What advantages does a Home network give me

There are several advantages to networking your home systems. Some of the more popular reasons are sharing your printer and sharing your internet connection. With today's high speed internet connections Internet sharing has become the number 1 reason for home networks. It allows everyone in your household to connect to the internet without having to purchase additional accounts. The most common misconception is that you can only share high speed internet access IE Cable/DSL. You can share any type of internet connection including your standard 56K Dial up account.

Can I share my dial up connection

Yes you can share your dial up connection. The same pricipals are envoived the only difference being the software you are using. There are several software packages out on the market today that will support modem sharing. The initial network is setup the same as you would be if you were sharing a high speed connection, it would then fall on the software configuration.

What hardware do I require to setup the network

When setting up a small home network there really isn't a whole lot of extra hardware required. First you need a network adapter for each computer you wish to connect to the network. Then you will need a Network Hub. The size of the HUB would be determined by the number of computers you have at home that you wish to connect. Generally you would look for a 5 port hub. The only other thing that you need would be the network cable. You would first determine the distance between the computer and where you want to place the HUB and then get the appropriate cable length. Network Patch cables are availble in a number of different lengths and can even be custom made for you if you can not find the length you require.

What software do I require to setup the network

There is no additional software to connect to the network required. Windows 95/98 is already setup to be able to connect all your computers togeather. There is very little configuring required. The actual sharing of the internet is where the software and configuration come into play. For the most part though all you have to do is install the network card, let windows install the drivers for that card then plug the cables in and you should be able to see everyone on your own personal network.

How do I prepare my network for sharing Internet

HThere are a few steps that are required to prepare your computer for sharing the internet connection. 1) You have to make sure your network card is installed properly. The best way to find this out is to go into your control panel and double click on the systems icon. Look under the device manager tab and network adapters underneath and make sure that it is working properly. You will know if something is wrong because there will be a yellow Exclamation mark over top of it. If there is refer to the manafuacter's troubleshooting guide to help you fix that problem. 2) Make sure that you have TCP/IP Installed. This is also done in your control panel. Double click on the network icon. In the first screen you should see a list of adapters and protocols installed on the machine. TCP/IP MUST be installed before you can share the Internet on your network. If you want to share anything else like a printer or perhaps a drive on your system then you must have File and Print sharing for Microsoft Networks installed. 3) Configure TCP/IP to have a specific IP address. MAKE SURE YOU ONLY SPECIFIY AN IP ADDRESS ON YOUR INTERNAL NETWORK CARD! That is a must. If you are sharing a cable/dsl modem and you try to specify an IP on the network adapter that the cablem/dsl modem is using you will not be able to get out on to the Internet. The most commonly used IP address used for a home network is 192.168.1.*. Now the * at the end is what changes from each computer. You would enter in a Subnet Mask of 255.255.255.0. So on the computer that is sharing the modem you would specifiy 192.168.1.1 and on your next machine you setup you would specify 192.168.1.2. Each computer must have a unique IP address or your network will not work. Any additional setup in here will be software specific and the instructions will be include with it. 4) Click on the Identification tab in the network properties and specify a unique computer name and specify a workgroup name. Now the workgroup name can be the same on all computers. In fact it is recommended to do so to make see each other on the network easier. 4) Close the network properties box by clicking on OK and then allow the computer to restart. Your network should be fully configured and the first change you should see is that it now asks you for a network login and password. You do not have to change this from your original setting. If you have File and printer sharing installed you should be able to double click on the network neighbour hood icon and see your network. If you don’t see everyone then one of two problems have occurred either you have misspelled the workgroup in the network properties or you have mistyped the IP Address. If both are correct then it might be a hardware issue and again, see your manufactures guide troubleshooting section.

Is there a minimum requirement

No there is no minimum requirement for networking your computers. The requirements would come from the Network adapters you purchase. Today the most common are what is called a PCI Adapter and it requires a Pentium Class or higher computer. If you have lesser computer 486 or below then you would need to purchase an ISA Adapter. They can be found but are generally harder to find.

Will I need anything extra from my ISP

The most common misconception people have with internet sharing is that ever person that is surfing the internet requires a username and password. That is not the case when your modem sharing. You use your original username and password to log on to your ISP, then everyone on your network shares that Username. Generally the ISP will acknowledge the fact that this is happening, but because it is taking money away from them in the way that you no longer are needing more than one username they won't support or help you setup your network to share multiple computers on a single dial up line.

How difficult is it to configure modem sharing

With today's products it really is not all that difficult. They usually have very well written online guides to take you step by step through the process. If you purchased the software then you can usually call up the company and someone there will talk you through the process. Unfortunately because there is such a large variety of software out there to handle connection sharing, it really is not feasible for me to list out the procedures for each and every one of them. There really is no standard on how they are setup.

I only have 2 computers, do I really need a HUB

The simple answer is no, you don't need a hub if you just want to connect 2 computers. There is a type of cable called a Crossover Cable and it will allow you to connect 2 computers without the benefit of a HUB. The only down side to that is if you were to buy a 3rd or more computer you would not be able to connect them to the network. There is another type of network cable used called Coax or BNC. This would allow you to connect unlimited amount of computers without a hub, but the downside is that Coax is slower and bulkier and the newer network no longer support the interface.

Can I plug in my new computer to the network

Yes, if the new computer has a network card in it, all you would have to do is plug the cable into the back of the computer, plug the other end into the hub, and configure your network properties specifc to your network, IE set the IP address, Computer name and workgroup that the rest of the comptuers on the network are using. Some of the modem sharing software do require extra setup on the client computer and you would have to do that as well.