cabling problem?

[Andrew Boothman]

Marwan Sultan wrote:

>      When I plug the network cable From the Modem router directly to my 
>      FreeBSD in the first NIC rl0 it doesnot take the internet connection.
>      and nor the light in the rl0 lights.!
> 
>      So to solve the problem, I have a small HUB i pluged the cable from
>      the router to hub (uplink) and from the HUB to rl0 then everything
>      works fine, and the NIC light comes on, and NATd works great
>      also all clients have the internet access.
> 
>      The question is:
>      Why the network cable from Modem router to box directly doesnot
>      work in the time from Modem router to HUB and from HUB  to BSD 
>      box works fine?

In order to directly connect two computers (or your computer and modem 
in this case) together using ethernet, you need a special type of 
ethernet cable called a crossover cable - which is simply a normal 
ethernet cable wired slightly differently.

The cable you are using must not be a crossover cable - and so it works 
between a computer and a hub, but not directly between two computers.

You should be able to find more information on Google if you need it.

Hope that helps.

Andrew