Sharing Broadband Cable Modem (Windows XP/Win98)

Self Vanity

[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!

[Mixer]

Bring back the 5 port hub and get a Linksys Cable/DSL router.

[Steven W.]

get a Linksys cablemodem switch to serve as both a firewall and to plug into your hub (or you can hook into directly, if you still wanted to purchase more NICs for each computer).

[Noslrac]

for 80 bucks or so you can get a linksys 4 port router/switch that you can plug into there and share your cable connection. That way you don't have to leave the computer on. It also acts as sort of a firewall. Can even get logs from the router to tell where the kiddies are surfing. They are a breeze to setup and work well. At least its something to consider in the future.

Noslrac

[Noslrac]

Man i was too slow, but it does seem like there is a wealth of linksys users.

Noslrac

[Tennessee_Bob]

Don't even need the hub if they get the Linksys Cable/DSL router. The one we used had the uplink for connecting to the cable modem and 4 (or 5) ports on it. Just need the additional NICs for the other machines.

[Chad Fairbanks]

I had to get one, too... sharing dsl on my home network was easy with the router... it's nice to be able to enjoy quality family time as we all surf the internet at the same time... I just got an email from my wife in the other room, as a matter of fact... Sometimes, we even 'chat'. ;0)

[lmr]

Ditto that. A router is better than a hub. Mine works great, share Cable Modem between 2 computers. The only thing a person may be concerned about is whether their Broadband ISP will allow multiple IP addresses. Mine allows up to 3. I understand that some want more money and may only offer one unless you pay for more. You might look into this. (Responding to originator)

[Leroy S. Mort]

What everybody else said.....

BEFSR41 - EtherFast® Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch

[SamAdams76]

That Linksys cable router you guys pointed out to me looks like a great piece of equipment. This doesn't replace my cable modem, does it? Does it allow me to connect the other PC and do file-and-print sharing?

Also, AT&T mentioned something about paying an extra $9.95 a month to hook up another computer. I'm assuming that if I provide my own equipment, I can share the one cable connection I am paying for like I did with the dial-up ISP.

[lelio]

I'm not sure what's going on in your situation but if there was a cat5 cable from the cable modem to your NIC and it worked and you then tried to plug it into your hub and it didn't work what's wrong is that you need to have a different cable.
When you connect a computer's network card to a hub you can use a "straight through" cable which means the 1&2 and 3&6 pairs in the cable just go straight through the cable. If you need to connect two NICs or two hubs together you need to use a crossover cable where the 1&2 go to the 3&6 spots.
Most hubs, however, have a crossover port or some button on there that will do it for you. Give that a shot.
To find out if your cable is straight through or crossover take a look at the ends and read off from left to right what colors (and stripes) they are.

[hoosierboy]

If you go to at and t website and go to the home networking you can buy the linksys etherfast cable dsl router for a bout 40 bucks which is much much cheaper than the 70 I paid for it before I knew.

Att doesnt supprot networks so thats up to you its not hard(for me)and you don't have the wife tell you to get off freerepublic!

[gobinosh]

I believe you might want to establish a "router" firewall boundary between the cable modem and the private network at your home. You would do that with a Zyxel Prestige 310 or something like that. It is a $100 box that you can easily configure to handle the login diaglogue with the cable ISP. Basically you plug the cable modem into the Zyxel router. You then plug the Zyxel router/firewall into the 5 port hub that you bought. Zyxel has an easy to follow configuration scheme to setup the most common configuration and share it among your household pc's. I would recommend buying it direct from Zyxel and you will save some bucks. Outside will cost you about $139. You never wnat to have your PC directly connected to anything like the internet.. attacks are only a matter of time so your files and information are very vulnerable. Using something like a Zyxel router/firewall you will be able to establish what is called a NAT interface basically it keeps your internal network private while providing access to the external world using one IP address provided by your ISP.

[wienerdog.com]

This will take a little more research, but I think it will work. If you let the first NIC go to the cable modem, then add a second NIC to the new computer and hook THAT to the hub...I believe XP has builtin functionality to let you share the modem. I'm sorry I don't know for sure, but I have done nothing but Unix for 2 years.

The computer will act as a firewall/router. The problem is you need to have a unique IP address on each machine, and your cable modem only gives you one. So you do it like this:

Cable Modem-----------216.24.23.244
                       XP MACHINE
                      10.1.1.1-----HUB------Win 98 Machine
                                            10.1.1.2

The 10.1.1.1 and 10.1.1.2 addresses get masqueraded and appear to the outside world as both coming from 216.24.33.244 (or whatever IP address you get from the cable company).

[SamAdams76]

The only thing a person may be concerned about is whether their Broadband ISP will allow multiple IP addresses. Mine allows up to 3. I understand that some want more money and may only offer one unless you pay for more. You might look into this. (Responding to originator)

I just checked and it says that AT&T will allow up to 3 additional IP addresses for $9.95 a month.

Now if I get the Linksys router that everybody here is touting, do I need to get a second NIC for my main PC? Or can I just plug the cable modem into the router and plug my second PC into the router?

Also, if I get the second NIC card for my main computer and set up a network independent of the cable modem, can I share the connection or do I still need to fork over the $9.95? If so, I might as well do it right and get the Linksys router. My wife's going to kill me when she finds out I have to spend even MORE money!

[lelio]

Also, AT&T mentioned something about paying an extra $9.95 a month to hook up another computer.
Tell em to shove it. I believe that Linksys modem / router does NAT (Network Address Translation) where it takes all your internal IP address (like 10.x or 192.168.x) and mangles them into your real internet IPs when it goes out to your ISP.
There is no easy way for them to tell that you're doing this and there isn't anything illegal about it either. What they want to do is just get some more money out of you, its like the newspaper company saying that you have to pay them twice as your family reads the morning paper as well.

[KayEyeDoubleDee]

Well???