How do I connect 2 pcs onto internet with only 1 category 5 input for my Router?

I have a vista ultimate pc and a sony bravia tv with NIC. There is only 1 nic cable input in this room that connects to my dsl gateway.

I want to add another NIC card to my vista pc and share the internet to the sony tv. Is this a possibility?

If so, how do i make the connection and what changes do I need to make in the pc's network settings?

Much obliged to any suggestions!

Hello and welcome to the Vista Forums!

I will try to explain from what I understand about the case. If I don't understand, feel free to correct me, and explain again!

You have a router with only one wired port, and no wireless. Via a CAT 5 cable, you connect this to your Desktop PC. Your TV also has a port, and you wish to connect it to the internet.

Two options:

1) Buy a new router - I know this isn't quite what you wanted, but it IS an option

2) What you want to hear! Buy a second network card for your Desktop computer, so you have two ports. Buy a second cable, and connect the TV to the new port on the computer:

Phone socket------------Router-------------PC---------------TV

When everything is connected to the PC, Start Orb > Network > Network and Sharing Centre > Managed Network Connections from left hand pane > use Control Click to select both of your NICs with the cables to the TV and Router in > right click > Bridge Connections > wait for ages while Vista sets it up.

That should be all. Then the Internet should work on both the computer and TV. Really simple. And from my experience, it has always worked perfectly first time.

Good luck!

Richard

That sounds perfect. Thanks very much for sharing!

Another question: what if besides internet sharing, I also like the sony bravia to see the home network?

Or if I have a windows xp pc and wants to add a second nic so i can put the nic capable hp printer into the home network?

Does bridging the connection means i'm essentially joining the sony tv into the home network?

Hello again!

The bridged internet will connect it to the network without any additional fuss. Done.

I am a bit confused where this extra computer comes in! If we follow this:

Phone socket------------Router-------------PC---------------TV

then there is actually no more space for another computer. Where are you planning to put it in? And the printer!

Are we looking at this then?:

Phone socket------------Router-------------Vista PC---------------TV
---------------------------|---------------------|
---------------------------|---------------------|
---------------------------|---------------------|
---------------------------------------------XP Computer ----------------------------Printer

Does the router have that extra port, or are you planning to connect along the red line?

Thanks!

Richard

Hi Richard,

Thanks for clarifying. That really helps!

I actually have another XP pc in a different room. That room has only one network cable coming in, but I have a laptop, a xp pc, and also a network capable hp printer.

I wanted to make sure the bridge connection will give me access to the local network, so that if I install 2 more NIC cards into the xp pc, I can then connect both the laptop and the hp printer onto the local network.

My goal is to get the laptop connected to internet, and then network the hp printer so that all the pcs in the house can utilize that printer.

Right now i am using a simple 5 port switch to add more network connection in that room with the xp pc. But i thought if i can get all the nic connection to happen from the xp pc, maybe i can disconnect the switch and save a little on electricity.

Anyway, i will give this a shot tonight.

Thanks again! I am really glad to have found you guys!

Theo

Good day to you Theo!

Just a few words or warning/advice. Networks are fickle. Getting computers to see each other over a router is extremely difficult. Getting XP and Vista to talk to each other is even harder.

Vista and 7 have upgraded all of the networking. It is now really simple, and works really well, but it a nightmare to get it chatting with XP. I spent a year and a half trying to get it to work. It never worked properly, completely as I wanted, but I learned a lot of tricks which I can share with you, and maybe together we can have some success

Tip one: Vista and XP use a different workgroup. A recipe for disaster, even though it should work - it really does NOT! Put everything in the house on the same workgroup. Already loads of things which previously didn't work, now will.

Have a look at the below setup:

XP Computer----------Vista Computer-----------Router------------Vista Computer

This is a recipe for absolute and total disaster, and hours of headaches! The XP and Vista won't talk. The two Vistas won't talk over the router. With much fiddling, I got the above setup (devoid of complications such as games consoles and laptops, iPhones, and PDAs) to sort of run.

The XP and Vista I could never get to share internet. With fiddling, I managed to get him Limited Connectivity, but no internet, but onto the File Share. Eventually, the machine got upgraded to Vista, plugged the cable in, Vista did some auto-configuring, and the setup I had been trying to get working for years worked first time without intervention. I loved Vista from that second on!

After that, the two Vistas over the router worked extremely unreliably. After about another year of fiddling, I had them seeing each other, but I couldn't open their File Share ("Network Path cannot be found")

As you can see, I may not be an absolute network guru, but I do have knowledge to impart. If all else fails, try going back to the switch.

I was asking for quite a complex network. It had internet, a File Share, a Forum, a local Intranet, a virtual server on my machine acting as a WSUS server and much more, all without a real server to act as a master browser.

My only other worry is how many NICs you are planning to give this XP. You can bridge each connection only in one direction, I believe, so to have two outputs from the XP, you would need four NICs, and two inputs.

I also really like this forum. It is just about the best forum on the internet, especially in terms of looking after its core elite. Many of us work on multiple forums, and this really is just about the best.

Glad you are with us!

Richard