My first LAN party- not working?

[Guest]

Running XP SP2 on a Dell 8250

Got myself a wireless router (belkin 802.11g wireless), and installed it
fine. As of now I have Desktop connected wireless, and a Laptop connected
with wire. It is working fine for internet browsing, for two computers at
the same time (on a dynamic DSL line).

But now I am trying to set up LAN for multiplayer games. The only games I
have tried to get running are a bit older (~2000) and are asking for IPX to
be installed (and failing to connect). My connection is looks like it is
just TCP/IP and I don't see IPX as a selection anywhere in the "properties".
I don't see that IPX even exists anymore (the XP "help" for IPX refers to
Win2000 and refers you to control panel screens and selections that
apparently aren't present in XP).

From what I've gathered, it looks like maybe I'm supposed to set up an ICS
with my main computer as the hub, and the others just automatically will be
on the LAN. Is that right? Can two XP computers see each other with
independent connections to a single router, or do they need to have one
master to be visible to each other? Would a newer game be more able to link
up?

But those questions do not seem to solve the whole "no IPX found" problem
either. Is such a game simply impossible to run in XP?

What am I doing wrong? (Or is there a nice How-To for setting up a LAN
party that I just haven't found?)

 

[Chuck]

Running XP SP2 on a Dell 8250

Got myself a wireless router (belkin 802.11g wireless), and installed it
fine. As of now I have Desktop connected wireless, and a Laptop connected
with wire. It is working fine for internet browsing, for two computers at
the same time (on a dynamic DSL line).

But now I am trying to set up LAN for multiplayer games. The only games I
have tried to get running are a bit older (~2000) and are asking for IPX to
be installed (and failing to connect). My connection is looks like it is
just TCP/IP and I don't see IPX as a selection anywhere in the "properties".
I don't see that IPX even exists anymore (the XP "help" for IPX refers to
Win2000 and refers you to control panel screens and selections that
apparently aren't present in XP).

From what I've gathered, it looks like maybe I'm supposed to set up an ICS
with my main computer as the hub, and the others just automatically will be
on the LAN. Is that right? Can two XP computers see each other with
independent connections to a single router, or do they need to have one
master to be visible to each other? Would a newer game be more able to link
up?

But those questions do not seem to solve the whole "no IPX found" problem
either. Is such a game simply impossible to run in XP?

What am I doing wrong? (Or is there a nice How-To for setting up a LAN
party that I just haven't found?)

You should be able to setup 2 or more Windows XP computers - with either TCP/IP
or IPX - and have them both connected directly to the router. You can't use ICS
for connecting IPX / SPX. ICS, which is a software based router, is generally
used where you don't have a router, or the router that you do have can't be
connected to by all computers. Direct connection to the router, by both
computers, is your best bet.

IPX on your LAN is perfectly doable, though it will only stay on your LAN - ie
you wont be able to connect outside your LAN to any other players - IPX / SPX
doesn't pass thru routers. But you can set it up fairly easily. Here's a good
article on setting IPX / SPX up on your computer:
<http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp/network_protocols.htm>