Best way for broadband on 2 PC's?

[ConLog]

My ex-girlfriend phoned me the other day with a question so I might as well ask the experts on here.

She has a broadband connection to her PC through her USB port and she wants her daughter to also be able to use broadband on another PC.

One PC is running WindowsME whilst the other is running WindowsXP and both PC's have unused network cards.

Can both PC's be networked so they can both use broadband from the single cable modem, and can they both use broadband at the same time?
I have a 15 metre network cable I could give her but since her landlord will not allow her to run cables through his house she would prefer a wireless setup.

I'm not clued up on broadband since I still use dial-up.

Any help or links would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

[ja83]

I don't know much about wireless, but you can use a CAT-5 cable(broadband cable you have). Using a router, a cable goes from cable modem to router. Another cable goes in one end of the network card in one PC, the other end goes into the router. Same for the other PC. However this is not for a network to share files, this just lets both PC's use the broadband connection.

-Joe.A+

[embrelleur]

With XP, you can easily share an internet connection with the connection sharing. Wireless should be sufficient for this type of setup

[yellohut]

For Wired Mode you need to get a crossover cat5e cable... a regular one will not work. Then you can just hook up the computers directly and run home networking wizard. This is the easiest and cheapest way to do it (less than $10)..
for wireless each computer will need a wireless adapter of it's own (either usb or pci) then set them up in ad hoc mode.. it's the wireless way of doing what i described above. then run home networking wizard. it's as easy as that.

[DUSTIN]

The setup that ja83 described also networks the pcs, allowing you to transfer files as well as share the internet. For wireless, you would use an access point/router. The cable modem would be connected to that. You'd also need a wireless card for each pc. Once you have the hardware, network setup is easy with xp.

[glc]

Before you all start talking routers, please note that this is a *USB* broadband modem - which is all too common in the UK.

Crossover cable between the 2 wired nics or a pair of wireless nics in ad hoc (workgroup) mode is the answer here unless you want to spend the big quid and deal with the quirks of a Draytek router.

[glc]

ja83: Not true - you can easily share files and printers through a router - it acts just like a hub/switch.

Dustin: You do not need a wireless card for EACH pc - only ones that you don't run cables from to the router. Wireless access point routers generally have 4 switch ports for wired computers.

[DUSTIN]

Yes. Guess I should have included that.

[ja83]

Originally posted by glc [B]ja83: Not true - you can easily share files and printers through a router - it acts just like a hub/switch.

Wow. I didn't know. I guess you do learn something new everyday. glc your the man.

[ConLog]

Yeah I was aware I needed a crossover cable but I was going to give her a small NetGear hub with an extra network cable negating the need for a crossover cable.

Still the wireless setup is what she wants.

Thanks for all the replies so far.

[yellohut]

true you don't need a wireless card for each computer.. but if there's only two computers it's cheaper to just get two. then you don't need any kind of access point or router or nothing.. just the two wireless card.
there are two ways to configure them, either infrastrucutre (if you are using an access point) or ad-hoc (the wireles cards will talk to each other.)
two wireless cards is cheaper than 1+router...
but either way will work.

[glc]

If you are going to use a hub, you can use a wireless access point set to infrastructure mode in it and then a wireless nic in the other machine. It will cost you more than just a pair of wireless nics running ad hoc though. The cheapest ways, of course, is either a crossover cable between the 2 machines running standard nics - or 2 straight cables and a hub.

[Spyda]

i thought one of the first questions asked would be, do you want to use broadband independantly of each computer?
While the main computer is switched off, will the second computer be used for broadband access? in which case, a router would be needed would it not

[glc]

Spyda - we are probably ruling a router out because of the USB modem - please refer to my earlier post. Good point though.

[Spyda]

in UK you can get a usb modem router if you use ADSL

http://www.draytek.co.uk/products/vigor2200usb.html