Ethernet LAN with ADSL

shadowjagans

Distinguished
Apr 20, 2006
196
0
18,680
can anyone teach me how to make my LAN work, like i have 2 computers and i want them to be LANned up so i can use internet on both of them as well as other things like printers and scanners and stuff, so i connect my ethernet cord to my main computer's ethernet port and the other end to my second computer's ethernet port, but i cant seem to get it working, can anyone help me?
 

Dafaad

Distinguished
Jan 18, 2006
38
0
18,530
There are many people that can help you here. Typically, you have a line that comes to your house to a DSL or Cable modem which has an ethernet (LAN) out port which would go to your single computer. This will be on all the time and access to the Internet is instant.

People have become more computer literate over time and want more then one, up to hundreds that have the same access to the Internet.

This presents a little bit of a problem to the ISP (phone or cable) in that it requires more IP addresses which take bandwidth. Bandwidth cost the companies money, so they often will not alow you to have more then one IP address without you paying additionally for it.

People generally do not want to pay for any more then they have to, so Microsoft itself created a way to do "connection sharing" for internet access with one line. You can do this to set-up multiple computers, but the main computer that shares the connection must be on all the time for it to work. The sharing computer, basically acts as a software router for the other computers. If you wish to do it that way, look up connection sharing.

The preferred way to put multiple computers, thus a lan. Is to use a router right after the modem. You run a cable between the router (cat 5 or higher) and the modem connected to the line. Be sure you plug this cable into the right ports, it is pretty simple. Then you will need to run an ethernet cable from the router to each device (computer) you wish on your network. Run the software that comes with the router and you are set.

Routers are sold in various configurations, many only have one LAN port, this won't work so well unless you have a hub. So if you are doing a small LAN, you should get a router that has 4 or 5 ethernet ports, for 4 or 5 devices. You can always get a hub later if you need to expand more.
Routers have their ports labeled often with WAN and LAN. WAN or wide area network goes to the Internet side. LAN or local area network goes to your house or network side.

Hubs are basically trash, you should use a switch if you can afford it. Switching helps control network traffic, there is nothing worse then lag. Switches direct packets to correct location, whereas hubs broadcast to all ports, you can see that a switch is much more efficient.

Good luck with this and have fun!
 

Pain

Distinguished
Jun 18, 2004
1,126
0
19,280
Dafaad has a lot of good info...I didn't read it all, but I think it's good. :wink:

The short answer is this. You need a crossover cable to connect 2 computers without another network device (hub/switch) between them. That's the first reason why you can't get it to run properly right now.

The easiest thing for you to do is to get a broadband router (assuming you have broadband and not a dial-up connection). Connect the WAN side of the router to your broadband connection (modem, whatever) and the LAN ports to you other computers using regular ethernet cables. Set the router as a DHCP server (probably the default setting), set the computers to obtain IP addresses automatically (probably the default setting) and you should be good to go.

There may be more settings you need to make, but that is the general idea.
 

ocularis

Distinguished
Feb 7, 2006
35
0
18,530
Get yourself a good Linksys router, wired or wireless. Follow the instructions to the letter. They come with pretty good setup instructions anymore. You might find yourself needing a few more network cables too. Better to buy all this stuff online at Newegg than get ripped off at someplace like Best Buy. Google for "Internet sharing with a router" or something like that.. You will find all the instructions and resources you could ever need.
 

davidflet9

Distinguished
May 8, 2006
70
0
18,630
The first thing to know is who does you broadband connection work. simply if you were connecting one computer to the internet do you do it through USB or eithernet (LAN)
lets assume LAN
you need a good router, many options i would recomend Netgear or Linksys (CISCO)
start by reading the manual they are usually very good at making instruction clear and easy to follow. chances are that the router will have a 'web page config tool' basically the manual will give you a number (IP address) to type into the address bar of internet explorer (or firefox if your that way inclined), attach the internet eithernet cable to the WAN port on the back of the router and then attach one computer to a LAN port on the router. enter the number in the manual, you should then see a webpage that allows you to change settings on the router. There are usually setup wizards which are easy to follow and help you set up the router to best suit your needs. once you are finished and the internet is working you can plug in the other computer on another LAN port and hopefully that should then work aswell. just shout if you need any more help.
pictures are kind of hard as each router is different
 

maury73

Distinguished
Mar 8, 2006
361
0
18,780
The simplest solution (the one I personally use) is to connect the two machines with a crossover ethernet cable, taking care on assigning two IPs in the same subnet, and connect the modem to one of them.
If both machines run Windows it's simple to configure the Internet Connction Sharing, there's an automatic wizard for you in WXP.
If you have a linux machine, connect the modem to this, and after setting up the IP addresses a simple network masquerading script will do the rest (you'll find lots of them searching google).
 

Da_Banig

Distinguished
Apr 10, 2006
392
0
18,790
I didn't read some of the posts and I just skip them. I am not sure if anyone mentions this yet, some ISP provides you with a private ip address like 192.168.1.143 And if you get a linksys router, the router generates the private ip as 192.168.1.1 then your router will not work if you plug the DSL modem ethernet to your router's WAN port. You will never to configure your DSL modem to something like... 192.168.2.1 then your router will pick up the WAN port.

I am not bs'ing, I expereinced this with verizon DSL. :twisted: [/b]