Creating my home LAN

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by Detox, Jul 15, 2003.

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  1. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    OK.. firstly - if I'm in the wrong section of the forum move me fast I need help :p

    So, I've got my machine with the specs in my sig using PCI ethernet adapter #2 to access my cable modem. That is the one built into my motherboard... PCI ethernet adapter #1 is a NIC and has been sitting idle. I have finally decided to plug my ethernet cable to this NIC and then to the NIC in my old Pavilion - 500 mghz 192 mb sdram and about a 10 gig hd... yuck I know but I would like my wife to be able to access the internet from that machine while I am using this one.. share files and printers since I have a very cheap to operate commercial laser printer ont heold machine and the expensive to use officejet d135 on this one. The old machine is Win98SE... Is this gonna work? I've looked through the network stuff but I don't see what I need to do and even though Ive got SPF and decent security I don't want to "open up my own backdoor" while trying to make this work!

    Anyone who can tell me where to start?
     
  2. LowWaterMark

    LowWaterMark Administrator

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    Not really my area, but some quick considerations. First, plugging a NIC to a NIC requires a cross-over cable versus a standard one (such as one you'd plug from a PC NIC to router, hub or broadband modem).

    With the proper physical connection, you'll need software. By default, ICS is available. You'll need ICS enabled on the Win2k box and an ethernet network connectoid on the other system.

    I suggest the site: http://www.practicallynetworked.com

    Maybe start with this page: Crossover Cable Connection Troubleshooting

    Hope this gives you a place to start,
    LowWaterMark
     
  3. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    Great I'll be checking those out momentarily but while loking around i managed to do something to SPF... cant even open it now so I gotta try reinstalling it before i mess around anymore :rolleyes:

    slap me ffs
     
  4. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    ah ok whatever stupy-nooby stuff I pulled on my poor SPF was easily fixed by a quick uninstall/reinstall (Ikeep all install files handy for any proggies I use and like)
    so, now I attempt the lan! hehe
     
  5. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    Oh yes but I had another question.. I was under the impression that Win2k and win98se had their own network software for workgroups, etc - file/printer sharing... I even find stuff saying that just not sure how to make it work.. wonder if someone else knows that is an easier/better route or.. not with a cable like I am doing maybe?
     
  6. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    ah ok im almost spamming now but that first link LWM gave I found stuff saying peer2peer network is the best way to go at home (no heavy loads) and windows should have the software in it.. so further investigation is underway!
     
  7. Dan Perez

    Dan Perez Retired Moderator

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    Hey Detox,

    First thing, You have your newer PC going direct to the cable modem. Although having the second NIC in that machine will suffice to get everything to talk together you really should consider getting a home router/firewall that has a 4port or so hub or switch integrated for a home LAN. This will makes things much simpler to setup, easier to maintain (in the event a reload is necessary) and adds to the security. You can get pretty good routers/firewalls for $40-50.

    I will be happy to help guide you in setting up the LAN along the lines you originally planned but would rather wait until I am sure that you have ruled out the above. (I would hate to have gone through the long explaination to find you went with this other idea, lol)

    Please let me know. ;)

    Regards,

    Dan
     
  8. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    Well I already knew I could use a router.. and in fact my sister works at IBM and at the employee surplus store they have a huge box of Cisco 800 routers for $8 a peice...

    I do a lot of online gaming though... I keep pretty good security and use sygate because of its great combined rules/application abilities and it is very good at "holding" a program while asking if it can access the net - instead of crashing them like other firewalls I used... I figured I'd be ok this way and i have a few friends with routers who have a very hard time connecting to some of out online games - especially those which use "directplay" like lots of real-time strategy games do...

    Anyway - unless there is some really strong reason to go router I think I would rather just use this cable... I think :D
     
  9. Dan Perez

    Dan Perez Retired Moderator

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    Cool,

    Okay first, the cable that goes between the two PCs *must* be a "crossover" cable. You can get those at any decent computer store.

    Also, since I do not know the capability of your cable modem, I need to know wether the IP on your new machine is a public IP or private. (Do not post the IP here, just confirm it is not in any of the 192.168.x.x; 172.16.x.x; 10.x.x.x ranges). If you do an "ipconfig /all" at the command prompt you will get this info. Also you will need from their your DNS server settings so note those down.

    I'm assuming it has a public IP.

    I have not done anything with the Internet Connection Sharing applet but it can't be too difficult. Anyways, the first step is to get the two PCs talking together while making sure that the newer PC can still access the Internet. We'll address the internet connectivity of the second PC after we complete this step.

    Again assuming that the active NIC on the new PC has a public IP, and that you are using Win2K there (let me know if either assumption is incorrect :) )

    You need to Right-Click on "My Computer" and select properties and go to the "Network Identification" tab and note down the computer name and workgroup name. If you want a different workgroup name just click "Properties" and change it there. It will prompt for a reboot but don't do that yet. Close out of that applet.

    Right-click on "My Network Places" and select properties. Assuming you have no VPN or dialup connections setup you should have two connections in there, one for each NIC and only one of those should be lit up now. I would recommend that you rename the active on to something like "Public Net" and the inactive one to "Private Net". Right-Click on the Private NIC and make sure that the following modules are loaded

    Client for Microsoft Networks
    File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks
    Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

    and somewhat optional but which I would recommend is

    NetBEUI Protocol

    For TCP/IP properties select "Use the following IP address" and give it "192.168.100.1" as the IP; "255.255.255.0" as the netmask and leave the gateway field empty.

    Select "Use the following DNS Server addresses" and input the values you saw earlier in the ipconfig output. Then close out of the TCPIP settings applet so you are back at the NIC settings applet. Make sure the checkmark for "show icon on taskbar when connected" is there (You may want to disable this later on to keep your systray from being cluttered but it will help during the setup process).

    Once you have done all this, do a reboot and make sure you still have Internet connectivity ( lol ) and then at the command prompt type "route print" and confirm you have only one default route (indicated by starting with 0.0.0.0)

    Once this is confirmed we move onto the 98 machine.

    Make sure the driver is already loaded and the following modules are listed (I do not have a 98 machine accessible so I may be mis-remembering the exact names)

    TCP/IP
    NetBEUI
    Client for Microsoft Networks

    I believe it is on the properties for the latter that you find a button to be able to share files and folders. Also, I believe there you will find the Workgroup setting which you must match to what was indicated on the other machine.

    Go into the properties of TCP/IP and specify the IP of "192.168.100.2"; netmask of "255.255.255.0"; and gateway of "192.168.100.1".

    Likewise, set the DNS settings as you did on the other system.

    Save your settings and reboot, and on coming back up (and assuming the crossover cable is in place) you should be able to ping each machine from the other. If you cannot, take a look at the systray icon on Win2k for the Private Net and confirm it is on, if it isn't there is some driver or physical issue (whether card or cable)

    Let me know if you have any questions/problems on implementing this part (or if I made an agregious assumption :)

    Thx
     
  10. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    your assumptions were all quite good :)

    I've done it all - even had a friend who is a decent expert at it help me over roger wilco while I did it.. but it doesn't connect yet. I do believe it is the cable - he agreed with you that it must be a "crossover" cable and the cable I have (is what the PC store told me I needed when I told them what I wanted to do :mad: ) is a "patch" cable FFS!

    Hopefully I can pick a crossover up in town tomorrow and things will all come together!

    Thanks very very much!
     
  11. Dan Perez

    Dan Perez Retired Moderator

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    Glad to help,

    One thing you can do to confirm whether or not a commercially made cable is a crossover or not is to look at the ends side-by-side using the same orientation (say, cables toward you and tabs down), If the sequence of the colored wires in the plug are the same then it is a normal cable, if you see differences then it is a crossover. Of course, you can't use this "technique" to determine home-made cables as there are *all* sorts of ways to miswire a CAT5 cable :) Still, I have seen some stores sell straight through cables as crossovers and vice versa so you may want to take a look at it while you are at the store

    Looking forward to your next post
     
  12. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    color sequence is identical.. barf!

    And you know it's a real nice one too I never buy cheap stuff - $9 wire here that I have no use for now hehe
     
  13. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    Well; I'm almost there now - I can smell it! I got the crossover cable and my machine says "LAN" is connected at 10 Mbps... I;ve told both machines to share their hard drives and given them both the same "workgroup" name but I can't find either puter with the other one it seems...
     
  14. Dan Perez

    Dan Perez Retired Moderator

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    Cool,

    can each "ping" the other? Also, I would strongly recommend that you not share your entire C drive as that is a primary virus ditribution method. You should instead share a subfolder (or a group of subfolders)
     
  15. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    hmm ok... I'll mess with the folder instead of hard drive thing once I get them to acknowledge each other... I tried pinging the secondary puter's "ip" with DOS but it timed out :-/
     
  16. Dan Perez

    Dan Perez Retired Moderator

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    okay, how about going to the second computer and typing

    ipconfig /all > ipconfig.txt

    and copy and paste the contents of ipconfig.txt here
     
  17. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    Hm not sure where to input that o_O

    I hit ipconfig in "windows" under DOS and got

    IP address - 192.186.0.2
    subnet mask - 255.255.255.0
    Default gateway - 192.186.0.1

    I did use the 0 instead of 100 in both IP's... Did that as I was walking thru it with a friend - could that be the problem?


    -edit - switching those now.. funny win98 machine wants to restart for ip change but win2k machine doesnt
     
  18. Dan Perez

    Dan Perez Retired Moderator

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    as far as the third number in the quad goes, as long as they are the same on both machines that should suffice. Likewise with the second number but the number you gave is NOT a private net (it should be 168 not 186) I think you should change that on both machines though it may not be the source of this issue
     
  19. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    OMG OMG I found the 98se machine now from my 2k machine :) can browse it's HD! so enabling the 98 machinet o check email and use the internet thru this one should be cake now muah haha

    Thanks tons Dan! This is great... hehehe
     
  20. Dan Perez

    Dan Perez Retired Moderator

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    No Problem, I read a little on ICS yesterday and it appears as if the preferred way of setting up the other 98 machine to us it is to set it for automatically getting its IP from the win2k machine. THis is an easy change to make and, anyways, specifying the settings first allows us to make sure that the drivers, cards, cable are all okay (which we now know to be the case)

    Do you need help with the ICS as well? I can refind and post the article I read
     
  21. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    Hm I'm not sure yet - the link could never hurt if it's no trouble - but I'm working on it now! Think I'm on the right track and I'll update momentarily.
     
  22. Dan Perez

    Dan Perez Retired Moderator

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  23. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    Well, I'm gonna get back to it tomorrow or something... I had the network itself going so both computers could browse the other's hard drive..... But every time I enabled internet share on the 2in2k machine they lost network to each other. For a while I had the network working and the win98se client computer could access the internet to an extent - it could ping outside of my lan and could to go "IP" internet addresses but it was having DNS trouble of some sort and not able to access a regular web page. A friend told me to remove TCP and reboot and it would reinstall itself but that proved to be a disaster.. now my win2k machine sees the 98 but he 98 cant see the win2k :mad:
    anyway hours working on this today I'm gonna hafta get a fresh start tomorrow or maybe later :p
     
  24. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    Hm.. I might also have an issue with the NIC int heo ld puter - only supports 10 mbps and I was told I should have 100 on the lan and 10 to the cable modem? Anyway I'm really grouchy now since it WAS working (just no DNS internet from 2nd puter) and I've messed it up.. tried a bit more today but I'm not sure what I've done lol I'll get it figured out again soon tho :rolleyes:
     
  25. Detox

    Detox Retired Moderator

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    ahhhhhhh-ha! I knew i had put the exact same settings again... Now both puters see each other on the lan again.. great! I wanna work on it more but I really need to get other stuff done...
    I was on it all day yesterday!
     
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