eth0-xovercable-eth0-dialup lan

[Peter Garrett]

On Sun, 28 May 2006 15:35:50 -0700 (PDT)
maxim wexler <blissfix at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I'd like to setup a home lan using two pcs and a
> crossover cat5 between the two eth-cards. One pc has
> ubuntu on it and will be connected to another with
> (hiss, boo) gentoo. The gentoo box will be connected
> to the web via a external dial-up modem. The ubuntu
> box only has one serial port which is already spoken
> for and my only pci hardware modem is flaky. So it
> will be the client host ??? of the other one.
 [snip]

Not sure that i'm understanding correctly - but it seems to me the
simplest way would be to use the ethernet crossover cable as you are
already doing, and enable NAT / IP masquerade on the gateway box (the one
with the modem connected).

The simplest and least geeky way to do this that I've found is to
install the " firestarter" firewall, which is a simple front end to
iptables, on the box with the modem. 

When you do the "start up wizard" supplied with firestarter, you have the
option to enable "internet connection sharing". Dial up first so that
firestarter sees your ppp interface, then start firestarter and follow the
"wizard". Once set up, you can forget it unless you need to reconfigure
your firewall rules - it starts up invisibly on boot, and the GUI is only
there for monitoring or administration.

This way you can just install any apps or upgrades for the Ubuntu or
Gentoo boxes over the net, and you have internet access for both systems.
Of course, large updates or installs can take a *long* time - but that's
dialup...

I used this system for some years while I was on dialup, with no problems.
Just be sure to configure the second box to use the modem-connected
machine's IP as gateway.

Peter

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