Im' having a huge problem with sharing the internet on two PC's.

Our home network consists of two dell PC's (one fairly new, one slightly oler), and a laptop (all running Windows XP).

The modem is connected to a netgear router, which is connected to the two PC's with wires. The laptop connects wirelessly.

When one of the computers attempts to browse the internet, it works fabulously fast. No problems.

However, when the other computer attempts to also browse the internet, one of two things occurs:

a) The newer computer comtinues to browse the internet, as the old computer has no connectivity at all (despite connectivity being stated).

b) Both computers suffer tiny amounts of connectivity, but both offer unbearable browsing speeds.

The odd thing is, the laptop seems unaffected by this. When browsing the internet on either computer, the laptop can also browse the internet at similarly high speeds. I just wish I could say the same about the third computer!

Overall, having two functioning PC's is essential in my household, and at the moment only one computer seems to work at a time.

when newer computer only is on the internet (eg browsing and downloadnig):

New computer ping to google.com = 105ms

older computer ping to google.com = request timed out

This is the huge problem.

p.s

The speed claimed on both PC's is 100MBPS and "connected". On the laptop it says "54.0 mbps. connected"


Newer computer:

IP ADDRESS: 192.168.0.2
SUBNET MASK: 255.255.255.0
IP ADDRESS: fe80::208:74ff:feb8:ae84%4
default gateway: 192.168.0.1

Older:
Same, apart from second ip address not present, and first ip address 192.168.0.4

What kind of wires are these? How about pinging the router with sth like "ping -t -l 1400 192.168.0.1" instead of Google? Any packets lost?

Try connecting the laptop using "wires"?

When connecting the laptop, the problem is fixed. Internet works at the same time on the new pc and the laptop

OK, so the issue is now with the second PC.

I've cleaned it of all spyware and viruses, done "Registry manager" that i downloaded which found thousands of problems, fixed them all, and did a general clean up.

Yet still the problem remains.

I read somewhere i could try uninstalling the network/internet card and reinstalling. I dont know what this means - what is it and should it help?

You go to Windows Device Manager and delete the network adapter. Reboot and let Windows reinstall it.

Since the problem occurs only when PC #2 is connected, then it does look like a hardware or malware issue.

You could try booting a CD Linux like Knoppix on the older PC and see if the network issues remain in the Linux environment. This way you know whether it is a hardware or a software issue. If it is broken in Linux too, replace the network adapter. If the network is OK in Linux, then it may be a good idea to format and reinstall Windows..

update the router firmware before you waste time with 'major surgery'