Hi,

I've just bougth another computer and have a little question about how to integrate it into our home network.

Currently we have 2 PC's (one is mine and one is my farther's). They are both connected to a broadband router that then is connected to our ADSL modem. Now I have a second computer. I'd like my 2 computers in my room to be able to communicate with each other (so I can transfer files etc. between them) and get on the internet. I was wondering if anybody could tell me what the best option would be to establish this.

I could put 2 NIC's in each machine and have another ethernet cable pulled through to the router (so 1 NIC for internet and a second for a cross connect between the 2 computers), but I don't really want to have another cable pulled through and there must be other options.

I also have a laptop I wouldn't mind including in my network if this is possible. Maybe I need a hub?

Hi Taz, if you have them both connected to a router, you don't need to run anything else. Save your money on dual Nics.

Make sure you Right Click on Network Neighborhood (or whatever version you have), you need to make sure you have the protocols installed. Normally:
Client For Microsoft Network
File and Printer Sharing....
And Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

In TCP/IP you can choose to have dynamic internal IPs, or you can assign them. Your choice.

Right Click on My Computer. Give them each a *name* that you remember.. or indicates function. Then go to Network ID, and make sure you both have the same WorkGroup name.

Right Click on your C drive or whatever you want to share, and enable sharing.

Probably have to reboot both machines. Then double click on Network Neighborhood. and see if you can browse to the other machines. :) Good luck.

This is just a quick run-down. Might have left out a step (only on my first cup of coffee), if I left out something, somebody will be along to point it out quickly. :)

I am assuming too that these are Windows machines?
Glenn

I thought I was clear, but just in case. They aren't both connected to the same router. I only have one cable going from my room to the router, which is in a cabinet in the hallway outside of our appartment. In order to have both computers on the router, I would need to get somebody in to pull through another cable, which wouldn't be all that cheap (transportation costs, time for work etc.). That's why I'm looking for an alternative solution. I was thinking of putting a hub or a second router in my room, just for my computers, and then connecting that to the cable that is already in my room. It would save me having to get somebody in to do it and the difference in costs would be neglibable. This would also give me another piece of hardware to add to my collection :D

I am worried that putting 2 routers behind each other may lead to complications though, so maybe a hub would be better?

OK, I missunderstood.

Yup, go with a hub (or another router... not too expensive these days) in your room. That gives you the option of adding a laptop or another computer whenever ya want. :) That way, any of the computers can surf the net without worrying about having both on. If you get a router with a printer port, that would be a good set-up too IMHO.

Glenn

I'll have a look at what I can pick up second hand :D

Thanks for clearing up my doubts...

Any recommendations for hubs/router? (Must be available in Europe) And which of the 2 would be better, a hub or a router?

EDIT: Hubs seem to be the cheaper option, but I can only find 10 MBIT hubs at the moment. I'd like to find a 100 MBIT number...

Better yet, get a small switch. That way traffic between your two PCs will never go out to the router. Netgear makes some nice inexpensive switches. Not sure if they're available in Europe.

Richard

Found 3 Netgear switches that are within my budget:

Netgear FS108 10/100 8 port dual speed switch
Netgear FS608 8-port Fast Ethernet Switch
Netgear 5X 10/100 Platinum Serie Switch

Also found an 8 port Edimax switch that slightly cheaper than the Netgear stuff. The router we have is also Edimax. Comments on these are welcome. I'm leaning towards the 5 port Netgear, as I'll never be putting more than 3 computers on the switch. I'll have a look for more info on the hardware later. Don't want to buy it and find out there's no uplink on it or something :D

The Netgear switches all have an uplink. I'm not familiar with Edimax, but I'd be pretty surprised if it didn't have an uplink. For your needs any of those switches should be fine, so just pick the cheapest one :D

Richard

I like the Netgear switches (look compact and nice), but nobody seems to have them in stock here in the Netherlands and I need it by the end of the week :bawling: The Netgear stuff also comes with a 3 year warrentee, while the Edimax only has a 12 month warrentee on it...

The Edimax switches look like they're twice the size.

Any other makes that come recommended?

Linksys makes a switch that will do NAT for you... meaning you will not have to get any extra IP addresses for any of your other computers (if that is a problem). Anyway... might be something to look into!

I've also used Linksys and SMC. Two other inexpensive switches that I haven't used, but would probably suite your needs, are D-Link and Hawking.

Richard

Now this is intresting. If I use a switch, I need an IP address for each divice? I would think you would just give it an internal IP for the network and the one external IP we have for the internet doesn't kick in till the traffic gets to the DSL router...

Correct me if I'm mistaken.

If you're currently using NAT with your DSL router then you won't need to do anything different. Just assign another internal IP for the new PC or let it grab one from the router if you're using DHCP. Since the switches you're looking at are not managed they will not require an IP address or any kind of configuration. Just plug the switch in and turn it on.

Richard

That's what I thought (or at least something like that). I've been searching my behind off for a decent switch in the Netherlands, but all I can find are these b-rate makes like sitecom etc. It's really sad. All the good stuff is out of stock...

The international players like buy.com etc. won't deliver this stuff outside of the USA.

EDIT: Finally found somebody with Netgear switches in stock :)

Also, you might want to check on ebay for some cheap wireless gear. Running cable around the house can get messy and drive wives crazy. :)