I have two computers for trading. 1 Is on cable modem and the other is 56k. I love cable and am findingdial up totally unreliable. I want to buy a router and put both computer on the same cable line.However I am hesitant as I am afraid I might mess up my order platform with IB. I am a true computer idiot and I was hoping someone has experience with my situation.THANK YOU
You don't need to use a router. However, you do need two network cards and a RJ45 cable in addition to the network card that is already connected to your cable modem. Win 98, ME, 2000, & XP have a feature called "Internet Connection Sharing" that allow the second computer to use the same cable connection as the first machine. Use the Windows help and search for "Internet sharing" for information on how to configure the two machines. A wizard will guide you through the procedure. Or better yet, if you a have a computer literate friend, ask him to set it up and configure it for you. MM
Another note about Windows98 ... Windows98 second edition only supports internet connection sharing. Since I have the first edition I had to buy a cable router. I got a Linksys 4 Port DSL/CABLE router for $70 at Best Buy and it works great. It also acts as a hardware firewall to prevent those mean 'ol hackers out. Brutus
larry, Because you are on a cable modem connection, your best solution is to get a router like the very popular Linksys DSL model. You really should have firewall protection. This device will provide it to your network. Be sure to buy the 4-port version of the router instead of the 1-port version. Otherwise, you will have to add a hub or switch, something you certainly do not want to bother with. Stores such as CompUSA often have network cards free after rebate. Get one of those or some low cost card. Do not waste money on expensive cards. I have found the lowest priced ones work just as well as the high priced cards. Also, check Ebay for all kinds of hardware, including numerous sellers offering the Linksys routers. Here is an example listing: Linksys Network Card Ironically, just as I was creating that link the $3.00 auction ended when someone bought the card for $10 with the Buy It Now option!
I have 3 computers using same cable line.Works great and very easy to set up. Just follow easy directions.
It is _CRITICAL_ that you get _SOME_ protection for your Windows based OS machine, especially something like Windows 95/98/Me. The routers aformentioned will do some simple stuff like NAT and are good, though for someone with your experience level I would recommend a Netgear RT314 or similar Netgear model. The reason is not superior hardware, but superior technical support. If you use Windows 2000, make sure that you do not use the machine from day to day as the Administrator - make a trader user or something, and don't give him much "priviledges" and use that from day to day. Also, remember that keeping up with security measures under Windows OS's is a never ending process - in particular, you have to stay alert for Service Packs and Security patches. I would also encourage you to get NAV 2000 and a software firewall as well. You should also understand that a cable connection to the Internet is shared. That has two repercusions: 1) It is _WAY_ less safe then dial up, DSL, etc. 2) If a bunch of people at once decide to use a bandwidth intensive web site, like porn, your response from the Internet will come to a grinding halt. This is not likely to happen during trading hours, tho. nitro
nitro, If you use Windows 2000, make sure that you do not use the machine from day to day as the Administrator - make a trader user or something, and don't give him much "priviledges" and use that from day to day. Am curious as to why? For 4 yrs I used (and still use) one computer with NT logged on as administrator, and for the past 8 months I've been using a second computer with W2K logged on as administrator. I use both computers all day(time), every day, but I do shut them down in the evening.
Magna, It may not apply to you if you are extremely careful with e-mail attachements, downloaded software, etc. The main reason is because if you get infected with a virus, or get a torjan, etc, because you are (hopefully) running as an unprivilidged user, the harm done will be considerably less than if the trojan, etc was running with Administrator privilidges, which is basically GOD on a computer. It is somewhat of a pain in the a__, as when you are installing software, you will have to log out and relog on as the Administrator, then give all the users (usually only one on a personal workstation) the ability to run this software. This is the safest way to run all OS's with "root" access. nitro
THANK YOU ALL. I got much more valuable advice than I expected. Delighted to learn that a side benefit will be having firewall protection. In my area there are constant "intruders" into peoples machines. THANKS AGAIN