Dual port NIC

talk random
1

Dual port NIC

I am thinkingthis machine, making this the host, would I be able to connect two other PC’s (one on each port) with crossover cables so that they all shared the same Broadband connection and printer etc??? which means two nic cards on that pc(the one is broadband and the other one is the file & print sharing?)

I really want to do this at the same time.

2

You’re better off with a router. I never heard of dual NIC cards so a router would be much easier.

3

Two NIC cards in a computer is perfectly possible. An NIC is simply a network interface card - I have a wireless card (Aironet 802.11b) and a Realtek 10/100 Ethernet card in my PC.

In terms of dual port NICs, I’ve never heard of one of them. I think you’d need a switch or a hub or something - I don’t really do wired networking so I have no clue.

4

Made my correction.

5

there are indeed dual-jack NIC’s (on one card) and machines that run more than one card… but-other than switching from wired to wireless- they are mostly in the server-class of connectors/config’s and of little use for someone wanting simple internet sharing on a home network as they are intended for interconnecting diff’ architectures (bridging)

just follow the advice so far and get a 4+ port configurable router (ie-most of the off-the-shelf models today) and you’ll also gain the advantage of another ‘physical’ firewall layer to your set-up (the router will have the only public IP visible to the internet)

6

Another problem you’ll have if you go with the two nic thing is that you’ll always have to have the main computer on.

I used two network cards in one machine when I first set up my home network and quickly sprung for a router instead…I didn’t want to have to have my main computer running all the time.

Also, it can be really confusing securing a network setup with the two network card thing…you want to be able to share files between the computers, but not with all your neighbors as well!

-teet