Best ICS cenario for on line gaming

[Mortalis]

I am currently connected to the internet via attbi in Massachusetts.

I am currently using XP's (NAT)ICS and a Netgear FS105 switch to connect 3 PC's to the internet and to each other (LAN).

The cable modem is connected to NIC#1 in my XP machine. My LAN is connected to NIC#2 in the XP machine. All the LAN machines are connected to the Netgear switch.

I currently can connect all my networked machines (3) to the broadband connection. (I am having a problem with W2K' ICS but that is another thread)

My question is this. My daughter and I play Dark Age of Camelot. Would I be better off using a router instead of the switch (and XP's NAT) to share the internet connection for playing online games? How would a router affect my ability to network to the other machines in the LAN?

 

[Ntr0P]

A router/switch combo like LinkSys is probably your best bet. It would provide you a 100Mbps connection on the LAN and also allow all computers access via your broadband connection all while providing NAT. Your XP machine would not have to be on for others to have Internet access. Personally I'm not real fond of MS's ICS.

LinkSys is a simple inexpensive solution that should do it for you. Check out the Cable/DSL routers on Amazon for info.