I've been using up to this point a dial up ISP ,Iam finally getting broadband installed next Friday. Now my newer of the two PC's I have already has a NIC card installed ,my ?'s are first of all can I network a PC running WindowsXP to a PC with WindowsMe O/S ,so my kids can take advantage of the faster internet service with there PC which is in the same room as the other PC and they sit right next to each other. If yes what additionial hardware would I need to network these two PC's together. The newer of the two is a Dell XPS400 2.8GHz Dual Core 3G.B.DDR2 RAM the other PC is a P3 750MHz 256 SDRAM ,I still have alot of H.D. space available on the older PC aprx 26G.B.'s and if needed I could always buy a 2'nd HD to use ? I just bought my son the 16GB I-Touch/I-Pod ,thats what gave me the push I needed to switch over to cable internet, he cant even use the I-Touch untill I download I-Tunes from the Apple web site and its much to large of a download for a dial up ISP . Any suggestions on getting the ability to have my kids able to use this service on the older PC would be great,I have nightmares when I think of them constantly on my Dell PC ! Thanks to All Nick

You need to purchase a router. Your ISP should supply a cable modem. As you are getting cable make sure you get a router the can be used with cable and not a ADSL router with built in modem. Unless you want wireless a wired router is not that expensive. I wouldn't worry to much about wireless unless portability is your objective which it doesn't appear to be in this case. You should have no problems networking a Windows ME machine with windows XP machine. Once they are networked the different operating systems or of no relevance. I have had Windows XP networked with Windows 3.1. Stuart

As stated above, you will need a router. Basically, it acts as a splitter.The modem supplies the broadband signal to the router, then the router distributes it to the PCs. Wired routers are relatively cheap...wireless are usually more expensive. If you have any intentions of ever going wireless or getting a laptop with wireless capabilities (you may already have one?), a wireless router may be the way to go because they also double as a wired router...they have several wired ports just like a wired (non-wireless) router PLUS the wireless capability. And if the WinME system doesn't have onboard LAN or a network card, you'll obviously have to get one & probably a cable too.

Can't beat these: http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?in... http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?in...

They look like good deals, Wish we could get stuff that cheap in the UK. Stuart

Yeah, the Geeks have great deals, but sometimes you gotta watch out for the "cheap-Chinese" stuff they sometimes have (yes, I know almost everything is made in China, but you know what I mean...). I've had several of the USB 2.0 interface cards come in as defective, but they're too cheap to justify returning. Just look for most brand-name stuff from them and you won't likely go wrong (best deal is the Philips DVD blank media when it's on sale for $9.99/box of 50)

Every pci ethernet adapter I own has a Realtek chipset. Never had a problem with any of 'em and I think the most expensive was $14.99USD. They seem to work on any board/any OS I plug them into. If you don't already have some RJ45 network cables, try to talk the installer out of some while he's there. Skip