Home Network Help

[BradRT]

i currently have 2 computers with a network card in each.

i have an ntl broadband connection through my set top box. i also have a router so that my 2 computers can share the internet connection.

what do i need to also have these computers connected up so that games can be played, view eachothers files, etc...

am i right in thinkin all i need is a hub?

 

[sneeks]

My router allows me to share the cable broadband connection and share HDD data between both computers. I didn't need anything other than the router.

 

[The Hoff]

You just need to make a home network now mate, check that both computers are in the same domain (GROUP) so they can both see each other. Also you will need to set an IP range unless your router has DHCP (which it should do). One you have the IP range of the clients, you'll need to enter that range (usually 10.0.0.X) into your firewall (if your using one) to allow them to communicate.

Should be all you need really.

 

[nockmeister]

Use the Networking Wizard...

 

[1fast6]

Use the Networking Wizard...

lol.

Brad, do you mean that you already have both PC's accessing your net connection? If so you just need to configure windows as the IP addressing is already correct.

If you want to see your PC's in network neighbourhood then you need to enable netbios over TCP/IP which can be done in TCP/IP advanced settings under the WINS tab.

 

[BradRT]

wo wo wo! slow down guys!! lol

i dont have a clue about any of this so what do i need to do first? i'm running zonealarm as a firewall and i'm on windows xp.

what now?

 

[TELFORDS_LURK]

NetBios, WINS, totally unnecessary. Lets get a little more information on the PC's you want to network first.

What operating system are they running? Very easy if Windows XP or 2000.

What do you intend to do, file share, print share??

Gice us a little spec info and we can work from that.

Chris

 

[Evil Ally]

It's not as difficult as it's being made out to be

If you already have a router and you're running XP you should be ready to go.

First you need to names of the machines. To do this, right click on my computer, goto properties. Then select the computer name tab. Note this down for both machines. You may also want to change it to something easy to remember.

*Now on one machine, click start->run. Type "\\machinename" (where "machinename" is the computer you want to access) and click ok. What should happen next is a window should come up with the available shares on that computer. There probably won't be anything, so next step.

To make a folder shared, right click and go to "sharing". You can enable it here, it will probably give you a warning etc the first time you do it. This folder will now appear in the list of shares next time you access that machine with the run command.



*If you have problems here, your firewall could be blocking file and print sharing. You can test this by disabling the firewalls temporarily. Personally I don't run a firewall when I'm behind a nat router as I think it's overkill and more trouble than it's worth. If you want to keep it, you have to configure it to allow this traffic.

 

[BradRT]

i only wanna play games against eachother really. but when i go to multiplayer on the games and select network, it doesnt find anything

 

[1fast6]

NetBios, WINS, totally unnecessary.

Unnecessary? No it is not. If you want to use windows naming without a WINS server then it needs to be enabled. It will most likely be enabled via DHCP anyway.

 

[TELFORDS_LURK]

Unnecessary? No it is not. If you want to use windows naming without a WINS server then it needs to be enabled. It will most likely be enabled via DHCP anyway.

Of course, its highly likely its auto anyway. May have phrased it a little worng saying its unncessary but was just trying to get a little more information on the current system before making any judgement or suggestions.

 

[nockmeister]

if you want to play games, the problem I think will be closed ports. You need to use Port Forwarding, which is enabled within your router admin pages. The games you want to play should have which ports to open, usually a range of ports.

 

[jonesyx]

if you want to play games, the problem I think will be closed ports. You need to use Port Forwarding, which is enabled within your router admin pages. The games you want to play should have which ports to open, usually a range of ports.

the manual with your game should tell you which ports it needs open, open them in zonealarm and in the router settings.

 

[Evil Ally]

I think what he is trying to say is that he wants to play a game on his own network just with the 2 PCs he has (rather than on the net). So you won't have to fiddle with router settings in this case. Zonealarm will most likely be blocking the necessary traffic between the 2 computers.