Does anyone know how to share a DSL account on two computers? My parents have a DSL account through Bellsouth and I am stuck in my bedroom using Dial Up.
Bellsouth offers a networking package for an additional 10 bucks a month, but I thought you could simply network the computers and share the account, but I may be wrong.
My computer already has an Ethernet card and I have been hooked up to broadboand previously. I was wondering if there might be some kind of Ethernet cable that might have one plug turn into two where I could hook both computers to the DSL at the same time, but that seems like it would just be too simple. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
All you need to do is a buy a DSL router; I use this one, and it works like a charm at a damn cheap price too.
Some ISP’s don’t officially allow connection sharing, and want to charge an extra fee for networking more than one computer to a single account. But it doesn’t matter because they’ll never know.
If your computers are far apart, it might be worth the extra cash to buy a wireless router so you don’t have to deal with messy cables.
Router would be the easiest way to go. You could also put a 2nd NIC in your parents PC and use ICS(Internet Connection Sharing), assuming they are running a ME or later windows OS(not to say other OS’s DONT do this, I just don’t know what they are).
Thanks I will definately check it out. Currently our computers are about 15 feet apart so that shouldn’t be that big of an issue. How difficult is all of this to set up?
Well, I have a router with my cable connection, and there was really no setup involved aside from physicaly hooking up the cables.
I’m not familiar with DSL routers, so there might be a few extra configuration steps with the router itself, but it’s not likely that it’ll be very difficult.
Of course, having a very basic understanding of computer networking is a plus.
Err…BellSouth, you say? I’m stuck with them, too. They use PPPoE, which introduces a new wrinkle into your plans.
Does the DSL modem in your parents’ room connect to their computer via USB or Ethernet? BellSouth has always been pretty fond of handing out the crappy USB modems. If you have one of these, and it’s not an Alcatel SpeedTouch (blue/green colored and shaped like a stingray), you’re going to have to use ICS and a crossover cable to share the connection. If you have the SpeedTouch and want to shell out $139, the Draytek Vigor 2200 USB Router is the only router on the market that supports USB modems. It only supports certain models, though, and the only supported modem both BS and Draytek have in common is the SpeedTouch.
If you’re lucky and the DSL comes into your parents’ computer via Ethernet, setup will be easy (though not as easy as if you didn’t have to deal with this PPPoE mess in the first place). You’ll need to make sure the router you buy supports PPPoE. Then you just connect your modem to the router’s WAN port and your PCs to the LAN ports. Follow the router manual’s instructions to access the router’s web interface via a PC, and set it to automatically enter your PPPoE username and password.
Of course the above is only valid if your DSL is PPPoE, but I’m pretty sure all BellSouth DSL has that “feature.” If your parents have to enter a username and password (usually using Dial-Up Networking) to connect to their DSL when they first turn on their computer, it’s PPPoE.
Ok, so you have 2 computers 15 feet apart. One gets a DSL connection, the other has dial up but also has an ethernet card.
You haven’t specified the OSes running on these computers… so I shall assume Windows XP (although it will work for other OSes as well).
Things you need:
One more ethernet card for the PC getting the DSL connection.
A cross-over ethernet cable (wire).
OR
One more ethernet card for the PC getting the DSL connection.
Two normal ethernet cables (wires).
A hub.
OR
A router.
Two normal ethernet cables (wires).
If you get a cross-over ethernet cable, you don’t need a hub or router.
Now, install another ethernet card on the PC getting the DSL connection. Then connect the cross-over ethernet cable between that ethernet card and the ethernet card on your PC.
Setup Internet Connection Sharing on the other PC. If you want more control over the shared connection or if the OS version you are using does not support Internet Connection Sharing, you can always use software such as Wingate to handle the connection sharing.
If you get a Router, you don’t need an additional ethernet card on the other PC. You just plug the DSL connection into the router, and connect one ethernet cable each into the 2 PCs. The router will handle the rest.
If you get a hub, you still need an additional ethernet card on the other PC, and you still need Internet Connection Sharing or software like Wingate installed to share the connection. You do not need a cross-over ethernet cable.
If you get a cross-over ethernet cable (the cheapest option) you basically don’t need a hub as long as the connection remains between 2 PCs.
If you can’t afford a router, you don’t really need to get a router to enjoy a shared broadband connection.
Good deal. You must have been one of the lucky ones that got the SpeedTouch Home (as opposed to the regular SpeedTouch I mentioned earlier). The only thing you’ll really need to remember then, is to make sure the router you get supports PPPoE. I’m pretty sure the cheap Linksys routers you often see in stores support it.
Now you won’t have have to enter a username and password to logon. The router does it for you. Your connection will be active from the time you turn the computer on until the time you turn it off (unless you disable the network card or something, of course).
Just set both computers to obtain an IP address automatically (after statically setting one up to configure your router’s web interface for PPPoE - if this sounds confusing at all, just read the manual - it’s really quite easy) and you’ll always be connected.
I have BellSouth DSL that comes in as direct Ethernet. In addition to my PC, I have another 2 PCs and an X-Box connected via a wireless router from Linksys (the X-Box also needed an Ethernet - wireless bridge). The set up was very easy.