USB 2.0 for old computers

I got myself one of those neat USB WiMAX Motorola USBw 100 (USBw 35100 to be exact) from a new provider in Jordan MADA owned by Fastlink (Now ZAIN), it is nice and everything, But as you may well know, the thing is USB not eithernet, And most routers are not very USB friendly

Although i like it because it is USB and is portable since it requiers no power adapter and is relativly small, it is also cheaper, the USB goes for $140 and the CPE with an eithernet port is for $280.

Anyway, the limitation is connecting it to the LAN, And another limitation yet to be resolved is a linux driver, so here is what i did

NOTE: The secont eithernet card is because this is a headless computer and i want to be able to use remote desktop even when the internet is disconnected, So most of this is really not important, I will provide a drawing of my setup in no time so you can understand how it works since i wrote this in a hurry.

1- An old celeron (1GHz) computer which proved to be just the right speed (CPU Load is at 50% all of the time, and i don’t know if it spikes every now and then),

2-USB: The TUSI-M Motherboard comes with a USB 1.1 SIS7001 USB controller that crashed the system often, i got a 5 port (4 external 1 internal)

VIA
VT6212L
0745CD TAIWAN
23B7033891

USB PCI controller for around $6 that did the trick of fixing the USB just fine, and the expensive part was a Windows XP OS.

3- An extra Eithernet NIC card on the PCI Bus (The first is built into the motherboard)
4- A Linksys WRT54G router (Any router will do, Wireless or not)

Hardware Setup

I intslled the WiMAX USB adapter on the PC (To the new USB controller), the second NIC (eth1 on linux) to the router’s internet port (IN Port or The separate Ethernet port on the router), Eth0 (The built in NIC on the motherboard) connected to one of the router’s LAN ports.

Software Setup on the router
I logged into the router and set it to use DHCP to obtain an internet connection.

Software Setup on the computer
I logged into the computer, Open Control Panel -> Network Connections -> And you should find 3 eithernet adapters.
1- The Motherboard’s Built in card that is connected to one of the router’s LAN ports
2- The extra NIC card we installed that is connected to the router’s (Internet) port
3- An Ethernet adapter named Beceem Communications Tarang 3

So, right click on the one that reads Beceem and open the Advanced Tab

Under Advanced, you will find “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection”, Chose the Second Eithernet adapter from the list above (Connected to the router’s internet port), In my case that would be Local Area Connection 3, Uncheck the Allow users to control or disable the shared internet connection, Use the Moto tools to connect and you are done !