Help needed connecting another PC to the 3G broadband

[Dre21]

Im really noob when it comes to this so if some1 has a detailed guide or a easy way to do it id be bery happy.

What im needing to do is, my PC (OS Windows 7) has the Black Modem in it with the connection setup and working, now the PC downstairs (OS windows xp) i need to get internet working on that PC downstairs?

Can i do it using a straight lan cable to 8 port hub and they connect to the hub? do i need a straight crossover? I see you can use a router, but not wanting to go wireless, prefer using straight cable connection.

If any1 has a easy or best method for doing this would be great, i also have no clue as to how to get it setup to work on my xbox..

Thanks in advance, and please speak English when explaining

 

[gadnex]

You could certainly set up Internet Connection sharing on your Windows 7 machine upstairs and then use either a
1.) hub and 2 * straight through cables or
2.) a crossover cable to connect to the PC downstairs.

There are however some disadvantages to this solution, which are:
1.) Internet Connection Sharing is a bit of a pain to configure, even on windows 7.
2.) Your upstairs PC will always need to be on when you want to use the Internet downstairs.

I would rather suggest that you have a look at a 3G router. And you don't have to use it wirelessly as most of them have 4 LAN ports that you can easily connect to your downstairs PC and XBox.

Here is a link to the forum thread with a list of router compatible with the Cell C modems:
[thread=273744]Routers to use with Cell C mobile internet[/thread]

 

[Dre21]

Oh i see was thinking that, so can just set the router here upstairs plug the modem into the router and all lan cables running into the router will have internet access? is that correct?

Is it a pain to set the modem up on the router? Is the signal or speeds reduced this way, opposed to plugging it straight into the back of my PC ?

Thanks for the Help

 

[gadnex]

Yes, you understand correctly. Because these routers usually have a built in DHCP server, your 2 PCs and XBox can just use DHCP IP addresses instead of static IP addresses, which makes things much simpler to configure.

I have the TP-Link MR3420 3G router and it was really simple to configure. You basically plug everything in, connect to the router's web console, set up the Cell C APN details, and start enjoying.

 

[Dre21]

Going on what you said, i have the exact same router, i set it up im using it at the moment, and seems to be fine, my speeds and reception even increased as i could move the usb stick to a higher place now... but my prob is that it sometimes just disconnects, when i go status it says its unplugged and trying to identify the device again, or it just disconnects...

any idea why or how to fix it, maybe a setting i have wrong or something?

 

[gadnex]

I am glad to hear you got everything set up and working.

I have not experienced any disconnects thus far, but then again I have only had the router and Cell C modem since last week Wednesday. The day I got the stuff I tested at my mother's place as she was also looking into getting Cell C. At her place there was almost no signal at all so I experienced some connection problems, but since I brought it back to my place it has been smooth sailing.

Perhaps if you are experiencing intermittant signal problems, the router may try to re-detect the modem, but this is pure speculation on my side. I would suggest having a look at the system logs, which according to the user manual is found in the web interface of the router under “System Tools → System Log”. Hopefully the log will be detailed enough to cast some light on the problem.

 

[dread]

Just a side note for those who dont have a 3g router and want to use more than 1 machine on cellc

I have a netgear gear router (DG834GT)- and Internet connection sharing setup was pretty painless
there was only 1 techie type thing i had to do - I had to change my routers IP to somethig other than 192.168.0.1 as your network card gets given this IP by default when running through the ICS setup (choose a number between 2 - 254)
managed to connect and play online with my DS and Wii

But I also want to get a 3g router as its quite a schlep and waste of electricity to have 1 machine on - just to have another be able to connect