if you're on a tight budget you don't need a ROUTER if you're just connecting 2 PCs
if your PCs already have built in NIC (Network Card) then better, if not you need to buy 2 NICs, one for each PC.
then you need to buy a CROSSOVER Cat5/UTP cable, the length is according how far apart your PCs are.
you can ask the computer shop to crimp the connectors for you, just make sure it's a CrossOver wiring.
connect the ends of the cable to the PCs NIC, setup your TCP/IP, enable ICS. you should be good to go.


oops, duh didn't read the whole post. congratulations anyway.