Using tow LAN connectors on desktop mainboard

My XP desktop mainboard (Asus) has two ethernet LAN connectors.
One 100T Mb speed, the other a gigabyte speed.

Mainboard manual has no guide for implementation of these connectors.

I thought to use the 100 speed for connection to router and then internet,
and to use the high speed connector to link to a Win98 machine that I have
fitted with gigabyte speed card. This doesn't seem to work however.

The 100 speed connector works fine for the router modem internet, but the
high speed link to the other machine doesn't work at all, and knocks the
internet connection out when enabled.

What might be the intended purpose of these two LAN connectors?

Is a simple network linking two machines using a high speed connection and
the low speed connection for the router, possible using these LAN
connectors?

Roger R

Roger R wrote:
> My XP desktop mainboard (Asus) has two ethernet LAN connectors.
> One 100T Mb speed, the other a gigabyte speed.
>
> Mainboard manual has no guide for implementation of these connectors.
>
> I thought to use the 100 speed for connection to router and then internet,
> and to use the high speed connector to link to a Win98 machine that I have
> fitted with gigabyte speed card. This doesn't seem to work however.
>
> The 100 speed connector works fine for the router modem internet, but the
> high speed link to the other machine doesn't work at all, and knocks the
> internet connection out when enabled.
>
> What might be the intended purpose of these two LAN connectors?
>
> Is a simple network linking two machines using a high speed connection and
> the low speed connection for the router, possible using these LAN
> connectors?
>
> Roger R
>
>

With 100Mb, you would use a cross-over cable to connect the computers -
don't know if there is an equivalent for Gigabit :-(

Otherwise, you will need a gigabit switch or one of the NICs to be
capable of presenting the equivalent interface (effectively appearing to
be a switch).

--
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In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, d-e-c-o-d-e-
(E-Mail Removed) says...
> My XP desktop mainboard (Asus) has two ethernet LAN connectors.
> One 100T Mb speed, the other a gigabyte speed.
>
> Mainboard manual has no guide for implementation of these connectors.
>
> I thought to use the 100 speed for connection to router and then internet,
> and to use the high speed connector to link to a Win98 machine that I have
> fitted with gigabyte speed card. This doesn't seem to work however.
>
> The 100 speed connector works fine for the router modem internet, but the
> high speed link to the other machine doesn't work at all, and knocks the
> internet connection out when enabled.
>
> What might be the intended purpose of these two LAN connectors?
>
> Is a simple network linking two machines using a high speed connection and
> the low speed connection for the router, possible using these LAN
> connectors?

It's possible, but it requires a degree of understanding of IP
addressing etc.

Can you noy just link the win98 machine to the router also?
--
Regards
Jon

"Jon" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, d-e-c-o-d-e-
> (E-Mail Removed) says...
>> Is a simple network linking two machines using a high speed connection
>> and
>> the low speed connection for the router, possible using these LAN
>> connectors?
>
> Can you noy just link the win98 machine to the router also?

Yes I can do that...the router/modem is 4 port 100T...but then the XP >
Win98 link is only 100T and I want to transfere large...2Gb video files.

Connecting all three...XP, Win98 and router/modem...to a gigabyte switch
works fine but I was worried about the vulnerability of the win98 machine
as, apart from that in the router/modem, it has no separate firewall. The
XP machine has third party (Zone Alarm) firewall, but that is not available
for win98.

I thought it might improve the security of the win98 machine if it could
only be reached through the XP machine by putting it on a dedicated gigabyte
link using the other ethernet connector. Presumably if this were achieved
it would not have access to the internet...or would it?

....perhaps that was the previous trouble...it was also set up with TCP/IP
giving internet access and conflicted with the XP machine TCP/IP.

Roger R

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, Roger R
d-e-c-o-d-e-(E-Mail Removed) says...

> Connecting all three...XP, Win98 and router/modem...to a gigabyte switch
> works fine but I was worried about the vulnerability of the win98 machine
> as, apart from that in the router/modem, it has no separate firewall. The
> XP machine has third party (Zone Alarm) firewall, but that is not available
> for win98.

Previous version are available here:

download.zonelabs.com/bin/free/information/znalm/zaReleaseHistory.html

I think the 5.X versions ran on W98, but I can't remember - I switched
to Kerio Personal Firewall which was much better. It's long since been
discontinued but can still download it here:

http://web.archive.org/web/200404041....com/dwn/kpf/k
erio-pf-2.1.5-en-win.exe

http://tinyurl.com/6yp8ea

> I thought it might improve the security of the win98 machine if it could
> only be reached through the XP machine by putting it on a dedicated gigabyte
> link using the other ethernet connector. Presumably if this were achieved
> it would not have access to the internet...or would it?

Not unless you were running software to let the two networks talk to
each other.
>
> ...perhaps that was the previous trouble...it was also set up with TCP/IP
> giving internet access and conflicted with the XP machine TCP/IP.
>
If properly configured the two networks should have no effect on each
other at all.

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, d-e-c-o-d-e-
(E-Mail Removed) says...
> Connecting all three...XP, Win98 and router/modem...to a gigabyte switch
> works fine but I was worried about the vulnerability of the win98 machine
> as, apart from that in the router/modem, it has no separate firewall. The
> XP machine has third party (Zone Alarm) firewall, but that is not available
> for win98.

The forewall in the router will offer sufficient protection from
incoming stuff. Zone alarm is good at stopping outgoing stuff, so as
long as you dont habitually click on things you shouldnt you ought to be
allright.

The win98 machine will still be behnd the router/firewall, it won't be
exposed.

> I thought it might improve the security of the win98 machine if it could
> only be reached through the XP machine by putting it on a dedicated gigabyte
> link using the other ethernet connector. Presumably if this were achieved
> it would not have access to the internet...or would it?

You could, but it would take a lot of buggering about. I think what you
describing is called bridging? If so, one way of doing it would be on
the XP machine go to network connections, highlight the 2 connections by
holding CTRL and clicking on them both, then right-click and choose
"bridge".

I've never had occasion to use it so I don't know 100% of the above is
true, but it rings a bell.
--
Regards
Jon

Roger R wrote:
> "Jon" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, d-e-c-o-d-e-
>> (E-Mail Removed) says...
>>> Is a simple network linking two machines using a high speed connection
>>> and
>>> the low speed connection for the router, possible using these LAN
>>> connectors?
>> Can you noy just link the win98 machine to the router also?
>
> Yes I can do that...the router/modem is 4 port 100T...but then the XP >
> Win98 link is only 100T and I want to transfere large...2Gb video files.
>
> Connecting all three...XP, Win98 and router/modem...to a gigabyte switch
> works fine but I was worried about the vulnerability of the win98 machine
> as, apart from that in the router/modem, it has no separate firewall. The
> XP machine has third party (Zone Alarm) firewall, but that is not available
> for win98.
>
> I thought it might improve the security of the win98 machine if it could
> only be reached through the XP machine by putting it on a dedicated gigabyte
> link using the other ethernet connector. Presumably if this were achieved
> it would not have access to the internet...or would it?

What you are describing is Internet Connection Sharing (ICS), though
IIRC it was originally used to allow a network to use a single computer
with an analogue modem - I used it with two Win98 systems - though I
don't see why another NIC couldn't be used. It is still available in XP.

>
> ...perhaps that was the previous trouble...it was also set up with TCP/IP
> giving internet access and conflicted with the XP machine TCP/IP.
>
> Roger R
>
>
>
>


--
PeeGee

The reply address is a spam trap. All mail is reported as spam.
"Nothing should be able to load itself onto a computer without the
knowledge or consent of the computer user. Software should also be able
to be removed from a computer easily."
Peter Cullen, Microsoft Chief Privacy Strategist (Computing 18 Aug 05)

Rob Morley wrote:
> In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, Roger R
> d-e-c-o-d-e-(E-Mail Removed) says...
[snip]
>> Is a simple network linking two machines using a high speed connection and
>> the low speed connection for the router, possible using these LAN
>> connectors?
>
> Yes, with a regular Cat5 cable if either of the NICs does auto-MDIX,
> otherwise you'll nead a special (all 4 pairs crossed) crossover cable to
> connect them.

Gigabit Ethernet interfaces are required to work with cables wired
straight through or like a "normal" cross-over (ie two pairs crossed),
so the cable is a non-issue.

Alex

In article <(E-Mail Removed) >, Alex
Fraser
(E-Mail Removed) says...
> Rob Morley wrote:
> > In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, Roger R
> > d-e-c-o-d-e-(E-Mail Removed) says...
> [snip]
> >> Is a simple network linking two machines using a high speed connection and
> >> the low speed connection for the router, possible using these LAN
> >> connectors?
> >
> > Yes, with a regular Cat5 cable if either of the NICs does auto-MDIX,
> > otherwise you'll nead a special (all 4 pairs crossed) crossover cable to
> > connect them.
>
> Gigabit Ethernet interfaces are required to work with cables wired
> straight through or like a "normal" cross-over (ie two pairs crossed),
> so the cable is a non-issue.
>
My mistake. That's what I get with a crap memory and relying on Google
too much. :-\ But I'm sure there was something about cables that work
with slower ethernet but not gigabit - was it just that pins 4,5,7,8
weren't connected, were connected wrongly ... ?

Rob Morley wrote:
> In article <(E-Mail Removed) >, Alex
> Fraser
> (E-Mail Removed) says...
>> Gigabit Ethernet interfaces are required to work with cables wired
>> straight through or like a "normal" cross-over (ie two pairs crossed),
>> so the cable is a non-issue.
>>
> My mistake. That's what I get with a crap memory and relying on Google
> too much. :-\ But I'm sure there was something about cables that work
> with slower ethernet but not gigabit - was it just that pins 4,5,7,8
> weren't connected, were connected wrongly ... ?

Actually, that's true - I have seen some cables with only two pairs,
which clearly won't work at gigabit speed. The same would presumably
apply if the "spare" pairs are randomly connected. And finally, signal
integrity could be an issue (I've not tried "crap" cables at gigabit,
but I've seen cables which don't work well at 100Mbit, but are fine at
10Mbit).

Alex