Set up your first Ethernet network at homeThere are lots of guides out there to help you get started with a home network. (Check the Links and News pages for more on others' guides). I'm not suggesting ours is the best. But, you can bet that ours will cut right to the basics and is based on real life. Thus, although there are tons of options for hooking up a home network, we are going to give you one way. The way we think works best. Specifically, these instructions cover how to set up an Ethernet network. We'll look to add other how to articles on other technologies or you can check out our hardware section for reviews of kits and other equipment. Keep in mind that we are talking about a network that connects two or more computers in what is called a peer-to-peer network. This mean each machine has essentially equal status on the network and simply shares files and resources with other computers on the network. This is not the same as a typical network many of you may have experience with at work, in which your computer as a client shares many resources on a network server. However, similar to many work offices, this article will show you how to set up an Ethernet network As you may know, there are three main pieces to your home network. The network interface card, or NIC. You'll need one for each computer you want to network unless it has networking built in. The second major piece is the cabling and/or cabling system (which includes a hub..we'll get to that later) that hooks the NICs, and thus the computers, together. And, finally, there is ALL of the software that will help make all of this work. Luckily, most of this either comes with the NIC or is built into Windows95/98 or Windows NT. So here goes...click here to go to Step One.
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