UBB.Developers Forums General Discussion Chit Chat Networking. Can anyone help me?

Hi.

Could someone please help me. I have two computers in different rooms of my house not too far apart and Id like to network them. Im no expert, so I thought maybe one of you guys would help me - whats the easiest way of doing this? what equipment would I need to buy and how would I go about networking the two computers?

I heard theres a way of doing it through telephone lines - this would be pretty good if I could do it, anyone know how? Otherwise what are the other methods.

Expense isn't really a problem but I dont want to go overboard. is it possible to keep down to $200 or so of equipment and stuff or is that being too ambitous?

Thanks in advance.

I'm connecting 4 computers in 3 different rooms through LAN, using a switch hub and cat5 lines (connected to network adapters). It works well, pretty slower than 100mbps but still fine. Ofcourse you have to open a hole in each wall, but since I have a gypsum wall, it didn't really matter to me

I use to connect two computers in my house using a single network lead (now have 3 so use a hub).

What you need to do is get a network card for both computers, and then get a network lead (standard network lead), and you need to twist one of the wires in the lead, and then connect it to both computers.

Works fine.

Go to your local computer shop, ask them about linking two computers together with out a hub and that you need to twist a wire on the lead, and they should be able to do it for you.

Unless you speak to the local idiot who has no clue, but it saves a lot of money because you don't need a hub.

If you are going to stick with 2 computers then use a 'crossover cable'. These can often work out somewhat dearer to buy, depending upon the cable run required. However if you plan to add either a third computer or pehaps a network printer (saves having to have the controlling computer on), then go for a basic hub.

Go for Cat5e cable, or the new Cat6 which is just emerging (depending upon your locality). I recently saw cat 4 cable still being on sale at the loal computer store - avoid this.

You will still need a network card for both machines.

An alternative to this might be a kit already made up for connecting 2 PC's. This will contain 2 network cards, and a crossover cable. Even if the cable is too short and you have to buy a new one, you will probably still save on the cost of the 2 cards, and have directions / CD to install the network.

Ian

You can get a very basic hub for $80. Netgear and Linksys both make them.

I'm using a netgear rt-314. My DSL line plugs into the back of it, then my 4+ computers plug into the front.

It sets up a private network for you; you can use static or dhcp ip addresses for each of the pc's on the network (192.168.x.x).

It's quick and simple. You can daisy chain more hubs to it if you need more than 4 ports (which I will very shortly, as I have one little box and 3 mega boxes waiting to be built and stuck on the network )

..oh, the hub also serves as a hardware firewall, which is great.

Not always.

The Linksys series of Cable/DSL routers are less than a hundred dollars and provide either 4 or 8 switched ports.

We use a Linksys, it has 4 ports, performs well, and is a nice hardware firewall too

hardware firewalls rulez j00.

incase anyone cares, i also use a linksys.

If you don't want to lay cable around your house you could use Wi-Fi cards and set up a wireless network.

Keep in mind that Wi-Fi isn't exactly 100% secure. If you live in a home, have a good deal of some space between you and the neighbors, and are not on a very busy street you should be okay. But I wouldn't consider it if I was in an apartment building or on a very well traveled street because you can get people that aggressively look for Wi-Fi networks to connect to.