lan network cable unplugged?? 1

[Doffle]

hi guys,

i've got two desktops and one internet connection (which is wireless) and i want to share it, right? the one with the internet connection connects uses usb 2.0 (which i don't have on my other desktop) so the network cable is free.. so i figure hey, just plug in a cat5 cable between the two computers, use windows xp (the unconnected pc is on win2k) to tell it to share the wireless connection, and bingo! right? apparently not.. the thing won't recognize that i've plugged in the darn network cable! the networking card is a CNet PRO200WL PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter; the one on my other pc is 3com and works fine--it knows it's plugged into the connected computer, it's just that the connected computer can't seem to figure out it's been plugged into my other one. argh! any ideas why?

thanks,
doffle

 

[ricos0]

Don't be too surprised at the simple solution to this problem:

The problem is that both of your NICs are trying to transmit and receive to each other on the same pins of their respective RJ-45s. Normally they would be talking to a hub or switch which takes this into account and you have no problem.

The solution (which nobody seems to document in all the home network setup schemes) is that you need a CAT5 crossover cable between your two NICs, so that transmit on one end connects to receive on the other end: pins 1/2 go to 3/6 and vice versa (if you know anything about cable standards, this is the equivalent to 568A on one end and 568B on the other end).

You can make the cable by cutting off one end of your standard patch cable, get either a plug or a jack and terminate swapping the orange and green pairs. Or I suppose you could go out and buy one.

Plug it in and you'll be up in a jiffy...