How to connect 2 laptops to Internet via wire?

[Paulino]

I have Dell Latitude D600 laptop which is installed with Windows XP. I recently bought a new HP Mini 110 which is also running on Windows XP. I am receiving Internet connection through a cable modem. I want to share the same internet connection on both the Laptops. Hence to share the connection I bought a switch. I inserted the cable from the cable modem in the switch and then connected the Inserted the cable from the Dell laptop and HP mini into the switch. But the Internet works only on 1 laptop at a time. Therefore I want to know How to connect 2 laptops to Internet via wire? Both the laptops are wireless enabled. Please help.

[Big Fish]

First contact the Internet service provider and ask them if they allow sharing of the same connection between two computers. Many times the ISP will not allow the sharing of the same connection between multiple computers and can be the reason why only one computer is able to surf the internet when connected to switch. If the sharing of connection is not allowed then there will be no use in spending on the network.

[Milton.J]

Connecting a Switch to share the connection will not work. Switch is a layer 2 device can cannot do traffic routing. To share the connection successfully between different computers we require a routing device. If you have bought the switch recently then try to get it replaced by a Layer 3 switch or a small router. Layer 3 switches are capable of switching as well as routing function and hence will be appropriate for the network implementation you are looking for. Replacing the swicth with a Routing device will solve the problem.

[Spyrus]

Yes the Switch has to be replaced by some router. Get a small router and connect it between the cable modem and the two laptops. Router should have one DSL port and 4 Ethernet ports. The wire from the cable modem will go into the DSL port and the laptops will be connected on the Ethernet ports. Now configure the laptops with the IP addresses which belong to the same subnet. The DNS server and preferred DNS will be provided by the ISP. Put the IP address of the router in the default gateway address. Now save the settings and you will be able to share the same internet connection on both the laptops.

[Snake08]

As both the laptops are wireless enabled, you can buy a Wireless router instead of the Wired router. Wireless router has both wired as well as wireless function. Connect the cable from the modem to the DSL port on the router and then log in to the router using one of the laptop. To login you will require the Default IP address of the router which can be found out using User manual. Enter the IP address in the address bar of the browser and then enter username and password. Enable the Wlan function and save the configuration. Now reboot the router, after rebooting you will be able to connect the laptops using Wireless.