Hey guys,
 
I've got a bit of a problem I'm trying to figure out.  
I have two computers that I want to have connected to the internet, however my college won't let my connect a router to the network, So I'm trying to figure out a way to get internet on my laptop without having to crawl under the desk and disconnect the cord from my desktop every time I want to access internet with my laptop. Ive got two Ethernet ports on my 680i mobo so I figure there should be a way to connect my laptop to my desktop, which is then connected to the internet, I just can't figure out how to do it. Anyone here got any adive?  
 
Thanks

If you are using Windows XP, there's a service called Internet Connection Sharing(ICS).

You could buy a second Ethernet card for your pc and make your pc do the job of routing the net to you. An easier solution would be to buy a cheap SWITCH as it will perform basically the same task and probably for the same price. The only difference between a router and a switch is that a router can deal with the IP (internet protocol, aka, ip address communication allocation) whereas a switch deals simply with data transfer, it doenst care about ip's or anything for that matter, just getting info from comp A. to comp B. This should bypass any regulations your college may have against routers. As for them "finding out" it will be invisible to the server since only one MAC address will be in use at any given time. I'm sure a Network admin in the forums will correct me on some things but I have the basic principle right.  
 
Right click on the lan1 or lan 2 and go to properties, under the "sharing" tab check the "Allow other network users to connect through this Internet connection". Click apply and okay, give it a shot. I'm going to try this with my school laptop to see if it works.
 
Okay, it seems you need to manually assign your PC's IP to whatever it was before you enabled sharing the Internet connection through this computer. Then you can Assign the laptop its own ip in the range of 192.168.0.1   . This should resolve your issue, in the very worst, you can just disable the LAN 1 when you need your LAN 2 for your laptop. Granted it only saves you from bending over, and in the end you still only have one connection for 2 computers.  
 
Best bet, get a switch!
 
 
Edit: Just thought i should point out that i didn't want to mess my lan settings up, so i did not test this past the theory, if you have xp it should be easier, vista tends to try to make things easier but just obfuscates things even more.

Well, a switch would be fine for this situation if you have 2 IP addresses, which you probably don't.  Since you only have 1 IP you'll have to set up both machines with the same IP and then you'll have to ensure that 1 of the 2 computer's have their NIC disabled.  You obviously can't have 2 computers with the same IP at the same time on the network.  Using the ICS really is the cheapest and easiest option.  
 
You do realize zenze589 that using ICS basically means your computer will be doing the same function as a router, even though it's not a 'router' but a computer?

2 net cards in one computer, prefer different mfg and run sygate,piece of cake

You could also get a cheap crossover cable and plug the laptop into the PC. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6812117808
 
This would be "networking" the two machines together, and telling the PC to allow the laptop access to the internet. I used to use this method back when I had dial up.
 
It should work the same with broadband given the ASUS has t ports.