networking windows xp laptop and desktop

[Don]

hi

i have a windows xp laptop connected to DSL modem/router

I would like to add a windows xp desktop to share resources

What is the best way to go about doing this and how?

I was thinking of linking the desktop and laptop using a switch or hub and
then connecting the hub to the router

thanks
Don

 

[James Egan]

I was thinking of linking the desktop and laptop using a switch or hub and
then connecting the hub to the router

Yes that's the best way to do it. Most modem/routers will have a built
in switch so check to see if you have any spare ethernet ports on your
existing router before you splash out on a new switch.


Jim.

 

[Don]

Hi Jim

thanks for your reply

What if i only want internet access on the laptop only but still wish to
link the laptop and desktop? In other words i only want internet access on
one machine?

thanks
Dom

 

[Lem]

Hi Jim

thanks for your reply

What if i only want internet access on the laptop only but still wish to
link the laptop and desktop? In other words i only want internet access on
one machine?

thanks
Dom

There are several ways to accomplish this. How you go about it depends
in part on why you don't want to let one box have Internet access.

The most secure way of limiting Internet access is by properly
configuring your router. What make/model do you have?

 

[Don]

Hi Lem

it is a netcomm nb6plus4

thanks
Don

There are several ways to accomplish this. How you go about it depends
in part on why you don't want to let one box have Internet access.

The most secure way of limiting Internet access is by properly
configuring your router. What make/model do you have?

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

Apollo 11 - 40 years ago:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/40th/index.html

 

[Lem]

Hi Lem

it is a netcomm nb6plus4

thanks
Don

The Netcomm nb6plus4 provides a great many configuration options. For
this reason, it is perhaps not as easy to configure to do what you want
as some other routers. Nevertheless, it can be done.

The first thing to do is to download the User Guide from
http://www.netcomm.com.au/products/adsl_broadband/nb6plus4

You will need to access the router's web based configuration utility.
See p. 46 of the manual.

Almost certainly, your router is already configured to have its DHCP
server on, in order to automatically assign IP addresses to your
computers (see pp 52-53). You'll have to change this slightly.

On the computer you want to block, open a Command Prompt window
(Start>All Programs>Accessories>Command Prompt) and type
ipconfig /all [press Enter]

Among the information that is returned, you'll see something like:

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-07-E6-E4-0A-47
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

"Dhcp Enabled" means that the computer has been configured to accept an
IP address assigned by the router. This is the Windows default.
Although on a small home network the same computer almost always
receives the same IP address from the router, in general, this is not
guaranteed, particularly if all of the computers are frequently turned
off for long periods.

Your router, however, does have the ability to always assign the same IP
address to a particular computer. See pp. 66-67. You need to do this for
the computer you want to block. In order to use this feature, you need
to know the "MAC Address" of the computer (actually, its network
interface card). This is shown in the above example as "Physical
Address." When you use it to create a "Reserved IP address," replace the
dashes with colons, e.g., 00:07:E6:E4:0A:47 You can set the reserved IP
address to be the same as the one that had been automatically assigned
to that computer.

Now that there is an IP address that is guaranteed to be assigned to the
computer you want to block, you can configure the router's firewall to
block Internet access for that computer. See pp. 91-94. Create two
filtering rules, one inbound and one outbound. Deny ALL protocols. For
the inbound rule, use ALL as the source IP address and SINGLE as the
destination IP address. Enter the IP address that you reserved for the
blocked computer. Use 0 to 65535 for port range. For the outbound rule,
source is the SINGLE reserved IP address and destination is ALL.

After you APPLY the rules you created, test the blocked computer.