Guest AmbientMood Posted October 23, 2005 Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 I'm trying to network two computers together in order to play games (narf). I connected them physically with a network cable, what next? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted October 23, 2005 Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Maverik Posted October 23, 2005 Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted October 23, 2005 Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AmbientMood Posted October 23, 2005 Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted October 23, 2005 Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted October 23, 2005 Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 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=11030If 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=0You 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted October 23, 2005 Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 ah I meant hub of course. my brain never works properly at the weekend. and cross over not twisted. fucking hell. I'm not even hungover today... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted October 23, 2005 Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 ah I meant hub of course. my brain never works properly at the weekend. and cross over not twisted. fucking hell. I'm not even hungover today...Or maybe you just don't know what you're talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AmbientMood Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 Thanks a lot guys.After I get those though, would that be *it*, I could then game all day? Are there other things that need to be done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spellchecker Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 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: 192.168.1.1submask: 255.255.255.0and the second pc with the following settingsip address: 192.168.1.2submask: 255.255.255.0if 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 typeping 192.168.1.2if you get healthy looking replies, then you're set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeornothing Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 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.XSo you would manually set one computer 192.168.0.anythingsubnet mask 255.255.255.0You 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AmbientMood Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 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: 192.168.1.1submask: 255.255.255.0and the second pc with the following settingsip address: 192.168.1.2submask: 255.255.255.0if 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 typeping 192.168.1.2if you get healthy looking replies, then you're set.[/quote']how exactly do I go about that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spellchecker Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeornothing Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 Alternatively, 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 ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spellchecker Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 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 )[/quote']pah, if only you actually knew, you scaredy cati can now get edirol orchestra pumping 8 tracks into my DAW, i'm happy with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest onlynik Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 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 )[/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) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AmbientMood Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 Ok so I'm gona stick em together and change the ips and submasks and hope for the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeornothing Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 If the link lights light up when you connect them, that will let you know the cable is either crossed or the NIC's auto cross, although I haven't seen a NIC that does this? ?( What do I know though...they still use BNC at my work... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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