trying to connect more computers to my belkin router with cat five cable?

Question

my cable is connected to my rogers cable modem comes out on cat 5 to my belkin router #1 is the computer that i use reg. works great can't seem to connect to any other room to share the Internet connection the other computer not picking it up wants to dial new ethernet card and softwear what don't i know

Answer 1

You need to setup a home network on your machines using the network wizard. Each machine will have to be setup by themselves with different on each one. I'm licking a link on do it yourself setup.

Answer 2

You haven't set it up properly. Here is some information to get you started in the right direction:

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/networking.mspx

Now, this is the Vista Help and How-to, but XP is very simular, so you shouldn't have any problem applying these instructions to XPs. If you do get confused, just go to the XP Help and How-to and click on Networking, then Setup.

A few tips:

Your modem needs to have a cable (RJ45 Cat 5 or Cat 6 ethernet) hooked into the correct port, and the other end needs to be hooked into the Modem port on the router, not one of the RJ45 Cat 5 or Cat 6 ethernet ports on the router.

The port for hooking the modem up to Belkin is Yellow and should be labled Modem.

You then hook a RJ45 Cat 5 or Cat 6 ethernet cable into your ethernet port on the back of your computer, and plug the other end into one of the grey ports on the router, and there should be four of them.

After you have set up a viable connection, only then setup the WAP security in the router, if you intend to use it. If you do not intend to use the Wireless Access Point in the router, turn off that option in the routers configuration pages. This way you avoid having to setup the security for an option you are not using, and stop people in the neighborhood from hopping onto your connection and stealing your bandwidth.

If you do wish to use the WAP in your router, you need to setup the security. It is very simple:

Log into the router with the Administrator password you created. If you haven't created one do so now, even if you do not plan on using the wireless feature. Otherwise, people can log onto your router configuration pages and lock you out.

Click on the Security link to the left in the navigation area. Once there, select the type of security encryption you wish to use. Don't select WPA2 unless you know for sure that everything on your network supports it. Most now support WPA, but some game consoles still don't, so check that out. If you have anything which does not support WPA, use WEP as it is better than nothing.

After you select the type you wish to use, type in a passphrase, and make it semi long, as short ones have been cracked by experts. Longer ones have not been cracked and probably never will be. Well, not likely anyway, and not by people in your area.

Once you do this, click Apply or Update or Submit, I can't remember what it is even though I use a Belkin N1 router. lol

You will now need to enter this passphrase into each wireless connection on each computer you wish to connect to the routers access point. Until you do they will not be able to utilize the wireless feature.

Click on your wireless connection icon in the notification area and select Open Network Connections, then right click on your wireless connection and select Properties. On the General tab, select TCP/IP and click Advanced. Enter your type, and then enter your passphrase twice.

Or, you can select Show available Networks, click on your network, and click Connect. A passphrase box will appear where you enter the passphrase twice, once you do and click Connect again, the passphrase should be entered into that connections fields I sent you to above.

If you do not as yet have a wireless connection on each system, you need to run the Wireless Setup Wizard on each computer you wish to create the new connection for.

Simply click Start--Control Panel, Wireless Network Connection Wizard and follow the steps. The major thing you need is the Workgroup Name, as it needs to be the same for each computer, and the passphrase. Once you complete the Wizard the configurations will be entered in the registry and all should work just fine, and you won't' need to click on Connect each time you wish to access this network, it will enter everything automatically.

When you wish to add a computer to the network, simply run the same Wizard. If you only wish to allow a friend or family member to use the connection for a short period of time, simply access the Available Wireless Networks dialog box, click on your connection, and then enter the passphrase for them, and click Connect.

*note* Do not hide your SSID, it only confuses the issue and does not afford any meaningful security on your network. You can create a MAC address Allow list, that is very good at keeping everyone but those who you wish to connect off of your network. In fact, that works better than even the firewall. But, keep the firewall enabled anyway, as it doesn't hurt to have it working too.

Answer 3

To use a router and modem connection, the WAN port of the router must connect to the modem. All the machines then connect to the router LAN ports, and if configured correctly they should connect automatically.