creating a new connection through a home internet connection

Hi, I recently bought a new laptop and wanted to hook it up to my existing broadband connection that my family's desktop uses. I am not terribly knowledged when it comes to this kind of thing but I can figure out the basics. I am unable to create a connection on my laptop that allows me to access the internet. Basically I unplug the cable from my desktop and plug it into my laptop, then play with new connection settings. Is this something that can only be fixed by getting in touch with my internet provider, or is there some way that any new computer can use an existing home internet connection to access the web?
Thanks

 

you need a router.

it goes like this:

broadband router (from your ISP) --- ethernet cable --- router (wireless if you want it) --- one ethernet cable to desktop / a separate ethernet cable to notebook (or wirelessly connect to router)

routers vary in price from $50ish to over 100 dollars.

you can buy from bestbuy or other b&m store or buy online from newegg.com or similar

 

so the broadband connection, in the form of a coaxial cable, comes in through the wall, connects to the router, which in turn has an ethernet cable which plugs into teh back of my desktop, allowing me access to the internet. what i've tried to do is unplug that ethernet cable from the desktop and plug it into the laptop instead, doing a one for one switch. a router is like a hub, with multiple plug ins, correct? I'm not looking to be able to access the internet from both computers at the same time.

 

then you don't need a router. my bad.

just unplug the ethernet cable from the back of your desktop and plug into into the ethernet port on your notebook.

i predict about 3 days before you get sick of doing this.

 

The problem you are running into is that when you setup your ISP service, your account was tied to your original computer's MAC Address. The reason swapping cables are not working.

A router will allow you to cloan the MAC address of your desktop into the router's MAC address. This way all your provides see's is the 1 MAC Address.

Tom'snetworking did a review on cheap routers <$30. Read this article and pick the best one. If you want to use a wireless with you laptop, Look at this chart from Tomsnetworking router chart and pick a 11g product. But do not buy a Belkin, they have a reliability problem.

Stay away from the MIMO and all 11.n products. These cause problems with other networks, and they do not give any of the gains, as advertised. There is even a article saying this.

 

actually, turns out that i have a faulty network card in my brand spanking new e1705 that i spent all my money on... goes back in a few days. my confidence in dell is a bit shaken at this point. we'll see how attempt #2 at the end of the month goes. thanks for the advice though

 

are you sure it's faulty and not just on battery?

by default, the notebook's power scheme is set to kill the NIC to conserve power.

 

i spent 5 hours last night talking with dell and comcast, my internet provider, and the dell technician, after using symantec restore and still being unable to access the internet, deduced that the network card is having issues. a box is being mailed to me so i can package it up. but yes, the laptop was running on AC power while we were trying to fix the problem.