Two Networking Questions

Just as the title says, I've got two network questions for the pros out there:

1) My dad works from home and has a cable and DSL line running into the house for redundancy. He wants to know whether it's possible to combine the bandwidth from these two lines when both services are working properly.

Is it possible to do such a thing and if so is it a very difficult thing to set up?

2) I've got a desktop in my room that connects to the access point upstairs via a USB wireless adapter. I want to know whether it is possible for me to configure this machine such that with the addition of extra ethernet cards (of which I have too many extra) I can plug other machines into the first machine and get internet on those secondary machines.

Again, is it possible to do such a thing and if so is it a very difficult thing to set up?

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

1. I've never heard of anyone combining the two. For one dsl runs over copper telephone lines that is split in two. High frequencies for internet and low for voice and is dedicated bandwidth.Cable is shared you and all in your area share this bandwidth.One is distance sensitive & the other not. So while I'm not 100% sure that it can't be done I wouldn't think so.Maybe someone knows for sure.

2.Yes it is possible,wired just make sure to click allow others to connect to the internet thru this computer or an wireless ad hoc setup.Most commonly know as a mesh network.

 

Just to be sure, where might I find "allow others to connect to the internet thru this computer"?

 

Right click network connections>local area connection> properties>advance tab>internet connection sharing>put check into box, and that should do it.

 

Alright. I put a check in that box and it tells me I can't check it because something is using IP 192.168.0.1 and connection sharing needs that IP.

Great, I go to my access point, change the IP to 192.168.2.1, make sure everything is working fine. Everything is.

I check the box again. Seems to work. I plug another machine into the ethernet port of the first machine. Nothing happens. Neither machine seems to recognize that a network cable is plugged in. Furthermore, the first machine can no longer access the internet though it can connect to the access point.

I unplug the cable, uncheck the box. Everything works again. What's the problem here?

 

Is ICS enabled on the first machine? Here something that might help you out,I'm assuming your using XP. Also try pinging the first machines network adapter to make sure it's working correctly 127.0.0.1 http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/crawford_02july01.mspx