Setting up internet sharing w/patch panel.

Hi...I received a free 16+ patch panel from my dad's work. I have 2 comps at home so I tried to set the thing up to share internet and files/folders, but I am having trouble making it work.

It is currently set up like this:
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-7/787813/PatchPanelDemo.JPG

Is this right? Computer 1's internet is working but Computer 2's is not. How do I get both computers to share the internet connection?

 

Upon looking at the diagram I'm assuming you have a router. A patch panel is exactly what it sounds like, it's where all the patch cables are plugged into. A patch panel doesn't have any uplink port. In fact a patch panel isn't even a device so much as just a bunch of normal wall jacks all just crammed together in one nice and easy to access panel. In otherwords a real patch panel wouldn't even have a power cord running to it.

So assuming you have a router the setup does in fact look fine. For it to work the setup on computer 1 should be exactly the same as the setup on computer 2.

There is however also the chance that what you got was a switch. Which is quite likely since people don't tend to throw away perfectly good 16 port routers. In the event it's a switch this setup won't work because it would require that each computer have it's own IP, and most ISP don't give out more then one (some give a max of two).

At any rate what you really need to do is figure out if it's a router or a switch. If it's a router then you got it configured wrong and you need to login to it and enable DHCP. If it's a switch you'll have to rethink you're wiring a little and one of the computers would have to be setup as a server. Either that or you'd have to phone your ISP and see if you're allowed a second IP.

 

Hmmm.....I guess it is a switch. There is a power cord in the back and an uplink port.
Darn...I guess I'll have to buy a CAT 5 cable or a router....

 

You could try connecting the DSL modem to one of the computers and setting it up to share it via the switch.
Alternatively if you have an old pc you could set that up with BBIagent