HI I have one question. I know how to connect 2 PC together with a crossover cable. but now that I bought another PC, I would like to network them all. I bought a 4prt hub. Here's my question, I have to use straight through cable for anything that goes through the hub right? thanks

Hello Sissy: You are correct in assuming that you'll use straight through cables to connect the PC's to the hub. However, you mention nothing about internet access. I you have a cable or dsl connection, you MAY have to run a crossover cable from the uplink port on the hub to the modem, especially if running proxy software. Depends on the ISP. If you do have cable or dsl I'd return the hub and buy a cable/dsl router. They are as little as $50 these days. Good Luck!

sorry..OK here's what I got. 1 PC with 2nic card that is connect via cable modem. now I want to connect the other 2 PC to it, so that I can share the internet connection and files etc. how would you recommend of me doing so, keep in mind that I'm not really computer literate. right now I have 2 PC network via crossover cable. now how do I bring the 3rd one in, and what extra equipment or type of cables do I need. thanks for the reply.

Pick up a 4-port firewall router, like the Linksys or Netgear models. There's one advertised at www.outpost.com made by SMC that's not only 4-port but has a print server adapter (you can connect your printer directly to that and it will be available to all your PCs 24/7). Use a short straight-through CAT5 cable and connect the router's Input Port to the cable modem. Use straight-through CAT5 cables and connect all your PCs to the router's Output ports. Dump the 2nd NIC from your (former) primary computer: You don't need it anymore and it's hogging an Interrupt. Most personal-use firewall routers are pretty easy to set up and their tech support can walk you through the installation if need be.

one more question. then will these 3 PC with this settup be able to share files? thanks

You'll have to add file sharing between the computers but that's fairly straightforward. The procedure is covered in detail at www.practicallynetworked.com

How do you make a cross-over? I make my straight cables: white on orange, orange, white on green, blue, white on blue, green, white on brown, brown. What is the color arrangement for a cross-over? Thanks.