I have a broad band cable network ( 3 computers - 1 host and 2 clients ). The cable modem is connected to a Lan card on the host and from a second Lan card on the host a connection goes out to a Hub/Switch. The 2 client computers are connected to the Hub. The Hub IP is configured at 192.168.0.1 and of course the IP configurations on the client computers are the same. The problem is this: Whenever the host computer reboots or shuts down and restarts, even though the IP config remains as it was before, unless I alter the Hub IP to 192.168.0.2 (or another number other than 1 ) and also configure the client computers the same, the client computers cannot connect. Once I do change the IP on the Hab and client computers then everything works fine. But as soon as the host computer needs to restart, the Hab and client IP's need to be changed yet again in order for the clients to be able to conenct. Maybe the problem lies somewhere on the host computer even though the host computer does receive ping replys from the clients and the Hub in every situation. I would be grateful if anyone has any suggestions. Philip

Firstly, the hub/switch does not have an IP of its own. The NIC of the host has it's IP and each other PC on your LAN should have a separate different IP. It seems you know how to set IP addresses in your Network Connections properties. Next instead of using Internet connection sharing why don't you have a look at 602ProLan Suite which has a free proxy server program. You instal the proxy on the host machine and then configure the internet connections on the clients to access the net using the host IP. I've been using this setup for over a year without any problems. They have a version that's free for home use up to 5 clients. http://software602.com/

Thanks for your reply Richard. Each of the computers do have a different IP and the NIC of the host is assigned usually at 192.168.0.1 for the hub. Having said that there is a chance that I may have found the root of the problem. It seems that somehow XP installed the Lan card of the hub twice -and it tells me that the first is a "ghost" as it is not physically on the host. But it is assigned at 192.168.0.1. Each time I try to configure the Lan card that is physically on the host to 192.168.0.1 it tells me that this IP is already assigned to the "ghost" Lan card. So there is every chance that there is some conflict between the two. As the "ghost" card is not physically in the host it can't be uninstalled and it seems the only way to nuetralize it is through the registry. Thanks for your suggestion on the 602ProLan suite and I will check it out. Philip