Assalam u ALikum and Hi,
I have one cable net connection and I want to share it with two pcs. Both pcs are in same room, both P4s both have Windows XP and Lan cards. I think its not that impoirtant to tell but one at a time will use internet connection. How can I share the internet connection? Please list me the most economical solutions and as many as they are and with the exact description of the hardware that is necesarry for such networking. Will I be able to share local files amongst these PCs through this networking? Please reply asap its urgent.

Regards

Ali

You will need a router/switch to accomplish this. A router usually includes a firewall, and most include at least 4 ports to connect PC's. The router connects to the modem, and the two PC's would connect to the router. You would be able to access the files of the PC across the network. Both PC's would be able to access the internet at the same time.

You can get a router for as little as $30 USD. Here's some examples: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2050400028+1138710151&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=28

This would be my personal recommendation: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833124001

Northwind's reply is correct, as long as you are using high-speed internet that connects to one computer through the LAN card. There are many routers available for $20-$30 that will have a port for the high-speed modem, then four ports for individual computers. You will require one of these modems and a total of three LAN cables (all straight-through, no crossover cables).

To answer your other questions, if you set this up properly, there will be no problems in sharing files between computers.

If, on the other hand, you are using dial-up internet access, you're going to need a program on one of the computers to share it's connection with the other. I suspect, however, that this is not the case. If it is, reply here and we can probably dig up more suggestions for you.

Thanks all, my internet sharing problem is solved. I bought used switch for approx $6.5 with 8 ports and its working fine. But file sharing is not happening, one of my XP PC is showing sharing and securtiy option when I rightclick the drives but other is not. Please help me out on this. I bought a new PC with greater storage and want to transfer my digital photographs and movies (3.5 G) to that one. I hope that you can help me out on this.