How To: Create a Home LAN

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HOW TO: HOME LAN (PART 1)
<Author = Blacklaw>
<Category = Setup Guide(Basic)>

Got more than one computer? Use the Internet? Play games? Then why haven't you set up a network yet?

A home network is a nice way of pooling your hardware. Got a nice colour inkjet on one computer, and an old dot-matrix on the other? With a network, you can print in colour from your second PC. Got broadband, but can only afford one modem? With a network, you can access the Internet from any of your computers. Tired of playing with yourself? Then put it away, you dirty swine. You'll go blind doing that, you know...

This guide gives you a quick idea on exactly how to set up a simple home network, and what you can do with it when you've installed it.

Let's look at what equipment you're going to need...

At least two computers (if you need to be told this, visit www.disney.com instead)
A network card for each PC (more detail below)
One Cat5 crossover cable
A network hub and a Cat5 patch cable for each computer
A human brain (release v1.02B or later) + compatible central nervous system

The computers we're going to use for this guide are running Windows 98 Second Edition. If you've got Windows XP, then the process isn't that different. The network cards should be internal PCI 10/100-Base-TX models. If you don't want to open up your PC, then you *can* use USB external cards, but that'll limit your bandwidth to 12Mb/s. I recommend the SMC network cards - fast and cheap.
If you're wanting to network several computers, you'll need a hub. A hub is just a box that sits in the middle of all the computers. For a four port 100-Base-TX hub you can expect to pay around £30-£50. If you are using a hub, don't buy the crossover cables! Look for the words 'patch cable' instead (MDI).
In both cases, remember to buy a cable long enough to reach between the two computers, or the computers and the hub. Sounds simple, but you'd be surprised how many people forget this part...

Wondering exactly what to buy and where to buy it from? Thanks to Amazon.co.uk, here are some useful links for you people who hate wandering around the high street.

D Link DFE-530TX 10/100Mbps PCI Ethernet Adapter Card
Linksys EtherFast 10/100 Compact USB Network Adapter (for laptops or people who don't like fitting PCI cards)
Belkin Cat5e Snagless UTP Patch Cable (Grey) 30m
Netgear Platinum Series 8 Port 10/100 Switch (Nice and quick, with up to 200Mb/s data transfer!)

Right! Now that you've bought all your hardware we'll move on to actually installing it. I'll assume you've already installed the network cards as per the instructions that came with it.

Part 2 - Setting Up The Network (Crossover)