Okay I have tried all 3 methods of connecting the 2 computers. PPP. DHCP. Static IP. Not getting anywhere. I am connected with a cable modem. Hard Line. I have a Hawkins 4 Port Router. I have made it to the page to install but when I reboot the Cable modem doesn't recognize it at all. Am I missing something here? I am going from the cable to the modem. Then the from the modem to the WAN port on the router. Both computers in the LAN slots. Any suggestions on what I am doing wrong or how to beat this so I can have both computers up and running would be greatly appreciated.

I have 4 computers networked. First my cable internet is run into a router then into my father's computer then from the router to my main computer. I have a laptop and a barebones toy that i use which are hooked up a little differently. Mine is a triple boot computer running ME,2000 pro,and xp pro. My other two computers run win 98 se. I have my cable internet going into my windows xp machine through a standard PCI NIC card. Now for a twist, I use a USB to ethernet adapter from my xp machine to a Netgear 4 port ethernet hub, from the hub I can run my other connections to my other PCs. One of my other PC's is a laptop and I also use a USB ethernet adapter in it - the other is a workstation with a PCI NIC. Internet sharing and file sharing works great between all computers it even lets me remotely use the printer hooked up to the XP machine from the other computers. I'm an internet technician and i can tell you at first it took a little to get it all worked out but i figured out what i had to do. All i had to do was "bridge" my two network connections for the USB ethernet adapter (to the hub) and my cable internet connection and viola instant sharing to all...other than that nothing special was done

almost forgot...usually routers have to be setup for 1 computer at a time...if that's not the case powerdown everything, unplug the router and the modem from the power. Now, plug in ONE computer only to the router in the first port and make sure that the ethernet cable from the cable modem to the router is in the correct port and that the cable from the router is correctly inserted into the NIC card...Now, power up the modem first and WAIT until all the lights are on and done flashing, then power up the router, then the PC...test the internet or do an ipconfig in a command prompt to see if you are getting your ip address (not a windows ip addy but the ISP ip addy). It's the same process to add a second computer, power everything down (except you dont have to turn off your first PC i dont believe), plug in the second cable, power everything up in order: modem, router, PC. and you should have it. If not you might have some sort of TCP/IP issue where you're not transmitting any data...for that you may want to contact your ISP but they may not tech support a network setup - i know we dont but i hope this helps!

corey said alot for something that doesn't make sense. You've got it plugged in correctly (hardware-wise). It's just the software part that hasn't been set up. Since you can get to the router's install/config page, your network is set up correctly (at least partially). A normal test to see if a router works is to ping its ip address...since you can get to the page, that means that the first step is done. Next, you need to give your router info about your isp, so it knows how to connect to your isp. Your cable modem doesn't "recognize" your router or pc. All it does is convert signals between your end and the isp's end. The problem is that your router doesn't know what to say to the isp. If your cable connection is PPPoE, for example, you need to provide the username and password that you normally use to login. If your cable isp checks your MAC addresses, you'll need to have your router clone your computer's MAC address so that the router can "fool" the isp's computer into thinking it's your computer (some isp's, like mine, only allow one computer to login...your nic cards have builtin addresses, and your isp has saved it). Afterwards, if it still doesn't work, you'll need to check the router's other settings...like the firewall might be enabled, and might block all outgoing connections (ie: require you to open the outgoing ports), etc. I would highly doubt that, but you never know. My router also has things like MAC filters (I have to type in the MAC address of my computer so that the router will allow my computer to access the network and internet). If you need your mac address, then: xp: start->run->cmd (command prompt). Type: ipconfig /all win98: start->run->winipcfg

I got it everyone ...thanks for all your help.