Home Network Setup

Possum

Hi

I have a home network of 2 computers connected via a cross over cable..

In such a network how to I give values to the

IP address
Subnet Mask
Default Gateway
DNS Server

My net work is running. But I just want to understand these values more

Thanks Possum

MrBlueSky

IP address
This is the IP address assigned to your computer in the local network. The other computers on the network can reach your computer using this IP. Computers from the outside cannot. It starts with 192.168. You can assign your PC a IP by hand, but most of the times DHCP is used, which means your PC gets an IP assigned by the router which you use to connect to the internet

Default Gateway
The IP of the router. Your computer uses this IP when it needs a connection with a computer outside the local network. So when it connects to the internet the gateway serves as a 'gateway' to the internet. In a home network most of the times the gateway is a router.
(This IP is the IP of your router on the local network, starting with 192.168. Your router has two ips: the local one which you use here, and a 'normal' one. The normal ip can be used by computers outside the local network to connect to your router. This is the ip which you see when you, for example, visit www.whatismyip.com)

DNS Server
When your computer wants to connect to, for example, frihost.com it has no idea how to do it. It doesn't know where to find the server frihost.com. So it connects to the DNS server you specified and says "Hey, this frihost.com, whats that?". To answer that question the DNS server queries other DNS servers using some complicated scheme until it has resolved frihost.com to "216.32.68.254", and it responds to your computer "frihost.com is at 216.32.68.254". Then your computer knows frihost.com is located at 216.32.68.254 and connects to that IP

The subnetmask I never fully understood how that works, and how it is used Smile

For more information here is a good introduction: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/router.htm/printable

shawkat

badai

what OS are you running on both PCs?

Possum

Hi

One computer has XP Home and the other is XP professional

Cheers Possum..

badai

go to control panel, network connection
double click network adapter that connect to crossover cable
in general tab, click properties
in "this connection using..." box, scroll down and double click internet protocol (tcp/ip)
choose use following IP

for the first PC put 192.168.5.1, for the second PC put 192.168.5.2
subnet mask for both pc are the same: 255.255.255.0
leave gateway and DNS (both box) blank.

no need to restart.

from first pc, you can browse shared folder in 2nd pc by:
click start, run
in the box type \\192.168.5.2
click ok

from the 2nd pc, type \\192.168.5.1

use must share some folders first, otherwise you won't see anything, except maybe some microsoft printer.