Jake Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 I'm at my sister's place, she's got NTL cable TV and broadband through a set top box and a PC connected to the net via network cable to the STB. She's now got an additional PC for her kids and wants that to also be able to connect the intarwebs with her cable internet but the STB only has a single port for a network cable. So what do I need to buy to enable two PCs to have a wired connection to a STB? Cheers guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Can it not go into a Switch and then out to the 2 PC's? I'm not sure what cable modems are like.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaveriK Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Assuming its a CAT5 cable and that NTL allows multiple connections via DHCP all you should need is a hub or a switch and connect it to the STP via a crossed patch lead. Then connect both PC's into the hub/switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 Would both PCs have different IP addresses if I did it that way? Would PCs having the same IP cause problems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Would both PCs have different IP addresses if I did it that way? Would PCs having the same IP cause problems? If both are set to DHCP then they should pick up different IP's. Each PC's IP address has to be unique on your network. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 A router would do it? and then the router dishes out IP's to PC's connected to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 A router would do it? and then the router dishes out IP's to PC's connected to it. But do routers work on cable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 But do routers work on cable? It's just a network connection at the end of the day isn't it? OK, maybe not... where's Carlos when you need him..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Yeah this is exactly what I don't get about Cable...I could have NTL at home but I think my ADSL router would be junk.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaveriK Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Have run routers in Telewest setups but there the network is presented via a coax cable and this is then stuck into a router/firewall (Linksys). You can run a router if you wish though would give you the ability of an additional firewall and layer 3 trickery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 It's no good asking us. We've been without Broadband for a week and it's apparently not the fault of our router, or the broadband connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaveriK Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/default_ShopGroup.asp?ShopGroupID=12&Alt=Yes&Broadband+Routers Should clear a few things up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 NTL won't give you multiple DHCP addresses... What you will need is a ethernet gateway, something like an old linksys WRT54G, which has an ethernet port on the WAN side, runs NAT and then you can plug as many pc's as you want on the LAN side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imi Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 But do routers work on cable? Yup absolutely. plug your CAT5 port (internet facing) of your router into the CAT5 port on the cable modem. then plug your pc's behind the router (internal interface - most routers will have an inbuilt switch) PC > HOME ROUTER (NAT ENABLED) > CABLE MODEM (cat5) > INTERNET Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 We've gone for this router : http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?LIN-BEFSR8 I hope that'll work (will it Gavan?) because I've sent my Bro In Law to go get one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Yep - that'll do the job. You'll need to clone the existing PCs MAC address in the router setup before you can get it to work though. NTL only allow one MAC address to work at a time (hence the need to get routers that are compatible with NTL). Connect the PC to the router and in settings somewhere will be a "Clone connected MAC address" setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 We've gone for this router : http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?LIN-BEFSR8 I hope that'll work (will it Gavan?) because I've sent my Bro In Law to go get one! Yup, that is spot on, I used EXACTLY that unit on my NTL cable line originally... absolute doddle to setup and get running.. and for £25 you just can't go wrong.. Drop me a PM if you get stuck setting it up (although I seriously doubt you will) PS : Wow, very impressed, spelt my name properly, be amazed how many people don't *grin* (Well chuffed) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Yep - that'll do the job. You'll need to clone the existing PCs MAC address in the router setup before you can get it to work though. NTL only allow one MAC address to work at a time (hence the need to get routers that are compatible with NTL). Connect the PC to the router and in settings somewhere will be a "Clone connected MAC address" setting. you don't ALWAYS need to clone the mac, I've found with mine, if I turn the STB or NTL modem for 5 minutes or so then it works fine... The MAC cloning does work if you want to get it running quickly.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 Sounds easy enough - if I can find the Clone MAC address setting. Cheers for the help everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdavies Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 As mentioned, you shouldn't have to clone the MAC address (unless the feckin license issuing servers are offine - not unheard of). Just leave the modem not connected to anything until the router turns up Jobs a good'un. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 PS : NTL (Virgin Media) are beginning 50mb trials in certain areas, 10mb is common and 20mb is out there for those cheeky enough to ask (ie, just phone them up and asked to be put on the trial, worked for me) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Oooh! Sounds interesting. I've managed to be upgraded by NTL at various stages from 512k to 4MB - all for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branners Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Im pretty sure NTL will allow multiple connections through the same STB. When you connect up it will ask you for your connections details and password and you just do that twice, once for each connection. Or you use the router and first time one of the computers connects it will ask for those details, at that point its getting the address of the router so whichever computer connects through that router will then work. I run a wireless router on NTL cable with a STB and have not needed to clone the mac address. JB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 You're most probably right JB. I've only got experience with NTL modems - I don't have an STB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Hold on, I'll test it quickly on STB, see what happens... not sure what mine is configured for on the STB (if it is configured at all) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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