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Help setting up a LAN connection


Guest AmbientMood

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I'm trying to network two computers together in order to play games (narf). I connected them physically with a network cable' date=' what next?

Thanks in advance. :)[/quote']

You need to make sure that the IP addresses are very similar, maybe differing by a digit? Eg, 0009998 & 0009997 or whatever. Firewalls can be a pain in the ass and prevent you from connecting as well, so make sure you've disabled them.

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Firewalls can be a pain in the ass and prevent you from connecting as well' date=' so make sure you've disabled them.[/quote']

don't do that if they're still connected to the internet. most software based firewalls and hardware ones on routers should enable you to specify network addresses that are safe and allow communication between them.

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Guest AmbientMood
did you just plug the cable from one computer to another? unless it's a twisted cable then that won't work. you'll need to get a router from somewhere.

Yup, just plugged em up. Whats a router?

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a router is a device for connecting multiple network devices. it's basically a box with ethernet ports on it and it enables everything to talk to each other. nowadays most come with an ADSL modem built in so you can also use them to connect multiple devices to your broadband connection.

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You don't need a router - a network hub will be just fine. You can get them at your local PC World or whatever. An example:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=6DN&SearchType=1&CategorySelectedId=11030&SearchTerms=hub&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=11030

If you want to connect your PCs directly using a network cable then you need a cross-over network cable. Like this:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=18LN&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=crossover&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0

You then need to make sure each computer has the correct network settings so they can see and talk to one another. If memory serves me correctly I think Windows XP has some kind of home networking wizard that will do this for you. Failing that, ask us geeks on here. :)

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you should just try with the cable you've got anyway, as many network cables these days are crossover by default (cos hubs, routers and switches autosense the cable type and adjust as necessary).

try setting one pc with the following settings:

ip address: 192.168.1.1

submask: 255.255.255.0

and the second pc with the following settings

ip address: 192.168.1.2

submask: 255.255.255.0

if your cable is a crossover, then you should be able to ping the other computer. i.e. on the first pc, open a command box and type

ping 192.168.1.2

if you get healthy looking replies, then you're set.

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I would pick up a small "switch" and use standard cat5 cables. A cross cable is fine, but obviously it can only network 2 machines together, a small 4 port switch will cost a couple of quid from dabs.com or somewhere.

Go for a switch, hubs generally run 10mb and they work by repeating the network traffic to all ports in the hope that the destination host will pick it up, where as a switching hub switches the traffic to the correct port, enabling better throughput, making for better game playing.

You will need to manually set the IP addresses. As you are only going to have 2 machines or so, you just need a class C subnet. This is a subnet which shares the first three octets. (ie. x.x.x.1-254) The correct reserved IP range to use in this case 192.168.0.X

So you would manually set one computer

192.168.0.anything

subnet mask 255.255.255.0

You don't need to set a gateway if you are just gaming between two machines, the gateway address is where a router would come in, say you had an ADSL router, you would specify this as the gateway, so when your computer is trying to find IP's which don't exist in your subnet, it directs the traffic to the router which in turn looks up the routing table to find the "route" to the desired IP.

You won't need to specify DNS servers either if you are not online or have no domain at home.

Obviously two computers can't share the same IP.

Network settings... CONTROL PANEL > NETWORK CONNECTIONS > right click on the lan connection, select properties, select TCP/IP and select properties.

Thanks, I'll accept a cheque for the 50 consultancy fee.

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Guest AmbientMood
you should just try with the cable you've got anyway' date=' as many network cables these days are crossover by default (cos hubs, routers and switches autosense the cable type and adjust as necessary).

try setting one pc with the following settings:

ip address: 192.168.1.1

submask: 255.255.255.0

and the second pc with the following settings

ip address: 192.168.1.2

submask: 255.255.255.0

if your cable is a crossover, then you should be able to ping the other computer. i.e. on the first pc, open a command box and type

ping 192.168.1.2

if you get healthy looking replies, then you're set.[/quote']

how exactly do I go about that? :gringo:

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in windows xp you have to find the network connections window. you can usually do this by going to "My Network Places" and clicking on something like "View All Network Connections".

One of the network connections will be for your network card. It will probably say "LAN connection" or something similar. Right-click on this one, and click "Properties".

In the window that then appears, there will be an item called "TCP/IP Properties" or something. double-click on that, and you will then be allowed to specify an IP address and submask. It may by default say "Obtain IP Address Automatically", which you'll need to change, as I'm guessing neither of you have a dhcp server.

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Alternatively' date=' find a shitty old PC, whack on a bare bones linux install with DHCP and leave it permanently on handing out IP addresses. Its little things like this (building routers, dhcp servers, bridges etc.) where linux excels!

(It still sucks for music :p)[/quote']

pah, if only you actually knew, you scaredy cat

i can now get edirol orchestra pumping 8 tracks into my DAW, i'm happy with it.

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Guest onlynik
Alternatively' date=' find a shitty old PC, whack on a bare bones linux install with DHCP and leave it permanently on handing out IP addresses. Its little things like this (building routers, dhcp servers, bridges etc.) where linux excels!

(It still sucks for music :p)[/quote']

or you could buy an ADSL router and let it handle the DHCP .

Chris, a cross over cable does have a twisted pair in it, you jobs safe.

Non routable IP addresses (private)

10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 (10/8 prefix)

172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 (172.16/12 prefix)

192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 (192.168/16 prefix)

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