Hey I have 4 computers connect to the net using my router I was told to connect another computer I would have to direct connect with ethernet cable anyway I done that and I can share files trough network places but for some reason I cannot acess net on the 5th computer can anyone help me??

So I'll assume that you took the 5th computer and directly connected it to computer #4 which has 2 Ethernet ports on it. If that's the case then you need to turn on "Internet Connection Sharing" on Computer #4. This will solve your problem. If my assumption is wrong... can you provide more details as to how exactly your systems are connected?

Hey i have 4 computers connect to the net using my router i was told to connect another computer i would have to direct connect with ethernet cable anyway i done that and i can share files trough network places but for some reason i cannot acess net on the 5th computer can anyone help me???
Computer no 4 which has the onboard ethernet and additional ethernet card on it won't allow ics active it keeps saying that a duplicate ip address already exists and I don't know how cause the sis ethernet that connects to router is set for obtain auto ip and the ethernet connecting the two pc's has a totally different ethernet the pc's talk to each other and files can be transferred from one to the other but just can not get the internet to share.

Before you can use Computer #5 and #4 you need to make #5 DHCP. Then you need to unassign any static address you've given to #4's internal connection (call it LAN connection) so switch it back to DHCP. #4's internet facing connection is the WAN in this case. Then you should be able to turn on ICS. However, I think what's happening is that as soon as you turn on ICS then it wants to assign an IP address block that is already used on the WAN side of #4. So you may have to change the WAN side of #4 IP block to something other than what ICS is trying to assign. If I'm not mistaken ICS wants to use 192.168.0.x.

Why not just get another switch. You can get a 4 port Ethernet switch for under $20. Then connect the switch to the Uplink port of the router and you can now add 3 more devices. You will probably have to move Computer #4 to the switch and then plug in computer #5.

You also need to make sure the cable is a crossover cable.

Comments on this post

mickeyv (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/members/mickeyv.html) agrees: thank you Scottgem that is what I have decided to do but I will replace the router with a 6 port ethernet switch instead.


You can't just replace the router. The router provides your DHCP and NAT to connect you to the Internet. A Switch won't do that. You can daisy chain switches easily.