3.1K Posts

April 5th, 2004 12:00

Eye4designs,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.

Please update your Dell Community Forum user profile with the service tag of the Inspiron 600m, respond when you have done this.

4.4K Posts

April 5th, 2004 15:00

I have RoadRunner as an ISP a UNICOM Micro-switch/5 10/100Base-TX Switch and a Toshiba PCX1100U cable modem.

My dell Dimension work fine (which I am using to type this) but when I unplug the the Network cable and Plug it into the 600m No internet. I also config the IE browser LAN setting to automaticly Get IP restarted and no luck.


Eye4designs,

The PCX1100U has both a USB and an Ethernet interface. According to one of the RoadRunner sites, you can use both interfaces simultaneously if you have two IP addresses assigned to your RoadRunner account.

It sounds like you're moving the Ethernet cable that's connected to the PCX1100U between the 600m and the Dimension. Since it's the same interface on the cable modem, the PCX1100U won't recognize the newly arrived machine until the cable modem has been turned off for a few minutes.

To move the connection from the Dimension to the 600m, you'll need to turn the cable modem off. Once the cable modem has been turned back on with the network cable attached to the 600m, you should be able to renew the 600m's IP address.

To enable both machines to be connected simultaneously, you'll need to obtain a small router. See HomeNetHelp.com for a description of using a broadband router to share cable or DSL connections. With a router, you will not need to obtain a second IP address from RoadRunner, or move cables around.

Jim

April 5th, 2004 17:00

DELL-BobT
I updated my profile (sorry about that)

Jim thanks for the info I haven't tried to Turn my Modem off then on Ill give it a try.

 

Also is the UNICOM Micro Switch/5 isn't that similar to a router (I know its a switch) but would it provide the same purpose as a router (in regards to internet service for two PC).

 

Also if I get a router and hook my two PCs up to both gain internet service (without adding the second IP) would my Connection speed slow down (example if I get about 2mbps with one PC connected and I connect the laptop would I now have that divided 1mbps for each PC).

4.4K Posts

April 5th, 2004 17:00

Also is the UNICOM Micro Switch/5 isn't that similar to a router (I know its a switch) but would it provide the same purpose as a router (in regards to internet service for two PC).

No, you'll still need a router. A switch can interconnect machines on the same network. But in order to connect machines to a different network (the RoadRunner cable network, which is part of the Internet), a router is needed. I also checked the Toshiba cable modem you listed, and it's not a router either.

You can still connect all the machines through the UNICOM 5-port switch, though. The diagam on the right side of the HomeNetHelp page I posted shows how. The router would replace the "question mark" in that diagram.

Also if I get a router and hook my two PCs up to both gain internet service (without adding the second IP) would my Connection speed slow down (example if I get about 2mbps with one PC connected and I connect the laptop would I now have that divided 1mbps for each PC).

The speed of the Ethernet connections is in all cases greater than the speed of cable or DSL Internet connections. How much cable bandwidth each PC consumes will depend on what traffic each of them is generating. If both machines are downloading large quantities of information simultaneously, you'd probably notice the slowdown.

Jim

3.1K Posts

April 5th, 2004 18:00

Eye4designs,

You would use a wireless router to connect each machine to the Internet connection.  Each machine would then share the connection that the router is using.

April 5th, 2004 18:00

Jim

Once again thanks for the info very informative.

Question. I would like to network my Two PCs together (possibly using the wireless card on my laptop in the future for the internet).  How would I configure that if I used a Wireless router?

I noticed in the diagram the UNICOM switch would be located near the two wired PC and the Router (if I obtain a Wireless capable one) would be able to communicate with my Laptops Wireless Card.  Is that diagram able to network all the PCs on the Router together (meaning share files between PCs and any External hard drives) AND also allow all PCs to access the internet?

4.4K Posts

April 5th, 2004 18:00

Question. I would like to network my Two PCs together (possibly using the wireless card on my laptop in the future for the internet). How would I configure that if I used a Wireless router?

Since all the PCs will still be on the same network, even if one is wireless, file and printer sharing will work. It will be less risky, since the only device that's connected to the Internet is the router itself.

Whether wireless or wired, the PCs receive an IP address from the router. The address they receive is not directly useable on the Internet. One of the features of home broadband routers is "NAT", which is short for Network Address Translation. All the traffic to and from the Internet is coming from the router. The NAT feature allows the traffic to be sent back to the originating PC. HomeNetHelp has a  short tutorial explaining now NAT works. The TCP/IP Home Networking and File Sharing Tutorial at HomeNetHelp shows how file and printer sharing works in an environment with a broadband router.

Since all the PCs, wired or wireless, are on the same IP network, traffic on the LAN would work the same as it does now via your switch. In fact, the switch can be used in the same way it's being used now. The LAN Ethernet connection to the router can be made using the existing switch using a standard cable, since that model supports Auto MDI-MDIX Crossover.

You can think of a wireless LAN connection as if it were an Ethernet (wired) connection, with speed differences and special security needs, since the wireless traffic is effectively public unless it's secured. Regarding speed, the 802.11g (54 mbits/sec) standard is the one of choice for maximizing the speed between wireless devices and Ethernet-connected devices. Setting up a wireless connection securely involves more steps, and requires proper software support for the router, the wireless adapters, and the operating system running the wireless adapters. All the necessary standards are now in place to make wireless networking quite secure. But the best ones are relatively new, and there are still interoperability problems that are being fixed. A reasonable level of security isn't difficult, though.

Jim

April 6th, 2004 05:00

Jim

First off I am pleased to tell you that I am typing this reply via my Laptop. The solution you provided worked perfectly.  THANK YOU

 

Second. Thank you for that simple, informative and easy for a layman to understand explanation and guidence for the networking questions I had.  I understand fully and thank you for saving hours of buying and returning equipment that I probably would've bought.  Now I know what equipment I will need and that will narrow my research down for my soon to be new home network.

Fututre warning, Ill probably be back here once my new dell Dimension comes in and I pick up my router and cables.   LOL

4.4K Posts

April 6th, 2004 22:00

You're welcome! Hopefully your new Dimension will "just work", but there's plenty of help available in the Dell Forums if you encounter problems or just have questions.

Jim

April 13th, 2004 20:00

Jim I got my dimension and it connected to the internet perfectly.

 

Question about networking though

I got the Linksys wireless G router

Now my question is

I have 3 computers

1. Laptop 600m (going to use the wireless of course)

2. My new dimension (using Cat5 cable to connect)

and my room mates PC (Using Cat5 to connect)

Now My roomate bought an additional IP from RoadRunner so in effect we have two IPs for internet one for me and one for him.

question

I have the router

the Unicom switch.

How would I config these components (the router and Switch) to utilize the two IPs for the internet.and also not allow him to access my computers files and such?

 

UPDATE TO POST. I was looking through some Sites and found this diagram.  would this work

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/networking/alternative_net_ex2.htm

                  Cable

                     |

                  HUB

         |                      |

RoomM PC     LINKSYS ROUTER

                               |                  |

                        DIMENSION    600M

Message Edited by Eye4designs on 04-13-2004 01:21 PM

4.4K Posts

April 13th, 2004 21:00

Wooohoooo Im catching on to this network thing LOL

You certainly are! Neat!!!

Okay wish me luck Im gonna get connecting and see what happens !!
Hopefuly Ill be posting on my new network in a couple of hours


Better than luck...you've understood the issue!

Jim

April 13th, 2004 21:00

Wooohoooo Im catching on to this network thing LOL

 

Okay wish me luck Im gonna get connecting and see what happens !!

Hopefuly Ill be posting on my new network in a couple of hours

4.4K Posts

April 13th, 2004 21:00

I also posted an update in my post could ya brainstorm that for a while and let me know if that could be an option as well??

YES! That would do exactly what you want! Good thinking!

Jim

April 13th, 2004 21:00

All are windows XP.

 

I also posted an update in my post could ya brainstorm that for a while and let me know if that could be an option as well??

4.4K Posts

April 13th, 2004 21:00

How would I config these components (the router and Switch) to utilize the two IPs for the internet.and also not allow him to access my computers files and such?

The simplest way would be for your roommate to utilize the second IP address from RoadRunner by connecting to the USB port on the cable modem. That would amount to physical separation of your roommate's network from yours. There are USB to Ethernet adapters available, but which of them will work with the PCX1100U cable modem, I don't know.

Small routers can't cope with more than one IP address on the WAN side. So if your roommate were to connect to the router with a CAT5 Ethernet cable, you'd need to set up either a personal firewall on your machines which granted access only to your other machines and not your roommate's, or set up sharing on your machines so only your accounts could access shared resources. Since your roommates login account wouldn't be listed, there would be no access from his login account on his machine. That's a little tricky to do with XP home, but I think it can be done. What operating systems are all the machines running?

Jim
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