Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
•
I'm a little suspicious about the threat of "serious harm" to your modem, and I actually expect the gateway address to be the same.
But whether or not it should work, or whether or not you're allowed to have two IP addresses ... that's up to your ISP.
•
I'll start with the modem. Normally those that supply two different connection types, such as USB and ethernet, expect that you'll use one or the other, but not both at the same time. Some may, but I wouldn't count on it. In any case, it'd have to be a very poorly designed modem if trying to use both caused it damage. At worst I'd expect one or the other to simply not work.
Now, whether or not you can have two IP address is totally up to your ISP. They may arbitrarily limit it, typically to one, and usually charge more if you need more IPs. It's also possible that attempting to use two on the same connection can cause confusion, especially for incoming connections. Again, that's totally at the whim and configuration of your ISP. In general, though, unless you're paying for more than one IP, you can probably only use one.
Now, the gateway IP address is fairly simple. That's just the next computer or router upstream from yours that is the "gateway" to the internet. When you communicate to another computer on the internet, the packets you send are physically sent to that gateway as their first step out onto the internet. It's surprising to me that you got two different gateway addresses, but certainly not impossible.
My real recommendation in the situation you describe is to bypass all these questions and work with a more common solution that's designed specifically for what you're attempting to do: a NAT router. Routers are not that expensive, and basically sidestep all of your questions. They're designed to take that one IP address and allow you to share it with two, or more, computers.
It's a much simpler solution.
Article C2525 - January 19, 2006
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
listen my usb connection is deleated and how do you get back the usb connection and i want it install back on my computer help me please
Posted by: tamika at October 24, 2007 9:26 AMI tried this tonite on my ADSL modem to 2 computers
Posted by: Allan Cameron at September 10, 2008 3:54 AMOne ethernet RUNNING VISTA and one USB RUNNING XP
At first it didnt work but then Vista computer asked If I wanted to diagnose/fix and then it worked perfectly..so far so good!!
i've recenlty bought everything required for "Xbox 360 Live" - "which connects you to the internet through computer" , but i think i've bought the wrong ethernet cord, its an "USB cord" and i'm wondering, can i connect it to my "Computer and my Model6100" and still get internet, And i've bought an 5 port ethernet router.
Posted by: USB-man :) at October 24, 2008 6:48 AMI have a cable modem with USB and ETHERNET connections, is it possable(because i can not seem to correctly use the usb slot on the modem) to connect the computer and a xbox 360 and run the internet on both while using the cable and usb slot?
Posted by: Jabril hopkins at March 14, 2009 7:49 PMI have a SpeedStream 5200 router. Before I had two computers connected, one through both USB and ethernet. I just switched computers though and now the one connected through USB is having major issues. I'll get about 5-10 seconds of normal internet, then drop down to near nothing for about a minute, and it'll cycle like that. It's horribly slow and frustrating. What could be causing this?
Posted by: Confused at May 25, 2009 8:59 PM