Direct Cable Connection

[Jeremy]

I don't have an NIC in my pc yet, so i have some q's about direct cable connection. My friend and i tried it with my pc and his laptop with a parallel cable, but we found that we both needed to connect at the same time (rather than having someone connect, then wait for the other). The speed was also lousy (but what do you expect from a parallel cable?). Would it be possibly to use direct cable connection with a standard USB Cable? Or would i have to get a special plug adapter? Also, if i plan to get an NIC (PCI), would it significantly slow down what little speed my pc (see below) has left? Would it sap lots of CPU power (not that i have much in the first place)? I'd like answers about getting an NIC for the system below, and whether a USB direct cable connection is possible.

[newbie1]

what program are you trying to connect with each other? hyperterminal?

[Scott]

I don't see how installing a NIC would significantly impact your performance. In, fact, it would greatly improve your ability to connect to another PC. And... be cheaper ($20 gets you a good NIC) than and special USB cable you might need.

[Jeremy]

what if i require a cable modem (special 128k one) to be plugged into the nic? could i still have a 10/100 lan?

[BaLa]

yeah, but the easiest (cheapest way) to do that is just get 2 Network Cards..

the best way (assuming you want to share your cable connection) is a router IMHO