got two PCs (mine and lil bros) running windows xp home sp2...
i wanted to do file sharing, and internet sharing...

Set up: My pc (PC1) connects to the internet through dial-up, his pc (PC2) connects to mine through ethernet network card.

here what happens
1) ping -- failed from both pcs
2) windows browsing -- can't see each others pc
3) crossover networking seems to be recognized on both pc windows as the network icon appears at corner when cables are connected and both pcs are on

funny thing is netmeeting works which we currently use for swapping files:
On netmeeting his pc can call mine but i can't call his,
but only on the condition that
-- i have to make a call first to his pc (but won't appear on his netmeeting anyway) while i'm on that call he'll have to make a call to mine. As soon as i cancel my call (to his pc) his call appears on mine and i accept it and off we go on file sharing

below are the ipconfig/all from PC1 (mine) and PC2 (my lil bros)

PC1:

Code:

Windows IP Configuration 
        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : kuava 
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : 
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown 
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes 
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No 

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3: 
        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller 
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-01-6C-B6-57-FA 
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No 
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1 
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 

PPP adapter paradise: 
        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface 
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-53-45-00-00-00 
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No 
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 210.246.17.44 
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255 
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 210.246.17.44 
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 203.96.152.4 
                                            203.96.152.12 
        NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

PC2:

Code:

Windows IP Configuration 
        Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : sioelixp 
        Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . : 
        Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown 
        IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No 
        WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No 

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: 
        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast 
Ethernet NIC 
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-05-1C-11-57-43 
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No 
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2 
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

I could be barking up the wrong tree here but try setting the default gateway on your brother's PC to 192.168.0.1 and see if that helps