Hi!
Can u help me set up PC-to-PC LAN??? Both PC's have NIC's in them. We tried to hook them up. One computer runs Win ME, and the other - XP Home. It doesnt work. XP system has icon that says "no cable connected" or something like that. We have RJ45 cat 5e cable, and both NIC are working properly. We are trying to just have an direct connection with no hubs, switches or whatnot. My friend set it up somehow, but he dumb, and cant explain everything coherently ;-)
Please, can u tell me what to do? Thank u

Is it a "cross-over" one? If not get a Crossover RJ45 cable, i think your current cable is unsuitable for direct pc to pc connection, for this cable to work a hub is required.

so, u guys are saying that the cabe is to blame? When u look for it in the store, does it say "crossover-cable"? Because i m pretty sure mine is not.
Thank u!

a regular cable is just sending a signal straight through from one end to the other. The process that connects send to receive and receive to send is done in a hub. Or you need a cross over cable where these cross overs are done in the wriring. Therefore, if you are not using a hub and don't have a crossover cable you will not get the two machines communicating.

Not really is just that you lack a hub to complete the whole process...i did try to connect the RJ45 (non-crossover).. between my two pcs..it didn't work.

yeah it would not work. send would be connected to send and receive would be connected to receive. its a bit more complicated than that but that's the general idea.

if you don't want to pay for a hub you could get a cheap crossover cable made. just remember to specify that its a crossover and not a regular straight through cable.