Hi All, I am still very new to setting up a home LAN, etc. so if there is anything obvious you would check, don;t be afraid to point it out, I may have overlooked it... I have 2 PCs, both running XP. Each PC has an Ethernet Card. I also have an Optusnet Cable Modem, which is connected via a UTP Cable. And finally I have invested in a Belkin 5 port Ethernet Hub. As far as I understand, the Cable Modem will only respond to requests from a single PC (addressed by it's MAC Address). What I am trying to do is set the LAN up so that the Main Computer ( Host ) is the PC recognised by the Cable Modem, and that the Secondary Computer ( Client ) can connect to the Internet, as well as to the Host (for things like file sharing and local gaming). At the moment, with both PCs and the Cable Modem connected to the Hub, the Host is being recognised by the Cable Modem and is able to access the net. Running 'ipconfig' on the Host gives me it's IP address as 210.XX.XXX.227 (I can't remember the middle numbers, hence X). Previously, the Hub was allocating an IP address to the Client, with a prefix of 198(?).X.X.X However I accessed the Network Connections control panel and changed this address to match the Host's IP address (except for the last number set which I changed to 254). Only after making this change was I able to successfully ping from Host to Client and vice versa. Now, the next step is setting up the Internet Connection and File Sharing. This is where I am having my difficulties... I have run the Networking Assistant on both PCs, but this has not resolved the problem. I have also accessed some online resources, which advise me to go into the properties of the Network Connection, access the Advanced tab and select share this connection (or something of that nature). I have attempted this, but the only option available on the Advanced screen is to use XP's firewall to protect the computer. As far as I can figure, what I want to do can be done with the installation of another Ethernet card in the Host, but that would make my Hub redundant, and I am not sure whether there are any more slots in the Host to allow for this to be done. If anyone has any idea, concepts, resources or witty insights, please let me know. Thank You Luke

I am still very new to setting up a home LAN, etc. so if there is anything obvious you would check, don;t be afraid to point it out, I may have overlooked it... I have 2 PCs, both running XP. Each PC has an Ethernet Card. I also have an Optusnet Cable Modem, which is connected via a UTP Cable. And finally I have invested in a Belkin 5 port Ethernet Hub. As far as I understand, the Cable Modem will only respond to requests from a single PC (addressed by it's MAC Address). What I am trying to do is set the LAN up so that the Main Computer ( Host ) is the PC recognised by the Cable Modem, and that the Secondary Computer ( Client ) can connect to the Internet, as well as to the Host (for things like file sharing and local gaming). At the moment, with both PCs and the Cable Modem connected to the Hub, the Host is being recognised by the Cable Modem and is able to access the net. Running 'ipconfig' on the Host gives me it's IP address as 210.XX.XXX.227 (I can't remember the middle numbers, hence X). Previously, the Hub was allocating an IP address to the Client, with a prefix of 198(?).X.X.X However I accessed the Network Connections control panel and changed this address to match the Host's IP address (except for the last number set which I changed to 254). Only after making this change was I able to successfully ping from Host to Client and vice versa. Now, the next step is setting up the Internet Connection and File Sharing. This is where I am having my difficulties... I have run the Networking Assistant on both PCs, but this has not resolved the problem. I have also accessed some online resources, which advise me to go into the properties of the Network Connection, access the Advanced tab and select share this connection (or something of that nature). I have attempted this, but the only option available on the Advanced screen is to use XP's firewall to protect the computer. As far as I can figure, what I want to do can be done with the installation of another Ethernet card in the Host, but that would make my Hub redundant, and I am not sure whether there are any more slots in the Host to allow for this to be done. If anyone has any idea, concepts, resources or witty insights, please let me know. Thank You Luke Luke, Make the router the default mac address.  In other words, you want the router to be the recognized host.  It will pick up the 210.x.x.x address and lease addresses to the other computers that plug into the hub portion.  Plug the cat5 cable from the modem to the wan port of the router. HIH, Dave H.

I am still very new to setting up a home LAN, etc. so if there is anything obvious you would check, don;t be afraid to point it out, I may have overlooked it... I have 2 PCs, both running XP. Each PC has an Ethernet Card. I also have an Optusnet Cable Modem, which is connected via a UTP Cable. And finally I have invested in a Belkin 5 port Ethernet Hub. As far as I
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