On Jun 21, 10:01 pm, Lem <lem...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Delta wrote:
> > Hello all,
>
> > People probably asked you a thousand times but I can't manage to
> > gather the information I need by searching the web so here is my
> > situation:
>
> > I have a pc with windows XP home SP3 upstairs and a HP Deskjet 916c
> > printer which is upstairs too. Downstairs I have a notebook with
> > windows xp professional and also a motorola sb5100E modem.
>
> > What I do now to surf the web with my notebook is pull the cable (UTP
> > with RJ45 connector) that comes from my pc upstairs out of my modem
> > (which is downstairs) and then connect my notebook with another
> > shorter UTP cable to the modem. For printing I go upstairs with my
> > notebook and take the usb cable out of my pc to plug it into my
> > notebook. I know there's a much easier way without having to plug out
> > cables all the time but I'm a total noob when it comes to networking
> > issues.
>
> > To summarise, I would like to:
> > 1a. avoid swapping cables all the time
> > 1. share one printer between 2 computers without having both computers
> > turned on all the time (one computer may be off while printing from
> > the other).
> > 2. be able to surf the net with both computers simultaneously is not a
> > must but if it's easy to setup it's always welcome.
>
> > What kind of hardware would I have to buy for this? I read about
> > switches, hubs, routers, print servers and I don't have a clue what
> > the difference is, let go how to set it up. Important thing to add: I
> > like to play online games from time to time and I read that routers
> > can be quite tricky when you want to forward ports so I'm a bit
> > reluctant about routers unless you can convince me otherwise (I find
> > it already hard enough trying to figure out how to program my
> > firewall).
>
> > Thanks a lot in advance for your help.
>
> The main piece of hardware you need to buy is a router. Do not be
> apprehensive about port forwarding (should you need to do that for
> gaming or otherwise, it is actually quite easy to set up).
>
> The main choice you have to make is whether to have the router include
> wireless capability or not. Because wireless routers for home use are
> relatively inexpensive these days, I'd suggest buying a wireless router
> even if you don't initially intend to use that capability.
>
> If you already have a UTP cable going between upstairs and downstairs,
> you can use that to have a wired network. A wired network will be
> faster and more secure than a wireless network, but will require pulling
> cables. Almost all home routers, wired and wireless, come with 4 LAN
> ports. A wired configuration would be as follows:
>
> modem --> short UTP cable --> router's WAN port
>
> router LAN port 1 --> UTP cable to upstairs --> desktop
> router LAN port 2 --> UTP cable to laptop
> router LAN port 3 --> available
> router LAN port 4 --> available
>
> If you get a wireless router, you could substitute a wireless link for
> either or both of the UTP cable connections, assuming of course that
> there is a wireless adapter in the computer. The laptop may have one
> built in; otherwise, you can buy either external wireless adapters or
> (for the desktop) a PCI wireless adapter. If you go wireless, check to
> ensure that all existing hardware is capable of WPA2 (or at least WPA)
> encryption. If it isn't, consider buying new hardware that is.
>
> The above configuration permits Internet sharing. In order to share
> resources (e.g., files and printers), a little software setup is
> required. If you leave the printer connected via USB to the upstairs
> PC, you will be able to print from the laptop -- but only if the
> upstairs PC is turned on and active. If you want to be able to print
> regardless of whether the PC is on, the printer will have to be
> connected directly to the network. This requires either (a) a
> network-ready printer or (b) a print server.
>
> In either case, the printer will need to be connected to the router.
> This connection may be wireless or wired. If wired, you will either
> need a second UTP cable from the router to the printer or you will need
> a switch that will be connected on one side to the router and on the
> other side to the upstairs PC and the printer.
>
> Software setup of the network is straightforward. There are many
> websites. Here are a few (I haven't checked all of these recently, but
> I believe all of the links should still be good):
>
> http://www.practicallynetworked.com/...et/index.html- Jack, MVPhttp://www.howtonetworking.com/default.htm- Bob Lin, MVPhttp://www.howtonetworking.com/Troubleshooting/notaccessibale0.htmhttp://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/using-network-setup-wizard-in-w...
>
> And last but not least, MVP Malke's network troubleshooting advice:
>
> Here are general network troubleshooting steps. Not everything may be
> applicable to your situation, so just take the bits that are. It may
> look daunting, but if you follow the steps at the links and suggestions
> below systematically and calmly, you will have no difficulty in setting
> up your sharing.
>
> For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard on all machines (see
> caveat in Item A below).
>
> Problems sharing files between computers on a network are generally
> caused by 1) a misconfigured firewall; or 2) inadvertently running two
> firewalls such as the built-in Windows Firewall and a third-party
> firewall; and/or 3) not having identical user accounts and passwords on
> all Workgroup machines; 4) trying to create shares where the operating
> system does not permit it.
>
> For XP and Windows 2003 Server, MVP Hans-Georg Michna has an excellent
> small network troubleshooter. It may also be useful with Vista.
>
> http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm
>
> Here are some general networking tips for home/small networks:
>
> A. Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network
> (LAN) traffic as trusted. With Windows Firewall, this means allowing
> File/Printer Sharing on the Exceptions tab. Normally running the Network
> Setup Wizard on XP will take care of this for those machines.The only
> "gotcha" is that this will turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you
> aren't running a third-party firewall or have an antivirus with
> "Internet Worm Protection" (like Norton 2006/07) which acts as a
> firewall, then you're fine. With third-party firewalls, I usually
> configure the LAN allowance with an IP range. Ex. would be
> 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would substitute your correct
> subnet. Do not run more than one firewall.
>
> B. For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup.
> This is done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.
>
> C. Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do
> not need to be logged into the same account on all machines and the
> passwords assigned to each user account can be different; the
> accounts/passwords just need to exist and match on all machines. If you
> wish a machine to boot directly to the Desktop (into one particular
> user's account) for convenience, you can do this. The instructions at
> this link work for both XP and Vista:
>
> Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm
>
> D. If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:
>
> 1. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
> Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
> accounts/passwords on all computers.
>
> 2. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the
> Simple File Sharing enabled. Simple File Sharing means that Guest
> (network) is enabled. This means that anyone without a user account on
> the target system can use its resources. This is a security hole but
> only you can decide if it matters in your situation.
>
> E. Create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
> home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share
> folders inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the
> Shared Documents folder.
>
> --
> Lem -- MS-MVP
>
> To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_.../compessay.htm

Wow, thanks a lot for your detailed explanations. I'm affraid I'm
going to need a lot of aspirines too if I want my own small network!-)
I thought I would just need a cable going from my printer to some
magical small box and that's it... Some mess I've got myself into...