Ethernet direct connection : multiple network adapters
Question
Occasionally, my husband brings home his office laptop. As I have a
desktop PC at home which is connected to the Internet, I want to
share the Internet with him over an Ethernet crossover cable since
both computers have built-in Ethernet. However, the only Ethernet port on my desktop is connected to a
cable modem. How may I have another Ethernet port on my desktop
for connection to his laptop?
Answer
The layout below illustrates all cable connections in your situation. Your
husband's laptop is connected to your desktop using an Ethernet crossover cable.
Meanwhile your desktop is connected to the cable modem using a standard
(straight-through) Ethernet cable. As the only Ethernet port (i.e. connector
#3 in the diagram) is used for connection to a cable modem (i.e. via
connector #4), you have to install another Ethernet adapter in your desktop.
Rear view diagram:
Ethernet direct connection
The desktop is connected to the Internet using a cable modem.
Alternative 1. Buy an internal Ethernet adapter (i.e. PCI card). Most
desktop PCs are equipped with 3 - 5 PCI slots for additional modem, network
adapter, or video card. Open your computer casing, then you will see PCI
slots inside, on the motherboard. Insert the PCI card into a vacant PCI
port. Close the casing, then you will see additional Ethernet port on the
back of your desktop (i.e. connector #2 in the diagram). Install the
Ethernet adapter's drivers, usually given in a CD or floppy disk. This extra Ethernet port can now be used for
connection using a crossover cable to the laptop's Ethernet port (i.e.
connector #1).
Ethernet adapters
and connectors
Internal (PCI) and external (USB, PCMCIA) adapters, RJ-45 and USB.
Alternative 2. Buy an external Ethernet adapter (i.e. USB
Ethernet adapter). This device will convert a USB port to an
Ethernet port. Your desktop must have a vacant USB port. Plug the
Ethernet adapter to that USB port. And there you go... Without
opening your desktop casing, now you have an extra Ethernet port,
that's from the external adapter. Install the USB Ethernet
adapter's drivers. Now, you can connect your crossover cable to
the Ethernet (RJ-45) port on the face of this external adapter.
A computer (either desktop or laptop) may have more than one network adapters as long as there are available slots to insert
the adapters and the computer's memory and processor are still
capable of handling the network tasks. Please note though, in your
particular case if the desktop is running Windows XP, network
bridging to the Ethernet adapter that is used for Internet
connection must be disabled. You can check it by right-clicking
Network Bridge icon on Network Connections folder. If the desktop
is running Windows XP SP2, just select "No" if prompted for
confirmation to create network bridge for this Ethernet adapter.
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