Home Office Computer Set. Help Needed (1 Viewer)

[James_S]

ADIM: Please move if in wrong area. Thanks


OK Guys and Gals,

Help me out here. I am setting up a small office in my house. I currently have two computers set-up. I want to “link” the two. I want to be able to use the Internet on both and also to share one printer. I do not need access to one computer to the other (share files and programs).

How do I go about this?

I was looking at stuff and this is what I came up with

1 - Ethernet hub-port to connect both computers to share DSL.
1 - Printer switch box with DB25 cables to share one printer.

PS: One computer is an older Pentium 150 and I will have to install an Ethernet LAN PCI Adapter

Is this the fastest cheapest way? Or is there another way to do this?

Thanks in advance,


James

 

[Ted Lee]

yep. that's about the easiest way i can think of.

i did something similar:

1. hooked up two pc's with my linksys hub
2. installed a proxy program (can't remember the name now..."X" something) on both pc's
3. had a switchbox to share my printer

that way, my "secondary" pc just went through my first one via the proxy app.

worked perfectly!

 

[LewB]

I don't think you need the printer switch and extra cables, here's what I did:
Connect the printer to machine A.
Assure that the file and printer sharing service is enabled on the NIC card of machine A.
Go into the properties of the printer of machine A and enable sharing.
Install a new printer on machine B using the install software for the printer. You may need to tell it that it's on LPT1 for starters. After the installation, go to the printer properties and change the port that the printer uses from LPT1 to the port that looks like: \machineAprinter.
I did this so that my WinNT laptop can use my XP attached printer. Works nice. Good luck !

 

[Chad Ellinger]

I think your best bet is to by a small cable/dsl router. You can get one with 4 ports for under $50 these days, and it alone will accomplish everything you're looking for. Basically, you will plug your DSL modem and two computers into the router. Set up the printer on one of the computers and enable printer sharing on that PC. You also have the option of buying a router with a built-in print server.

The advantages of a router are:
1) No additional software to install on either PC.
2) One PC does not have to be on in order to share the internet connection.
3) The router acts as a firewall, protecting the PCs on your network.

Good luck!

 

[Charles J P]

I agree, get a router. I have been using one PC to share the cable modem connection with the other PCs in the household for a long time and it really was never very smooth. Now I use a belkin cable modem/dsl 4 port router and I can hook one output from the router to the uplink in my old hub and have a total of 7 always-on internet connections. Its much easier, and the "host" pc doesnt always have to be on.

 

[James_S]

Guys Thanks for the help.

I will head out today a pick one up, and let you know if I need other help.

James