Computer help!!!

[Littleguy15]

I figured I would ask this hear first before going an looking for a computer forum. Anyways, I have cable internet, well atleast my parents have cable internet and I use to play my ps2 online in the same room as our computer. Well now we dont have a tv hooked up by our computer and I want to make it so I can play my xbox 360 (WHen I get one) and my ps2 in my room. Also to make things easier I am going to get a router. This is where I run into my first problem. I took a closer look at our cable modem it is connected to our computer via usb not ethernet, and I cant seem to find a router that has a usb hook-up then several ethernet ports which I can run to my gaming systems. If anyone has any input it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[LoneJeeper]

i'd be willing to bet there's an ethernet jack on the cable modem. If not, you can do "Connection Sharing", and use your PC to provide internet connectivity to your other items, or just a switch. Be aware, that it will have decreased speeds... but i doubt it would be noticible, due to the fact that the bottleneck is the cable internet protocol.

It might also be worth a shot to see if your ISP can provide an ethernet-enabled Modem.

kd

[Littleguy15]

thanks for the fast reply. Yeah our cable modem has a ethernet jack. It's the toshiba pcx 2200 modem. Since it has a ethernet jack, what does that mean? Could I run ethernet cord form the modem to the router and it still work with the usb running from the modem the the computer?

[LoneJeeper]

yup. cat-5 cable(ethernet) to the router/switch/hub ( avoid a hub if possible) and run cat-5 cable to the PS2/XBOX. You could even run the cat-5 to the PC, it will be faster than the USB connection... and, you can configure the switch easily... also, you can configure a higher level of security in your little network.

kd

[Jorge Sanchez]

Your modem must have an ethernet cable if you were previously using it to play your PS2 online.

[Littleguy15]

Yeah I read somewhere that it would be faster, but whenever I try to change something on here or make something better on the computer then something bad happens I get the blame. Now I am just curious. Would the router make the intenet slower if i was on the xobx and one of my parents was surfing the web? Anyhow you seem to know alot about this sutff do you have any recommendations for a cheap, but yet still good router.

[LoneJeeper]

this sort of thing is my bag baby.

I would guess that the speed difference would be minimal. perhaps streaming audio/video would suffer... chances are the sounds of SoComIII would drown out their complaints.

I would go to wally-world and get a netgear switch... and a few cat-5 cables. should be 40-60$.

kd

[Littleguy15]

I have been having problems getting online with my ps2. Its with the dnas authentication part of the connection something about error 611. It don't really bother me not play it online anymore since I have the xbox 360 preordered for the january shipment, but since I am having problems getting online with the ps2 would that cause problems on xbox 360 live.

[Jorge Sanchez]

My point is that you need either an ethernet cable or a regular phone line to get online with a PS2. If you could get online with your PS2 using your cable connection, you were using the ethernet cable. If you were using the ethernet cable on your PS2, you can buy a router with an ethernet, and not USB, connection.

[Littleguy15]

I got that already. Our modem does have an ethernet port, but our computer is using the usb port to connect our computer to the web. I just wanted to make sure that I could still use the usb port for the internet, but also use a ethernet cord to put in the ehternet port to connect to a router.

[Jorge Sanchez]

Gotcha!

[WBBIRL]

I got that already. Our modem does have an ethernet port, but our computer is using the usb port to connect our computer to the web. I just wanted to make sure that I could still use the usb port for the internet, but also use a ethernet cord to put in the ehternet port to connect to a router.

It cant server both the USB and Ethernet connections at the same time. Drop the USB cable in the trash and forget it. Go to the local computer hardware and pickup a 10$ NIC and install in the PC. Then buy a good netgear router and set that up. Pick yourself up some cat-5 cables of whatever length you need. You may have to, and I would anyway, forward some ports through the router.

[Littleguy15]

I am not a computer guy so I dont know what an NIC is. And I also do not know anything about forwarding any ports. So now your telling me that I cannot use the usb for the internet and still use the ethernet port to use a router at the same time?

[WBBIRL]

What im saying is, that if your using a router in the first place just ditch the usb and sever ALL internet connections with the router.

Hook a cat 5 cable into the modem and put the other end into the router (its marked as the master or incomming connection and is usually seperate from the other cat 5 slots). Then with the first open connection put a cat 5 cable from the router to the computer, computer now has internet. With the second through however many are left (will vary depending upon which model you purchase usually 4-8 though) you can either hook up extra computers or video game consoles like a PS2 or XBOX.

A NIC (network interface card) is an etherent connection card for your computer, I assume your computer doesnt have a ethernet port (check anyhow) becuase you use the USB connector. If indeed the computer dosent have an ethernet port them you can buy a card (NIC) to give it one for as cheaply as 10$ Then just have the whole household run on ethernet which is much more reliable. The NIC for your computer, the cat 5 of various lenghts, and the netgear router should run you no more then a combined total of 100$ Its worth every cent.

[WBBIRL]

And just to repsond, I've already been playing madden 2005 online while both my brother and mother were on two sepearte computers using the internet. My router/cable modem served 2 demanding connections (me playing madden 05 and my brother playing call of duty) and 1 less demanding (my mother playing on pogo, instant messaging, and web surfing).

My madden 05 was completly lag free and my latency was under 50 ms. My brother was completly lag free playing with under 100 ms latency. Both situations are very good for gaming.

[Shao-LiN]

Playing a game online isn't all too demanding of your connection. If one computer was uploading (say through P2P or bittorrent), then you would notice a definate slowdown depending on whether or not you limit the upload bandwidth to a fraction of your total upload bandwidth. The upstream part of your bandwidth is the bottleneck, which is more of a problem if you use general ADSL speeds.

I've had multiple MMORPG (on the order of 5 to 6, which I think would be somewhat more demanding than a FPS and sports sim) systems running w/ very little slowdown in latency.

[Littleguy15]

I found out some good news this morning. I looked at the back of our computer and right next to the two usb ports you can use to connect the computer to the internet was a ethernet port. I took the usb cord out and put the ethernet cord in and I was recieving signals or atleast thats what I got from looking at the modem, but I couldnt get on the internet. Do you have to configure the ethernet before you can use it to make a full connection?

[LoneJeeper]

you have to go to your 'network connections' and see what it says. did you get any notification on the PC that a cable was connected? the NIC might be disabled. also, you might have to reset the cable modem to get it to recognise that theres's connection there. You'll also have to go to internet explorer, go to tools, internet options, and change your LAN settings.

[mrelwooddowd]

On the internet options, make sure it's set for "never dial a connection." That's basically all you have to do in windows to get online using ethernet, unless someone's got a bunch of stuff altered.

Also, if you get a router you're most likely going to need a crossover cable for the link between the modem and the internet feed port on the router. It's reversed on the router side, so the cable makes up for that. I have one of the walmart "network everywhere" routers, and it took me quite a while to figure this out. I read later in my CCNA study guide that most routers require a crossover.

A good PC forum is www.thatcomputerguy.us

They aren't incredibly fast, but they're very good.

[Shao-LiN]

http://forums.anandtech.com is another good forum.