How to connect to B.net ?

[the Langolier]

Hey folks , just decided to come back to diablo after a long long time , my daughters want to play on B.net with me so we can level together .
Now , my memory is'nt what it used to be , when we tried to connect we get the can't connect message , check if you are connected to the net etc . Alt tabbed and found windows had blocked it , we both unblocked but are still getting the same message .
Do we have to manually download some patch or should it auto patch on connection . If it's auto , any idea's why we can't connect ?
I am assuming B.net is still running .

Thanks for any and all answers .

You've got two problems. The first is you are probably running v1.0 (fresh install) and that is such an old patch it doesn't have correct connection settings for b.net (it was before gateways were introduced). First you will have to manually download the proper patches from the battle.net website.

Even if you get on b.net, however, you will not be able to play in the same game as your daughter. Two computers sharing the same internet connection can't join the same game over b.net*. You will have to choose the IPX option in the multiplayer menu. Of course, you may have to install this protocol on windows XP. If you are using Vista you can forget about that as Vista no longer supports IPX. The final option is direct cable connect. This means disconnecting from the internet and plugging your internet cable directly from one computer into the other through their ethernet cards. This is sure to work but it can be a bit of a hassle if all your cables are neatly stowed behind office furniture. Oh yeah and this method probably means no more than 2 player games.

*Technically they can using a method described in a thread by [vL]Kp which involves setting up port forwarding rules on your router as well as editing the registry on each computer. Edit: found the link for you.