Direct connection (Gb ethernet) help

Hi guys, I'm having a little trouble getting a direct connection working between my 2 machines. Here's the setup:

Router 100mbs

1st machine:
2 x Gb ethernet onboard
First connected to router at 100mbs (DHCP)
other direct connected to second machine (Static assigned IP)
Windows 7 Pro x64

2nd machine:
1 x 100Mb onboard -connected to router (DHCP)
1 x 1Gb PCI-E direct connected to first machine (Static assigned IP)
Windows 7 Pro x64

Basically, what I want to do is still have the the 2 machines hooked up to the router so they can connect to the internet independently of each other (so ICS is out of the question) but I also want to utilise the Gb ports to direct connect to each other for file sharing and Remote Desktop.

I've assigned the first machine 192.168.0.1 (subnet mask of 255.255.255.0) and the second is the same with .0.2 Windows sees it as an unidentified network (with seemingly no way to change this, nor did it ask when I first hooked them up). I can send/receive files using the gigabit connection if the router is not plugged in, but when that it is plugged back in, the machines default to using that for transferring (so I end up with 11MB/s rather than the lovely 55-80MB/s on the Gb ports). Furthermore, Remote Desktop does not work at all through the faster ports.

I know I could very easily solve this problem by getting a gigabit switch to connect the 2 before then using the switch to go to the router but I'd like to be able to do this without having to spend any money first, especially if it's not entirely necessary.

Thanks in advance.

What i/p addresses have you to the Gigabit cards? If they are on the same subnet 255.255.255.0 and have i/p's 192.168.0.x then you will have a problem because if you connect the 100 Mb NIC's to the router, all comms will take place at the slowest speed ie 100MbI suppose you could try giving the Gigabit cards a different subnet and I/P addresses other than 192.168.0.x ones and connect them directly via a crossover cable, that might work.

The gigabit connections are bypassing the router, though. They are directly connected. They are also however also conencted to the router via the 100mbs connection (as this gives them the internet and access to the rest of the household network.)

All seems to be a lot oh assle that I could solve by placing a cheap gigabit switch in.

Try following my advice about connecting your 2 Gigabit cards via a crossover cable and re numbering the subnet and Ip addresses for them. To make a crossover cable and save on the cost of the gigabit switch use Cat 6, 6E or 7 cable and 2 RJ45 plugs. In the cable there are 8 cores and each of the plugs has 8 terminals. You need to connect it in the following way:- 1 on plug end A to 3 on plug end b, 2A to 6B, 3A to 1B and 6A to 2B. This is the cheapest option. This basically creates 2 seperate networks, 1 running at 100 Mb/s to the internet and non gigabit machines and a second network between the 2 gigabit machines via the crossover cable. If you introduce any further machines with gigabit capability you need to buy a gigabit router or switch and use normal Cat 6, 6E or 7 cables to connect all of them up.

I shouldn't need to make a crossover cable, as gigabit ethernet has circuitry that does that for you. The machines do see each other via the network and I can copy files over (although only when the 100mb network isn't running - otherwise it defaults to that).

However, I won't be around the machines for the next week and a half, but I'll give it a go when I do. Cheers.