Alright heres my situation. I have a main rig with 802.11G wireless connect...cannot get a line drop to this PC. But i have another PC right next to it which i want to use for file storage etc... is it possible with a crossover cable to connect the two together while maintaining the wireless net on this pc and possibly sharing the wireless net to the other pc thru the crossover cable. This PC is connected with linksys PCI adapter wireless card. while im using 10/100 connections on the mobos of each PC for the crossover. any help is apperciated....setup etc of how to do this if i can thanks!
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Connect 2 PCs W/Crossover Cable
- Thread starter Justshoe
- Start date
Yes, this is possible but I don't really recommend it especially if you can just get another wireless adaptor for the second system. I know it's possible since I was doing this before between three systems although I have modified things with a router working as a switch.
What you will have to do is connect the two systems with the crossover cable. After that, run the Network Setup Wizard on the system with the wireless adaptor. Select the option that says this computer connects directly to the internet. After that, select the wireless adaptor as the connection that connects to the internet directly. Then you may be asked which network adaptor is used to connect to the local network. If you only have one wired NIC, then you may not see this option. I'm not sure as I have two of them and always see this step. If you do have two wired NIC's, then select the one that is connected to the other computer. Do not have both selected as you don't want Windows to bridge the connections. I've done this and it has some problems. I had no choice when I did it as I needed both NIC's so I could connect two computers. After that, finish up the wizard normally saying yes you want to share files and printers.
After you finish that, the wired NIC will now be using the IP 192.168.0.1. Make sure your router is not using that IP or you will run into conflicts and your wired NIC will not connect to the second computer. I should have mentioned that earlier. It seems most newer routers do not use that IP so it's not a big deal.
After that, it should be ready to go. Make sure the second system is using the same workgroup name and the NIC in that computer is setup to use DHCP to get an IP. This is the default setting so it should not be a problem. You may need to "repair" the network connection on the second system so it grabs an IP from the first system and uses the correct gateway. As long as Windows Firewall is not interfering, you should be up and running.
I still suggest you get a second wireless card for the other computer and just let it run off the router. It's a much more trouble free than what I have just outlined. I don't really have the money for another wireless adaptor, much less two more, so I use this option for now.
What you will have to do is connect the two systems with the crossover cable. After that, run the Network Setup Wizard on the system with the wireless adaptor. Select the option that says this computer connects directly to the internet. After that, select the wireless adaptor as the connection that connects to the internet directly. Then you may be asked which network adaptor is used to connect to the local network. If you only have one wired NIC, then you may not see this option. I'm not sure as I have two of them and always see this step. If you do have two wired NIC's, then select the one that is connected to the other computer. Do not have both selected as you don't want Windows to bridge the connections. I've done this and it has some problems. I had no choice when I did it as I needed both NIC's so I could connect two computers. After that, finish up the wizard normally saying yes you want to share files and printers.
After you finish that, the wired NIC will now be using the IP 192.168.0.1. Make sure your router is not using that IP or you will run into conflicts and your wired NIC will not connect to the second computer. I should have mentioned that earlier. It seems most newer routers do not use that IP so it's not a big deal.
After that, it should be ready to go. Make sure the second system is using the same workgroup name and the NIC in that computer is setup to use DHCP to get an IP. This is the default setting so it should not be a problem. You may need to "repair" the network connection on the second system so it grabs an IP from the first system and uses the correct gateway. As long as Windows Firewall is not interfering, you should be up and running.
I still suggest you get a second wireless card for the other computer and just let it run off the router. It's a much more trouble free than what I have just outlined. I don't really have the money for another wireless adaptor, much less two more, so I use this option for now.
File transfer rates will be shitty using wireless vs wired. Wired will win out on bandwidth and latency for a long time yet. If you are just going to be using this very temporary and will move to something else soon, then try it out and see how it works for you. If the sharing through the first computer works, then go for it. It's just not a good long term solution.