Posted on 01/07/2002 3:54:52 PM PST by SamAdams76
Okay, I just spent the whole afternoon pulling out my hair. I figure there's got to be some Freepers out there with some XP/Cable Modem experience so maybe you can save me some aggravation when I tackle the problem some other day (I've had enough for today).
First, some background. Over the Christmas holiday, I got a new Windows XP system and I gave my old Win98 system to the kids. I bought a cheap 5-port hub, a couple of patch cables, threw a NIC (network interface card) in the Win98 system and using the Windows XP Network Setup Wizard, I was done in about 15 minutes (my new system has a NIC built into the motherboard). The XP Network wizard even created a floppy that I used to configure my old system to see the network - it was that brainless.
It was great to be networked. I shared out the ZIP drive on my old system so I could use it with the new system. I shared the printer off my new system to the old system. I even shared out the dial-up ISP connection so that both computers could be online at the same time. It was great to not have to compete for internet time with my kids, but it was s-l-o-w sharing a 56k connection between two computers.
So I finally gave in and called up AT&T Broadband to have a cable modem installed. Over the phone they asked me if I had my own cable modem and NIC. Stupid me said no, I didn't have the cable modem but I did have a NIC.
Well they came today to install the cable while I was at work. I came home early to test it out. It was phenomenal, incredibly fast! I downloaded a 2.8MB file in 15 seconds where before it would take me 15-20 minutes. But I noticed to my dismay that they had unplugged my hub so I had no more network. There was no place on the cable modem to plug in a patch cable. Not that it would have mattered. For they took over my NIC and configured it to be part of their network.
For the hell of it, I tried plugging the cable modem into the hub. I was able to still access the Internet with my new computer. But my old computer couldn't even see the network, never mind share the connection.
I think I have it figured out. I need to get another NIC card and install it on my new system. I will then use the Networking Wizard to connect my two computers just as before. But will I be able to share the cable connection on the old computer? If anybody has had to deal with this before, I would appreciate some advice.
I'm a little upset with AT&T for not telling me that they were going to be disconnecting my home network when I told them I had a NIC. Otherwise I would have had them bring their own NIC. But what's done is done. At least I have a fast internet connection. And it is incredibly fast. It runs streaming video, the online radio stations sound awesome and when I need to download a program or large file, it is done in seconds!
I'm on Time-Warner Cable and I currently don't have the linksys box, I'm just using 1 system and ZoneAlarm for a firewall. I bring various laptops home from work and noticed the MAC issue.
I've found that if I just turn off the modem for about 5 minutes it 'forgets' the MAC address and will happily work with the next laptop (or router) I plug in.
I think I'll bite the bullet and go with the router. I like the idea of "cloning" the MAC address to the router. That should do it and provide a nice firewall in the process.
I think the best solution is to run both protocols. Use TCP/IP for the internet connection on both machines, and netbeui for the local networking (file and printer sharing). This keeps the SMB protocols isolated from the internet traffic. Just watch your protocol bindings, and don't let it enable NetBT.
It is also a 4 port switch, which is better than a hub - with a switch, each computer has full LAN bandwidth (100 Mbps), while with a hub, all the computers in the network have to share the 100 Mbps among them. (In practice, it doesn't matter much, especially in sharing a broadband connection, but switches now are so cheap its a no brainer.)
What took me longer to get working was getting our computers to see each other. I had to fiddle with the firewalls (ZoneAlarm and Norton Internet Security, which have different methods of allowing local network access - ZoneAlarm is easier to configure), and got things running, but then as I looked into it more, I found out that the Linksys router gives each computer IP addresses that are basically invisible to the rest of the Internet. (Check out ShieldsUp at grc.com after setting things up and you'll see what I mean.)
Broadband and a router are the way to go. I'll never go back to dialup.
Thanks, I was not aware of that. However, I don't think it was the problem today as the main problem was that AT&T reconfigured my NIC for their network, making Win98 unable to communicate with it. Would this have ramifications when I install the router. Should I uninstall the XP firewall before installing the router?
Well, it's part of the OS as I understand it. By 'uninstall' if you mean 'turn it off' then I'd say yes.
The ISP doesn’t care how many computers are on your home network all they care about is how many IP addresses you have.
Of course the more people using your network the slower things can get if more than one person is downloading files, graphics, etc.
Plus, it isn’t as easy as it sounds; you will need to configure all of the computers on your network to what you want. This in itself can be a bit perplexing to the uninitiated, at least at first. You can run twisted pair cable (RJ-45) up to 385 feet to serve your needs within your network. Home Depot sells everything you need at a reasonable cost or you can hire someone to run the cable and attach the RJ-45 connectors for you. Will you want full file sharing? Printer sharing? Well, you get the idea.
Then of course you need to configure your hardware, ie: the router and each PC. Do you want to let the router do its thing or do you want to set it manually? For your situation I’d let the router handle the MAC and IP addresses and set your NIC’s to 10Mb rather than 10/100.
I guess that’s about it except that you may want to take a look at http://www.wown.com/j_helmig/Contact.htm and read the Linksys manual for a whole lot of info before you dive in. In short, it really is easy after you’ve done it once. When I did it a couple of months ago I didn’t think that it would be so involved but I’m very glad that I did it.
Best of luck,
Boomer
You can simply tell your cable company that you had to replace your existing network card with the Linksys Etherfast's "Mac" number (as if it were the new card) if you want to avoid additional IP fees. (The morality of this, I'll leave up to you).
Just use DHCP and it's a plug-in installation to your PC's network card.
It "splits" the modem bandwidth by 4, to serve each port. So although you may not be aware of it, the max download speed drops from about 1mbps to about 250mbps.
The Linksys box does occasionally have to be re-set, which is easy (just press the reset button on the front).
I second this. Not only does it allow you to do sharing, it also will add a modicum of security to your network as well. I have one at home. The LINKSYS product is great, but I did not have a good experience with the DLINK version of this product. I eventually returned the one I had purchased.
Only 'Hubs' split the bandwidth between ports. If you get a router with a 4 port 'Switch', each port has the capacity for full bandwidth. Of course all ports can't use all the bandwidth simultaneously, but I've found this to be the best solution. Remember that you're also sharing bandwidth with your neighbors on the same cable drop.
Get an extended warranty while you're at it; we've gone through two 3Com modems in two years. Since Time/Warner supplied the modems, we swapped them for new ones at no charge.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.