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Situation: There are multiple computer in your home, each with a peripheral you'd like to use on another computer. Or maybe you just want to hookup with a friend for some low ping Quake. Whatever the reason, a home LAN via 10/100BaseT is a sound idea. While other solutions such as wireless or home phoneline promise ease of use, they can't hold a candle to the speed of ethernet. These pages are here to help you through the most difficult phase, software configuration. Plus tips on other stuff too.
NOTE: Entirely Windows 95/98 specific. I have a Linux box on my network, but for you 3133t Linux h@x0rs read through the Networking HOW-TO.
10/100BaseT isn't the only way to do ethernet, you could use coax (the kind of cable that carries your cable TV, also known as "Thinnet") but the hassles (ever try to make a 90 degree turn?) aren't worth it with the low cost of 10/100BaseT.
You can purchase all the elements separately, or buy a 'network-in-a-box'. I recommend (and use) the Netgear line of products. They have several 'network-in-a-box' products aimed at the home market; the only difference between the choices being the speed/size of the hub. The Netgear FB104 (the old recommendation) is no longer produced, the FB105 is it's replacement. The FB105 includes two NICs, a 4-port 100/10BaseT hub, and cables. To find the best price head over to Pricewatch and enter "FB105" into the search box.
A straight 100 Mb hub is more expensive then a 100/10 Mb hub, why? 100/10 Mb hubs are known as switching hubs, meaning, you can plug anything in and the hub will figure out automatically what speed the device can use. With a 100 Mb only hub you won't be able to connect 10 Mb-only devices, though if you're only connecting computers this isn't much of a problem. Just be aware of it if you want to hook up a print server or some other 10 Mb-only device.
Switches are basically "smart" hubs. A hub receives packets from a computer then broadcasts it to every other node, it's up to each computer to check the address of the packet and either read or ignore. A switch on the other hand sends the correct packets to the correct computers. For networks less then 10 nodes I don't recommend buying a switch because the speed improvement is negligible.
Take a look at the cables, note that they resemble telephone cables but the connector is slightly larger. An ethernet cable uses something called a RJ-45 connector (Blayne Mathis says, "rj means registered jack, and that the number is just one assigned to that type of cable"), while telephones use a RJ-11. No, you can't use a telephone cable as a replacement!
Install the NICs, attach the cables from the cards to the hub, and power up the hub.
| Yes, I drew it myself. |
Your screen will initially differ, since Windows likes to put in protocols and services that are basically useless.
Unless you have old games that use it, (Descent, Command and Conquer) remove IPX/SPX. Toss Windows Family Logon too. Since you have a modem and are connected to the Internet (right?!) TCP/IP is already installed. With the introduction of the NIC, TCP/IP is now bound to both the NIC and modem (aka Dial-Up Adapter).
Lets futz with the TCP/IP -> NIC properties (don't worry about the dial-up adapter), double click that item and a new window will appear:
Your radio button will initially be set to "Obtain an IP address", quick explanation of the window: when "Obtain an IP" is selected, Windows sends out a message via the ethernet card to try and grab an IP address. For a small LAN it's much easier to manually assign IPs then try and setup a DHCP server. If you want to know why the IPs are in the 192.168.1.X range, or why the netmask is 255.255.255.0, click here and look under the header "Addresses".
Each computer must have a unique IP address, simply increment the last digit (192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2, etc), always keep the netmask the same on all computers.
If you haven't already, add Client for MS Networks (from the main network window click ADD - double-click CLIENT - select MICROSOFT then "Client for MS Networks")
Now click the FILE and PRINT SHARING button and select what you want to share: More on sharing a little later.
Double-click on Client for MS Networks, a window will popup: "Log on to WinNT" should be unchecked. The bottom radio buttons are your choice - though "Quick Logon" is faster (slightly).
Click OK to return to the main window.
Computer name: String that identifies your box, choose something witty. Failing that, just look around the room and pick a random object. You might end up with an interesting computer name, like say, phone or lyre.
Workgroup: Should be the same on both computers, when you open up the Network Neighborhood (not now!) you'll see something similar to the image on the right.
If you choose different Workgroups then all you will see when you open up the Network Neighborhood is your computer, to see the other one you would need to double-click Entire Network. . . now you can see all the different Workgroups. Save a step and put the computers in the same Workgroup.
Comment: What others (or yourself) see when they select your computer's properties via the Network Neighborhood.
Notice the little hands on the C and D drive? That's because they are shared, right-click any drive (even your floppy drive) and select SHARING:
Share Name: Just like COMPUTER NAME a few steps back, it's what shown when someone opens up your computer in the Network Neighborhood (picture directly below)
Comment: I don't need to explain this, do I?
Access type: Fairly obvious, if you're setting up a private network not connected to the Internet you can leave the access type as Full because you can easily track down and pummel any offenders.
My C drive shows up as NOT4U in the window, while I named my D drive something more useful. Also note that my printer is shared.
Make sure - very sure - that File and Print sharing is UNCHECKED. If not, while you're connected to the Internet, anyone can access your shares. If you're into emulation you've probably heard of NESticle, the author didn't uncheck this box and someone stole the source code - this halted development for almost a year.
Steve Gibson's Shields Up is an excellent resource. His tag line is: Can anyone crawl into your computer while you're connected to the Internet? You maybe VERY surprised to find out!
I highly recommend that you test your computer and follow his security guidelines.
The Zonealarm firewall is free and useful.
To alleviate this annoyance install TweakUI (Win2K users: TweakUI is on the Win2K CD, somewhere) and enable the Network auto-logon. To erase a network password delete the .PWL file that corresponds to your username in the c:\windows directory. The next time you start Windows you'll be prompted for a new password.
Don't panic if you don't immediately see computers in the Network Neighborhood; hit F5 a few times to force a refresh. Sometimes even that doesn't work, just wait a few minutes and the other computers should pop up. Rebooting usually isn't necessary, but you never know.
Notice something slightly/terribly/criminally incorrect? HTML style about to glaze your retinas? Angry since you use the 172.16.X.X IP range? Or even have useful comments or questions?
Don't be a passive netzine! Sock it to me