I have an internet connection through university halls. If any of you are aware, in order to get online you have to register your mac address with the network administration and only that mac can get online. If you change network card you go through the process of reregistering mac.
My issue is different. I have a laptop connected to the line with a registered mac address. Recenlty I decided to share the connection to my girlfriends desktop pc and already have a 5-port switch, so i have connected the switch to the lan port in the room and then the 2 pc's to the switch. In order for both pc's to connect to the internet I have altered the mac address that appears outside from the properties of the desktop card and the tab with the network address (funny how even advanced users i asked sayed you cant change the mac address that is seen from the pc). So basically now the desktop pc has the same mac as the laptop.
Both pc's connect fine to the internet and browse without a problem, but i seem to be having problems when both are connected to msn service and we get sign in's and out's very often. This wont happen when one of the 2 is connected to msn. Ive tried using trilian or windows messenger on one but it seems that the problem is elsewhere. Also I tend to get problems with downloads of files where very often they stop and i have to retry the download up to 4-5 times before it succesfully finishes.
Finally ive been wondering if its possible to setup file sharing through this method. I think it isnt since both pc's have one mac address and share the same ip so basically they seem to be one pc connected to the network and cant see each other. I can see other pc's in the halls (the ones that have the same workgroup) but not the 2 between them.
Please dont recommend internet connection sharing since i want the two to work independently and also no routers. I dont intend on buying one now. I am not very advanced in networking so correct anything stupid i might have said. Thanx all for your help.