Networking HELP

Hi,

I'm new to networking so please bare with me.

I have 2 pc's that I want to connect. The main one downstairs has windows xp, the 2nd one upstairs has windows me. I've put the pci cards in the back of both machines and installed the drivers. I'm using a switch and I've connected the cables to the switch and to the pc's...

For the IP address's, for the first pc, when I go into control panel and the network connections I see Local Area Connection which is my cable modem connection and also Local Area Connection 3 which is the network pci card. The IP address that I've used for the main pc is 192.168.0.1 and for the 2nd pc 192.168.0.2 with the subnet for both being 255.255.255.0.

On the pc upstairs, the IP address has gone in, but I'm not sure which Local Area Connection I should be putting the IP address into for the main pc downstairs. I've tried to put it in both of them (not at the same time) but then I cant get onto the internet on the pc downstairs. I've pinged pc's and this works, but as said no internet connection. Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Cheers.

Leave the one called Local area connection alone. As you said that is for your internet access not accessing the lan. Make sure that you can connect to the internet from the main pc. Make sure that the main pc that connects to the internet has internet connection sharing enabled. (Right click on local area connection, click properties and on one of the tabs there should be a tick box for enabling internet connection sharing) Also make sure that on the second pc, you have the main pc's ip address as it's default gateway, ie, 192.168.0.1.
If that doesn't help then run ipconfig /all on both computers and post the results.
Hope that helps

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I did everything that u said. The main one has internet access now and I can ping between the 2 but still cant get internet access on mine upstairs.

Dont know if this matters but I have a cable modem connected through a USB, would I have to get a second PCI card and connect the modem to that???

I ran ipconfig /all and this is what I got for the main one downstairs

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : MAIN
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : F5D5000, PCI Card/Desktop Network PC
I Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-30-BD-71-C3-FC
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Motorola SURFboard SB5100 USB Cable
Modem
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0F-9F-2A-B7-A1
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.235.131.174
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.128
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 80.235.131.129
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 80.235.128.125
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 62.31.176.39
194.117.134.19
195.188.53.175
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 09 August 2004 11:36:17
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 10 August 2004 11:06:14

For the one upstairs, its ME and this is all it gave me..

DCHP Enabled.......................Yes
IP Address..........................0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask.......................0.0.0.0
Default Gateway
DHCP Server.......................255.255.255.255
Primary WINS Server
Secondary WINS Server
Lease obtained
Lease expires

1 Ethernet adapter
Description.......................Realtek 8139 - Series PCI NIC
Physical Address................00 30 BD 71 C3 FD
DCHP Enabled....................NO
IP Adress.........................192.168.0.2
Subnet mask.....................255.255.255.0
Default Gateway................192.168.0.1
Primary WINS Server
Secondary WINS Server
Lease obtained
Lease expires

Thanks again for any help anyone can offer.