Introduction
A very easy way to connect two PCs is using a USB-USB cable. Connecting two PCs with a cable like this you can transfer files from one PC to another, and even build a small network and share your Internet connection with a second PC. In this tutorial we will explain you how to connect two PCs using a cable like this.
The first thing you should be aware of is that there are several different kinds of USB-USB cables on the market. The one used to connect two PCs is called “bridged” (or “USB networking cable”), because it has a small electronic circuit in the middle allowing the two PCs to talk to each other. There are the so-called A/A USB cables that, in spite of having two standard USB connectors at each end, don’t have a bridge chip and cannot be used to connect two PCs. In fact, if you use an A/A USB cable you can burn the USB ports of your computers or even their power supplies. So, these A/A USB cables are completely useless. A/B USB cables are used to connect your computer to peripherals such as printers and scanners, so they also won’t fit your needs.
As for speed, the bridge chip can be USB 1.1 (12 Mbps) or USB 2.0 (480 Mbps). Of course we suggest you to buy a USB 2.0 bridged cable, because of its very high-speed. Just to remember, the standard Ethernet network works at 100 Mps, so the USB 2.0 cable will provide you a transfer rate almost five times higher than a standard network connection.
We decided to open the bridge located on the middle of our cable just to show you that this kind of cable really has a bridge chip, and that’s why it is more expensive than a simple A/A USB cable that doesn’t have any circuit at all.
Now that you know the kind of cable that you should buy (on the top of this page we are listing several places you can buy this cable online), let’s talk about its installation.
Installation
This cable can work in two modes: link mode and network mode. On link mode, it will work just like the very old “lap link” cables, i.e. it comes with a software where you can select files and simply drag and drop them to where you want to move or copy them to or from the remote computer. If you just want to copy files, that’s the mode we recommend you to use, because it is easier and quicker to install and use.
On network mode, you will create a small network between two computers. After creating this network you can share folders, printers and Internet access. This mode is recommended if besides copying files you want to have access to a printer located on the other computer (or any other computer on the network, if this computer is connected to a network) or want to have Internet access.
The cable installation process will depend on the cable manufacturer. You will have to install the programs and drivers that come with the cable on a CD-ROM. This procedure must be performed on both computers, with the cable not installed.
So, don’t install the cable yet, leave it away from the computers.
Some manufacturers ship two different setup files, one for the link mode and another for the network mode. Other manufacturers ship just one setup file valid for both modes. Then you need to select the mode you want to use during the installation or inside the transfer program that will be installed.
Figure 4: Choosing the mode during installation.
Figure 5: Choosing the mode inside the transfer program.
After you have installed the corresponding drivers (link mode or network mode), you should install the cable on the computer. Windows will recognize it and install the correct drivers.
If you installed the program and drivers with the cable attached to the computer, you should remove it from your computer and install it again. This will make Windows to recognized it and install its drivers.
You should repeat this process for the other computer now.
If you want to change the mode your cable is working under, you should run the setup program for the other mode or selecting the mode change on the transfer program, depending on the cable model. This should be without your cable attached to your computer. After changing the mode, reinstall the cable and the system will recognize it automatically. If you run the setup program or changed the mode with the cable attached, simply remove the cable from your computer and install it again to force Windows to install the correct drivers (the drivers used on link mode and network mode are different). You should repeat this process for the other computer.
Now that you cable is installed, let’s see how to use it on both modes.
Link Mode
As we mentioned, the link mode is the easiest and fastest way to connect two PCs using your USB cable for transferring files. If you want to have Internet access and/or have printer access, you should go to network mode.
After installing the cable as describe on the previous page, you should check if the cable is correctly installed on Device Manager (right click My Computer, Properties, Hardware, Device Manager). It should be listed under “Universal Serial Bus controllers”, see Figure 6 (our cable is listed as “Hi-Speed USB Bridge Cable”, but your cable can use a slight different name, depending on the manufacturer).
Figure 6: USB-USB cable correctly installed using link mode.
To transfer files, you should open the transfer program that was installed when you run the setup file. On our cable this program was called PClinq2. This program must be opened on both computers.
The usage of the transfer program is really easy. On its left side it will show your computer, and on its right side it will show the remote computer. Just select the drive/partition and folder/files you want to transfer and drag and drop them to the desired location. It couldn’t be easier!
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Figure 7: Transfer program.
Network Mode
As we mentioned, under network mode the computers will be linked in a small network, and the connection will work just like a network. This mode allows you to share the Internet connection, if available on one of the computers.
After installing the cable as describe before, you should check if the cable is correctly installed as a network adapter on Device Manager (right click My Computer, Properties, Hardware, Device Manager). It should be listed under “Network adapters”, see Figure 8 (our cable is listed as “Hi-Speed USB-USB Network Adapter”, but your cable can use a slight different name, depending on the manufacturer).
F
igure 8: USB-USB cable correctly installed using network mode.
The next step is to configure both computers to use the USB cable as a network adapter.
First you have to configure the computer that has access to the Internet. On this computer, open Network Connections (Start, Settings, Network Connections). You will see there the network adapters located on your computer. In our case, “Local Area Connection” was the network adapter that connected our PC to the Internet (to our broadband router) and “Local Area Connection 2” was the USB-USB cable, see Figure 9.
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Figure 9: Network connections.
Network Mode (Cont'd)
Right click on the network card that is connecting your PC to the Internet (“Local Area Connection”, in our case), choose Properties and, on the window that will show up, click on Advanced tab. There, check the box “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection”. Depending on your Windows XP version, there will be a drop-down menu called “Home networking connection”, where you should select the USB cable connection (“Local Area Connection 2”, in our case).
Figure 10: Enabling Internet sharing.
After you have done this configuration, you must restart your computer. After restarting it, everything should be working just fine. Try browsing the net from the other computer to see if everything is running fine.
If the remote computer cannot access the Internet, check if the USB cable is configured to get an IP address automatically from the network. Go to Start menu, Settings, Network Connections, right click the cable connection (“Local Area Connection 2”, in our case), select Properties and then, on the window that will appear, double click on “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)”. Both two options available on the screen that will show up must be set on “automatically”, as shown on Figure 11. Both computers should be configured this way.
Figure 11: TCP/IP configuration must be set to automatic on both computers.
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