I think that is quite possible - on the basis that SP2 introduced the windows firewall amongst other things. Rolling back seems a little severe though...
The point is that regardless of the cause of the problem, a router is much more efficient and reliable than a PC sharing the internet connection anyway - not to mention simpler to set up. Machines could then work independantly and the 'connected' machine doesn't have to spend resource serving up stuff to the remote. -----Original Message----- From: Ryan Lee [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 22 February 2005 16:29 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: OT - Computer nerds unite! I have a networking problem... Noone agrees with me it's probably an XP SP2 problem? I've got a dollar on the problem going away if she does a rollback. Cheers, Ryan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Larry Cook" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 10:56 PM Subject: Re: OT - Computer nerds unite! I have a networking problem... > > Sounds like you're using the PC as a bridge connection for the > > laptop to get out to the internet. A better arrangement would be to > > use a router between the cable modem and the computers. Each > > computer would hook directly to the router and would be able to > > access the internet without depending upon having the other computer > > turned on. A 4-port router is pretty cheap - about 40USD - and comes > > with a setup CD that pretty easily configures the computers on the > > network. Linksys and Belkin are two popular routers here in the > > states for home networking equipment. Adding a router has the > > additional benefit of built-in firewall called Network Address > > Translation (NAT). The "outside world" only sees the IP address of > > the router and not the IP addresses of the computers on your > > network. > > > >Paul > > > > I know that this does not address your immediate problems but I agree > with Paul about adding a router to your network. I think that it would > actually simplify things for you and be more robust and secure. > > I currently have a network at home with a Linksys Router (BEFSX41) and > 16 port switch (EZXS16W) supporting 6 PCs a couple of network attached > hard drives, two printers, scanners, etc. all accessing the internet > via a cable modem. The setup and maintenance of the network is > relatively easy. The router is a DHCP server which means that it > assigns the IP addresses to each of the PCs and administers the > network. There is very little for you the user to do after it is > setup. Adding a PC is not much more than attaching to an open port on > the network. > > Just a suggestion and maybe an inappropriate one at this time but > worth considering after you sort the current problem out. > > Larry > >
