My computer has two ethernet ports. How do I share my internet connection?

[firetrainer]

I want to connect my XBOX360/laptop to the second port, but how do I share my internet connection?

[Kasakato]

Your PC has two cat 5 jacks? So I assume one is in, the other is out?

Are you sure its not on board and an PCI card?

[firetrainer]

Yeah they are built onto my motherboard.

[cwb27]

Buy a cheap ethernet switch.

It's not worth the hassle of trying setup connection sharing... It can be very unstable and a headache to maintain. Also, you'd need a crossover cable. Again, not worth the hassle.

[Kasakato]

Buy a cheap ethernet switch.

It's not worth the hassle of trying setup connection sharing... It can be very unstable and a headache to maintain. Also, you'd need a crossover cable. Again, not worth the hassle.

Agreed. Doing a bridged, shared port is hard and in my experience- unstable. I'm using a $10, 8 port switch from a computer store.

[hooch]

Get a router. While you can always activate Internet Connection Sharing on your desktop, you're going to have to suffer having your computer on all the time to use your XBox. That eats up more electricity, and in the end, costs you more. A router is nice, low powered, and stable. If you've got a bit of coin, go for a gaming router which supports QoS or packet shaping to help optimize your traffic.

[ppl4golf]

Your PC has two cat 5 jacks? So I assume one is in, the other is out?

Are you sure its not on board and an PCI card?

My newly acquired K9N SLI has 2 LAN port as well. Couldn't think of a good use for the 2nd port since I share connection via a 4-port wireless router.

[Icedawn]

just create an internet bridge by selecting the two connectsion in "network connections" and selecting "bridge"

even if people say its unstable, it works great for me and haven't ever had a problem once it started working (which admittedly took me an hour or so)

[firetrainer]

I dont want to buy a router cause I have one at home (Im at school, living on campus), and I leave my computer on all the time anyways.