a router and not a switch built into it, but they still go by Router on them. Otherwise you may want to look into purchasing a switch for around $30-$40 and it would save performance on your computer.

 

[itadakimasu]

Yes, you can connect your friends computer through your computer.

You're going to need a cross-over cable, which is slightly different pin-out from normal straight-through ethernet cable.

You can buy a cross-over cable @ frys or bestbuy or whatever you have near you...

You will need to go into your control panel, network settings and find the adaptor which is connected to the internet. The other Ethernet port you have should be listed as disconnected so it shouldn't be hard to tell which is which.

Right click the one that is connected to the internet, click sharing, and click the checkbox that says "allow other computers to connect through this computer"


Now, plug your cross over cable into your other ethernet port and the other end into your friends computer. He should now be given an ip address and be allowed access to the internet.