Router w/ win98 and winXP

[johnny_quest]

A buddy of mine has a Win98 pc with high speed internet. He has an XP pc he wants to share out the broadband to. Now, I got him a cheap wired router and will crimp some ethernet cables for him. The physical setup is a no brainer, but since I've never networked a win98 machine, I'm just wondering if it will be plug and play? Or will I have to setup the networking? Like I said, the broadband it setup fine as it is now. I just don't know if I'll have to change any settings.

It probably wouldn't be too hard to figure out in person, but he lives a few hours away and I wont be able to see what he is doing.

[jlreich]

If all he wants to do is share the internet connection through the router, it will be plug and play. :)

[johnny_quest]

great, thats what i sorta thought. i just dont want to tell him to do this and then take down his grandmas computer...

[jlreich]

Well, you might have to run a setup disk for the router ( on one or both computers depending on router brand and model), but you won't need to change any network settings on the computers.

[johnny_quest]

ok, so the win98 pc will be blind to the router.

i just didnt know if i had to change the ip to 192.168.0.x from whatever the cable company is providing.

[jlreich]

Unless you have some specific need to set it to a static IP address, both machines should be set to obtain an IP address automatically (it's most likely already set to automatic). The router takes care of what IP address to assign each machine through DHCP.

The router takes on the ISP assigned IP, and dishes out the private IP's in the network like the 192.168.0.xxx.

Both machines really don't care what IP they get or how they get it (when set to automatic), as long as it is a valid and unique IP. That's one of the main functions of a router.