Connecting directly to PC via crossover cable.

autolycus

Member
Is it possible? I have two LAN connectors on my PC. I don't use a router. If it is possible could someone please tell me in the simplest possible terms how to do it under win XP? I'd be very grateful. Thanks.
 
I can tell you how to do it, but will it achieve anything unless you customise the Foxsat first?

If you don't use a router, how are you accessing the Internet and this forum? 3G/4G mobile connection?
 
Hi - thanks for replying. I just use a standard cable modem to connect to the internet. My ethernet 'card/ adaptor (not sure of the correct word)' has two sockets. The modem is connected to one and i have connected the other, via crossover cable, to the humax. it did work, but i seemed to need to reboot to 'pick up' the humax. And the connection seemed to get lost after a few minutes watching itv player.
 
The cable modem is usually a router as well, but we'll ignore that.

Is your intention to get your Foxsat Internet access for the catch-up services? If so, I think you would be best checking whether your cable modem provides router facilities and if not putting a cheap router behind it (or getting a better cable modem).

The key to setting up a point-to-point network connection is to ensure the "peripheral" is manually assigned an IP address which is in the same subnet (in other words group) as the "computer" but does not conflict with any other addresses on the same network (for the purpose of this discussion we shall define the Humax as the "peripheral" - the unit being accessed, and your PC as the "computer" - the device originating the network accesses). With a bit of luck we can do this without altering the computer end.

Fire up your computer as normal. If the cable modem is acting as a router, the PC will request an IP address to be allocated at boot time and remain with those settings until rebooted. As I don't know what the second Ethernet port on your PC does, use the same port and reconnect to the Foxsat using a cross-over.

On the PC, bring up a command console and type "ipconfig" at the command prompt. Amongst other things it will tell you the IP address of the PC and its net mask. The net mask will typically be 255.255.255.0, and I shall assume that it is for what follows.

Bearing in mind I don't have a Foxsat, you then need to enter the menu options and find where you can set the LAN IP address manually. It may be an alternative option to DHCP. With it manual, make the net mask the same as ipconfig gave you, and make the IP address the same in the first three fields as your PCs IP address and something different in the fourth field (eg if your PC is 192.168.1.254 the Foxsat can be set to 192.168.1.100 with net mask 255.255.255.0).

Now you should be able to enter 192.168.1.100 in your FTP program and get FTP access, if the Foxsat has an FTP server, but otherwise unless you have installed the custom firmware and want to access the web interface through your browser I am really not sure what you would gain from this.

However, to use this mechanism to connect through the PC to the wider Internet, you are relying on the two Ethernet sockets on the PC to be on the same network - and they are probably not. Typically they are separate interfaces on a dual adapter so that a computer can be connected to two networks. It is possible there is a configuration option to link them.

If so, for this to work, you will need to duplicate the DNS and gateway IP addresses from the ipconfig list to the Foxsat.
 
However, to use this mechanism to connect through the PC to the wider Internet, you are relying on the two Ethernet sockets on the PC to be on the same network - and they are probably not. Typically they are separate interfaces on a dual adapter so that a computer can be connected to two networks.

You need (1) for the two sockets to be on different networks, and (2) routing set up to deal with this.
If you have both on the same network, then there is total confusion about what traffic should go where.
Windows has (or had) a internet sharing option which would set this up automatically for the 2 PCs, but that will fall down as there isn't a second PC for it to configure.
I seem to recall that google can find helpful examples of how to achieve it, but I've forgotten what all the pitfalls are since it has been so long since it did it without a router.
 
Thanks for the replies

BlackHole -i don't understand: Fire up your computer as normal. If the cable modem is acting as a router, the PC will request an IP address to be allocated at boot time and remain with those settings until rebooted. As I don't know what the second Ethernet port on your PC does, use the same port and reconnect to the Foxsat using a cross-over.

The cable modem doesn't act as a router and the PC never asks for an IP address at boot up. I assume by "the same port" you must mean the port that my modem connects into? So i must disconnect the modem so i can connect the humax to that port via crossover?

If I do that, for my Local Area Connection, ipconfig gives me four zeros for ip address and subnet mask.

And for my Local Area Connection 2 it gives Media State. . . . . : Media disconnected.

That's as far as i've got.
 
I just use a standard cable modem to connect to the internet. My ethernet 'card/ adaptor (not sure of the correct word)' has two sockets. The modem is connected to one and .....
Just for clarification, does your cable modem only have one network port on it? Most A lot (maybe fewer than half, or maybe more than half. I my limited experience, most) modems have 4 network ports and provide a router function on your internal network as well as the modem bit to the outside world
...the PC never asks for an IP address at boot up...
You would not be aware that it is doing this from the PC screen. What usually happens with a router/computer/device network setup, is that the router has a list of IP addresses that it can allocate to individual devices on the network (different IP for each device). When a device (computer/hummy box etc.) fires up, unless you have set it to have a fixed IP address, it will send a request to the router for an IP address. The router will then reply with the IP address that the device should use for that session. This is the function that is happening when you need to reboot to 'pick up' the hummy. This procedure is totally automatic and requires no input from the user.
As BH says above, your best bet seems to be to get a cable router.

Edited to remove the apparent misleading statement that I made by saying 'most modems....'
 
Trev - just the one modem network port.

All - Thanks for the help and advice- i appreciate your efforts. It seems in short that the answer is 'no it's not possible' as i suspected.
 
I thought that as well. I thought that semantics and minor niggling etc. was supposed to be carried out in the Hummy Arms:frantic:
 
Well, sorry about that but I don't call it a minor semantic niggle. We are, are we not, a fact-based technical forum, and an impartial reader would interpret the word "most" as meaning "at least half of" - which in this case cannot be substantiated. All I am asking is that posters (particularly those with a valuable contribution to make) take care not to be misleading.

I have been guilty of these things myself at one time or another, and have had to learn the hard way - why not just accept the experience of a technical author, instead of getting all defensive?

Doctor: "The bad news is you have cancer. The good news is that most people recover."
Patient: "So my chances are better than 50/50?"
Doctor: "Err... when I said 'most', I meant that everyone I have seen with this cancer have recovered."
Patient: "Exactly how many is that?"
Doctor: "Three."
Patient: "What about other doctors and other hospitals?"
Doctor: "I'm sorry, I don't know."
Patient: "So actually my chances might not be all that good then?"
Doctor: "To be completely frank, I don't know one way or the other."
 
Well, sorry about that but I don't call it a minor semantic niggle. We are, are we not, a fact-based technical forum, and an impartial reader would interpret the word "most" as meaning "at least half of" - which in this case cannot be substantiated. All I am asking is that posters (particularly those with a valuable contribution to make) take care not to be misleading.

I have been guilty of these things myself at one time or another, and have had to learn the hard way - why not just accept the experience of a technical author, instead of getting all defensive?
Most people would call it a niggle, but not yourself obviously. This is not a fact-based technical forum, although it does contain fact-based technical material.
 
Most people would call it a niggle,
I have edited my original post, but left the word 'most' in in strikethrough so as not to make a mockery of the following posts.
Of course the modem supplied to my mates house when he upgraded to superspeed only had one output that was fed into one of the LAN ports on his EE brightbox. I, foolishly, was thinking mainly of the things that you buy from the likes of PC world, but thinking about it more deeply, they are really routers with a built in modem be it ADSL or cable.
 
The two ADSL modems that I have used in the past only had one output, via a USB cable. There was no router functionality built in.
The last three routers that I have used have all had four network ports, and an ADSL modem built in.
 
But they are not routers; they are modem routers.
One is a "Wireless LAN Router" with built in ADSL and 56K Modem.
One is a "Wireless Modem Router".
One is a "WiFi Modem Router".

So the first one Is a "router", but the second and third are "modem routers".
 
As suggested, I would have thought a cheap router would be your best option, connected to the Freesat box by Cat5.
I use a BT Home Hub connected to the Freesat box by a 10m Cat5 cable running round the skirting board under the carpet, and as far as I can remember, I didn't have to do anything to set it up, just plugged the cable in both ends, and get enhanced BBC catchup without a problem. I'm running standard ADSL @ 11.80mbps.
I too still use XP Pro. on my PC.
 
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