network two computers, what do to with IP?

[jadedev]

I have a PC and a laptop. The desktop has two network cards, one connects to the ADSL modem.

I plugged a CAT 5 ethernet cabel to connect the desktop to the laptop. But I am not too sure how to set their IP addresses on the new network card and the IP address on the laptop.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[ecross]

Hello jadedev,

There are some things you have to consider but you can do this. Since you don't have a DSL router, you will have to enable Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) on the host computer to share out a Internet connection to the client computer (your second computer).

The host computer will need two network connections. One that is directly connected to the Internet, and the other one for the local area network. So, the desktop will have to act as the ICS server or the host.

Keep in mind that when ICS is enabled, if you happened to restart the computer or shutdown the client computer get's disconnected. If the laptop is directly connected to the desktop, you need a crossover cable not a regular ethernet cable. You can learn more about setting up ICS here.

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/

If you need further help, please let us know.

[jadedev]

Hi,

I have enabled ICS on the desktop. I did this with Network Setup Wizards. From the example that I saw on the net, somehow I am missing one step. I did not have the opportunity to choose which network I can share the internet connection with.

Anyway, I have connected eveything up as described above. The desktop has two network card.

Card no 1. has 192.168.1.2 and is connected to modem 192.168.1.1

card no 2. has 169.245.1.200 and is connected to laptop 169.245.1.20

I can share windows files but I still can't surf the internet. I have been told, network card 2 and the laptop should also have 192.168.x.x IP address. But when I did this, I can't share files anymore.

Where did I go wrong?

[ecross]

It will help if you can provide the ipconfig/all output on the desktop computer.

What is the make and model of your ADSL modem?