Home Network & Broadband

[Noel S Pamfree]

Before broadband we had two machines here at home networked via a Cat5 cable
(that's what we call them in the UK). It worked well.

When we got Broadband we used the cable to connect both machines to a router
and share the connection ok.

Is it still possible to enjoy the facilities of networking - like sharing
printers and accessing each other's hard drives - I have not been able to
achieve this.

Any help appreciated,

Noel

 

[Malke]

Before broadband we had two machines here at home networked via a Cat5
cable (that's what we call them in the UK). It worked well.

When we got Broadband we used the cable to connect both machines to a
router and share the connection ok.

Is it still possible to enjoy the facilities of networking - like
sharing printers and accessing each other's hard drives - I have not
been able to achieve this.

Yes, most certainly you can share files/printers. You just need to
create your local area network.

Run the Network Setup Wizard on all computers, making sure to enable
File & Printer Sharing, and reboot. The only "gotcha" is that this will
turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a third-party
firewall or have an antivirus with "Internet Worm Protection" (like
Norton 2005/06) which acts as a firewall, then you're fine. If you have
third-party firewall software, configure it to allow the Local Area
Network traffic as trusted. I usually do this with my firewalls with an
IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would
substitute your correct subnet.

If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:

a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.

b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the
Simple File Sharing enabled.

Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means
that anyone without a user account on the target system can use its
resources. This is a security hole but only you can decide if it
matters in your situation.

Then create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share
folders inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the
Shared Documents folder.

If that doesn't work for you, here is an excellent network
troubleshooter by MVP Hans-Georg Michna. Take the time to go through it
and it will usually pinpoint the problem area(s) -
http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

Malke

 

[Shaun]

If your computers were connected directly to each other with the cable, you
will have to use different cables as the direct connect cable is a crossover
cable.

 

[Noel S Pamfree]

So that's why it doesn't work - I forgot we used a cross-over cable
originally.

The problem is both the pc and the laptop only have one socket for the
network cable.

Noel

 

[Malke]

So that's why it doesn't work - I forgot we used a cross-over cable
originally.

The problem is both the pc and the laptop only have one socket for the
network cable.

I thought you said you had a router. You need a router. See this link
for good basic information about network setup:

Linksys Learning Center - http://tinyurl.com/8ka4w

Naturally, you don't need to purchase Linksys equipment. I just think
this site helps visualize network setup.

Malke

 

[Noel S Pamfree]

Hi,

Thanks for the link.

We do have a router - a Netgear DG834. Before we had it we just set up a
home network by running the network wizard. We connected the two machines
with a cross-over cable and shared our Dial-up internet connection, printers
and files on each others hard disks. The cross-over cable used the only
network socket on the back of the pc and the single socket on the laptop.
Now we use each of these single sockets to connect each machine to the
router.

My problem is I can't see how we could set up the network again (or re-use
what is already there) as there is only a single socket in each machine and
we need that to connect to the router in order to have an Internet
connection.

I'm not sure if I'm making sense as it's a bit difficult to explain!

Noel

 

[Malke]

Hi,

Thanks for the link.

We do have a router - a Netgear DG834. Before we had it we just set up
a home network by running the network wizard. We connected the two
machines with a cross-over cable and shared our Dial-up internet
connection, printers
and files on each others hard disks. The cross-over cable used the
only network socket on the back of the pc and the single socket on the
laptop. Now we use each of these single sockets to connect each
machine to the router.

My problem is I can't see how we could set up the network again (or
re-use what is already there) as there is only a single socket in each
machine and we need that to connect to the router in order to have an
Internet connection.

I'm not sure if I'm making sense as it's a bit difficult to explain!

No, you're not making sense. Please go to the website I gave you for
pictures of how to network.

Basically you will have:

cable/dsl modem --->Netgear router via one ethernet cable from modem to
router

Router will normally have 4 (or more) ports for computer connections.
Router ---->computer via one ethernet cable from router to computer's
network adapter.

The ethernet cables used in all cases above will not be crossover; they
will be standard straight-through cat5e ethernet cables.

The router makes the Internet connection to the cable/dsl modem and then
"turns around" and passes out private IP addresses to all the computers
on the local area network ("lan"). Hence, all the computers on the lan
can have Internet access and also share files/printers with each other.

Malke

 

[Jack \(MVP-Networking\).]

Hi
The single socket that you see is Not the Router's connection. It is the
socket of the Network card that you have in your computer/s and it serving
for any Network connection. When the socket is getting the address of the
Router it would connect to the Router when it is getting the address of
another computer it would connect to another computer (it is like a car its
goes to were you want it to go).
So there is No difference in the File Sharing whether the Router is part of
the Network or Not. Just configure each computer for File Sharing and leave
the sockets as is.
Successful Sharing involves some general consideration in Network settings,
http://www.ezlan.net/sharing.html
As well as specific adjustment of each computer according to what is allowed
to be shared.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/filesharing.mspx
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304040
Jack (MVP-Networking).

 

[Noel S Pamfree]

Thanks!

I think my confusion was caused because my Netgear Router has the modem
built into it (4-products-in-1: Modem, Router, Firewall & 4 port switch).

Noel

 

[Malke]

Thanks!

I think my confusion was caused because my Netgear Router has the
modem built into it (4-products-in-1: Modem, Router, Firewall & 4 port
switch).

Fine, it's still the same concept. If you have cable service, there is a
coax cable going to the wall from the modem/router. If you have DSL,
the DSL cable goes to the wall telephone jack. Each computer has an
ethernet cable going from each computer's network adapter to one of the
ports on the modem/router.

I'm not familiar with that particular modem/router but most are clearly
labeled on the back as to "Internet" or "DSL" and "LAN".

Malke