Sharing Eithernet Cord/Connecting 2 Mac Problems

[poppe]

Hello,

I'm new to Mac's and I am just curious if you all could settle my problem. My roommate and I just recently got the internet, and will be getting a wireless router soon. Our problem how ever is that the cable box given to us only has one ethernet port, so we have to pass the ethernet cable back and forth to each other. We have a lot of problems doing this however. It is not plug in the cable and the Mac recognizes it. When we do try to connect we have to go unplug the router and then run the system preferences diagnostics. Eventually that works it out.

So is there an easier way that having to restart the cable box router (i think that's what it is) and running the diagnostic app?

 

[Reflow]

Well the best way would be to get a cheap router and go from there. As we speak I do have a Brand New belkin 4 port router that I can sell you for cheap. Just LMK

 

[Westside guy]

Hi,

The first poster was right - get a home router that's designed for sharing DSL/cable internet connections (usually referred to as a "broadband router" or a "cable/dsl home router").

The reason you're running into problems when you switch cables in your current setup is your ISP (cable, dsl, whatever) sets things up as if you have one computer. So you plug in a computer, it gets a DHCP address, and the ISP makes a note of that computer's MAC (network card) address. Then you go to plug in the other computer, and the ISP's server says "hey wait a minute - this location already has this set up, and it wasn't with this MAC address". A home router will solve this because the only MAC address your ISP will see is your router's MAC.

There's also a small security advantage to using a broadband router, because it will provide you and your roommate's computers with private IP addresses by using what's known as NAT - Network Address Translation. It means you can see the outside world, but they can't see you (well it's possible for you to do stuff to allow them to see you, but by default they can't).

Wireless routers like Airport Express or Airport Extreme let you share the broadband connection without plugging in at all. Companies like D-Link (who I like a lot) and Linksys make wireless routers, routers that do both wireless and wired, and wired-only routers. If money is tight you can get a cheap D-Link router for (probably) around thirty bucks US.

 

[poppe]

Well the best way would be to get a cheap router and go from there. As we speak I do have a Brand New belkin 4 port router that I can sell you for cheap. Just LMK

Oh thank you for the offer, but I already have one on order just waiting for it to be shipped...

Hi,

The first poster was right - get a home router that's designed for sharing DSL/cable internet connections (usually referred to as a "broadband router" or a "cable/dsl home router").

The reason you're running into problems when you switch cables in your current setup is your ISP (cable, dsl, whatever) sets things up as if you have one computer. So you plug in a computer, it gets a DHCP address, and the ISP makes a note of that computer's MAC (network card) address. Then you go to plug in the other computer, and the ISP's server says "hey wait a minute - this location already has this set up, and it wasn't with this MAC address". A home router will solve this because the only MAC address your ISP will see is your router's MAC.

There's also a small security advantage to using a broadband router, because it will provide you and your roommate's computers with private IP addresses by using what's known as NAT - Network Address Translation. It means you can see the outside world, but they can't see you (well it's possible for you to do stuff to allow them to see you, but by default they can't).

Wireless routers like Airport Express or Airport Extreme let you share the broadband connection without plugging in at all. Companies like D-Link (who I like a lot) and Linksys make wireless routers, routers that do both wireless and wired, and wired-only routers. If money is tight you can get a cheap D-Link router for (probably) around thirty bucks US.

Ahhh i never thought about any of that. OK thanks a lot for clearing that up

 

[bigbossbmb]

if the computers are close enough, (which i assume they are if you are able to pass the cable back and forth) then just get a cheap ethernet switch. It will work just fine. This is how I have both of my desktops attached to the same cable modem. There are a lot of these for under $15 at newegg.

 

[Westside guy]

Ahhh i never thought about any of that. OK thanks a lot for clearing that up

Once your router is plugged in, you may have have to run the setup/diagnostic program one more time - since that'll be yet another new MAC address. But after that you should be good to go.

 

[poppe]

if the computers are close enough, (which i assume they are if you are able to pass the cable back and forth) then just get a cheap ethernet switch. It will work just fine. This is how I have both of my desktops attached to the same cable modem. There are a lot of these for under $15 at newegg.

I was thinking about it to save money and all, but I really hate having my headphone cords, my mag safe, and my ethernet cord all lounging on my bed getting tangled. So one less cord is one less cord

 

[Westside guy]

I was thinking about it to save money and all, but I really hate having my headphone cords, my mag safe, and my ethernet cord all lounging on my bed getting tangled. So one less cord is one less cord

Also, given your current experience when switching the cable back and forth - I don't think this will work for you, since both computers would be trying to pull a DHCP address directly from your ISP. You'll likely run into exactly the same problems; just minus the hand swapping of the cable.

You really need something like a router, which will only expose one MAC address to your ISP.