Hi, I have two computers running windows 2000. One is already connected to a LAN and has permanent Internet connection that I want to share with my second computer. What hardware do I need? if you know, please also tell me the type of the cable to be used. Thanks!

When you say it is "already connected to a LAN" what is it connected to? If it is a hub then you should have additional ports to connect additional PCs. Use a cat 5 (category 5 cable with RJ-45) connectors from each PCs ethernet (NIC) card to the hub. That's about it hardware wise. Of course you'll have to configure each PC's NIC for either DHCP or Static IP.

Thank you for answering. The first computer is connected to the LAN using a cable modem and an Ethernet card (RJ-45). I only want to share Internet, networking or file/printer sharing is not very necessary. Just the simplest way to connect those two. (about setting up: Well, I found some good documents about this on the Internet but haven't read them yet. They however don't mention about hardware)

Alright, here's the picture I have. W2k--NIC--cable modem Other Computer Basically, the Windows 2000 machine is connected directly to the cable modem with a network card. The other computer is just sort of there. There are a couple of ways to do this. The first: Buy 2 more network cards, a hub, and some cabling. Put one NIC in the W2k machine and the other in your second computer. Run cabling from the computers to a hub. Install windows internet connection sharing (Or my personal favorite, NAT32, or some other network address translation software) on the W2k machine. Tell the second computer to let windows pick it's ip address (The NAT/Internet Connection Sharing software will assign an ip address to it... this is simple.) What you will have is: W2k<--NIC--Cable Modem \-NIC----Networking Cable--| Hub Other Computer --NIC--Cabling--| The problem: Now your W2k machine needs to be turned on before the other computer (or any computers you add) can access the internet. Solution 2: Buy a DSL/Cable Modem Router or a "broadband" hub. These devices will work as the NAT software, only in a hardware package. Some will require that you give every computer in your house a static ip address. Others will automatically assign ip address as the software in the above example did. The good thing about this is that neither one of your computers needs to be online 24/7 (or whenever you want to be online) Instead the broadband hub or router will stay online all of the time. I personally, prefer the broadband hub because it's simplier and takes the function of a normal hub. The router, however, will likely be more configurable, and if you get a good one, might include some decent firewall software. These configurations would look like: W2k-NIC---------| Broadband Hub--Cable Modem O. Computer ----| Or: W2k-NIC---------| Hub--Router--Cable Modem O. Computer ----| Problem: This solution will likely cost a lot more. Personally, I would probably go with the first solution because I'm cheap. I would also skip the hub and put in a cross-over cable instead. That's fine if you don't plan to get anymore computers. If I had money I'd go with the 2nd solution and the broadband hub because it's easy to set up and allows me to turn of my computers at will... BTW, if you plan to serve a website from the Win2k machine, you might want to stay with solution #1. Having that computer behind a firewall (as the broadband hub and router essentially are) could make it difficult to run the webserver...

In addition to the above info, you might find it useful to have a good read/browse of: http://www.dslreports.com - for dsl sharing issues; & and most applies to cable; http://www.practicallynetworked.com - check under the sharing section; covers dun/cable/dsl; http://www.helmig.com - good clear tutorials for LAN etc; also has good ICS etc. sections Tim Higgins (second link) is excellent for all aspects of ISP sharing; but good to check out all three links, as they all provide clear text and graphical explanations - more than can reasonably be duplicated here?

so in any case I will need a hub? I've read somewhere that to connect only two PCs the necessary hardware is just 3 NIC and one piece of cable? I can't find that document, and I'm not sure if it is to share file/printer only, or also Internet. However, it was kind of you to spend time for my novice question. Thanks!