I have a modem with 2 ethernet cable outputs on the back of it. One of the outputs goes to my mums computer and the other to mine. I don't use a router or hub just the 2 ports on the back of the modem. The problem is i don't seem to be getting a proper IP and when i do ipconfig in DOS prompt it tells me my IP is 10.0.0.1 . I think this is affecting my transfer speeds because i can never get good transfer rates through msn and other programs. Can anybody explain what might be going on please? Thanks Nik

is your ip address hard set into windows as 10.0.0.1?

How do i check that out??

I'm assuming IPConfig shows 10.0.0.1 as the IP Address for your "Ethernet Local Area Connection" ? Your modem has the normal, public IP, and that 10.0.0.1 address is the private IP of your computer. Private means the number is unique on your homenetwork - not unique on the net, like your public IP needs to be. Your slow speeds are probably due to the fact that your modem or firewall is hiding/has closed [all] ports, which is normally a good thing because it protects you, but if you want to share files, then you need to open one or more port(s) (depends on the program). Opening a port is also called port-forwarding. You forward control over that port to a specified IP. How to open a port in Windows XP: START>All Programs>Accessories>Communications> Network Connections Rightclick your "Internet Connection" which should be in the list of connections. Press the "Settings" button which will bring up the "Services" page. This is where you can add the port-forwarding. Press the "add" button, and then, in your case: ▫ Description of service: Type in any title you like. ▫ Name or IP address: this is the IP that will get control over the port. So type in 10.0.0.1 ▫ External Port: you'll have to check which port needs to be open. MSN's help pages will tell you ▫ Internal Port: just type in the same portnumber as the external port. ▫ TCP or UDP: most of the time, TCP is used, so select that. Only certain programs use UDP (which is faster). Apply. The port is now open. Depending on which firewall you use, you may also have to tell your firewall that the program is allowed to use that port you opened. Don't forget to remove the port-forwarding entry that you added, once you don't need it anymore. ___________________________________________ ☺ [Belgium, GMT+1]_________________________svg

Thanks buddy i'll try it out now and let you know how it goes.. Just one other question, say i wanted to take my mums computer off of the network and give my computer the public IP instead of the private one the modem is giving it, how would i go about doing that?

Ok i fowarded all the ports that MSN uses for file transfers which were 6891-6900. I'm still having the same trouble with slow transfer rates though..

Some questions from me too :) ▫ Are you running a firewall? Which one? Tried it after disabling the firewall? ▫ Check whether those ports you forwarded are indeed showing up as "open". Do the ShieldsUp!(halfway down the page I linked to below) test at GRC. Type 6891-6900 into the textbox, and run a "custom port probe" (or whatever it's called). ShieldsUp! (GRC.com) ▫ Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) should be disabled on both machines, I think. Have you checked that? Look up ICS in Help&Support for how to check that. ▫ I don't think you can keep the modem from having the public IP. The only way for your computer to hold the public IP is by connecting it directly to your incoming line, but it depends on what connectors you have to do that(modem built-in). Even so, port-forwarding is a valid way to make your modem "transparant" for those ports, so I'd keep trying to make it work with the modem. ▫ What's the brand/model of the modem? ▫ have you tried it with your mums computer unplugged from the modem? ▫ I don't know how exactly MSN works, but it may involve an MSN-server in the middle, and if that server is having trouble coping with the traffic, then your speeds depends on that server, regardless of your setup. I'm not 100%sure this is the case, though. ___________________________________________ ☺ [Belgium, GMT+1]_________________________svg