You need a cross-over cable between 2 NIC's
You should also set the NIC speeds explicitly becuase you can't rely on auto negotiation in this scenario.
Main Topics
Browse All TopicsHey All. I have a problem trying to share my internet connection with my roommate. We recently had a router (To avoid any swearing we will leave it at that). Now I am trying to set up my computer as a gateway for his. I have a 2 NIC's and when I connect his cable to the network card, no lights. His works fine connected directly to the modem. amd mine works fine going through either NIC. I am pretty new to this VPN stuff so any info you can give would help a lot! Info about our computers...WinXP Pro, Linksys (Mine) & HP (His) NIC's, Connection: RoadRunner, Stress Level: High. My internet works great, no connectivity problems. I can't really do anything until I can figure out a way to get the "Network Cable Unplugged" to dissapear.
This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.
Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.
If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.
Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.
Access the answers to your technology questions today.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Try it out and discover for yourself.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.
I am getting rid of the router and switching to a LAN type connection. What is a cross over cable? I thought doing this would be pretty easy, but it's proving rather frustrating! The way I am trying to do this is have my roommates conputer connect to my 2nd LAN card, then using my computer as the gateway to the internet. I assumed (bad idea) that I could just set up my computer as the gateway, but that is showing its self as not the case. Let me know if you need any other info.
Hello,
Here is a better explaination of a cross-over cable.
A crossover cable is a cable just like CAT5 but with the transmit and receive wires crossed over. It all works the same way with positive and negative. The whole point of crossover cables is to send information through the cable and receive information at the other end. Network cards can only send and receive through the lines and sockets they are meant to be sent/received on. This is why there are pairs - to send and receiving simitainiously. (whole point about full-duplex).
NIC's are setup in the following way:
NIC 1 NIC 2
TX + TX +
TX - TX -
RX + RX +
RX - RX -
You cannot receive on the same line your transmitting with.
Therefore this is what the crossover cable does:
NIC 1 NIC 2
TX + oo TX +
TX - o TX -
RX + o RX +
RX - oo RX -
NIC 1 NIC 2
TX + TX +
TX - oo TX -
RX + oo RX +
RX - RX -
NIC 1 NIC 2
TX + oo TX +
TX - o TX -
RX + o RX +
RX - oo RX -
NIC 1 NIC 2
TX + TX +
TX - oo TX -
RX + oo RX +
RX - RX -
With a regular CAT5 cable, you have the following - creating packet collisions.
NIC 1 NIC 2
TX + <|> TX +
TX - <|> TX -
RX + RX +
RX - RX -
The reason why we use patch cables for switches, hubs, and routers, is because the hub/switch/router already has the cross-over connection made inside the box.
Engineering Lesson Provided By
Andrew Salmons
since you problably aren't going to make your own cable go to a store tell them you want a cat5 crossover cable they should be able to sell you one or at least give you a converter. - if converter you will need another cat5 cable.
Or buy a small hub or switch - I would get a switch because they are better at handling traffic and you can use it to setup a network at home when you are out of school. Its only like 10 bucks more for something worth twice as much... Then connect both the second NIC to the switch and the other computer to the switch. It will take care of itself and you should be able to follow the rest of my directions to get it setup.
After settng all this up and being able to look at the other computer---- throught the network. Activate Internet Connection Sharing on your computer and the other one should be able to skip through yours to the internet.
Good luck
Business Accounts
Answer for Membership
by: gg711Posted on 2002-12-27 at 16:18:44ID: 7638086
use a direct computer to computer network cable, if you are plugging NIC to NIC
If not try using a different Cat5 cable... Not sure why you have a router if you have two NIC's. Doesn't make sense to me. please explain further.