Help Needed: Setting Up A Home Network

[nephilim]

Hi

We are looking for someone to drop by and network two pcs together for us. I have ben trying to get a crossover cable connection up and running, to no avail. I am computer savvy, but networking gives me a headache and I'd rather pay an expert to do it quickly and easily.

Details:

1 desktop, 1 laptop, both XP Home (no "you need to charge to pro", please, we work at home and dont have time to reformat and all that). Both PCs in fine working order, fairly high spec and very well maintained.

Need: a network, full printer and file sharing and ADSL sharing for all protocols (smtp, ftp, http, nntp etc etc).

You'll have to supply a good hub and a couple of cables. I know the rough cost of this, so no 2000B solutions please Both PCs have standard network adaptors.

That said if you can build a wifi network for a good price, let us know The laptop is ready for wifi, the desktop isnt.

We need as little downtime as possible, so we are looking for someone who cna set it up and trouble shoot quickly - no hobbyists who'll try and get it working through trial and error. I can do that.

If you are interested, we are easy to get to (Asok area) - send an email to us and let us know your rate and details and we'll chat more. his_email AT hotmail.com

Many thanks

Neph.

Edited June 26, 2005 by nephilim

[buadhai]

None of this is difficult and it sounds like you know enough to do it yourself.

Is there some specific aspect of networking that makes you gun shy?

[Crossy]

XP Home has very poor networking capability

XP-Pro is far better and will take a couple of hours to upgrade over your Home version (make sure you make a backup).

Bite the bullet, you will save much more time than it costs to upgrade to a proper operating system.

You can easily do this yourself.

The hardware is going to cost you around 2k for a decent (3-Com or D-link) hub and a slack handful of cables, do you already have an ADSL router (not a USB modem)??, if not, buy one (get one with a built in hub so you save on that cost), much less hassle than trying to use Windows connection sharing.

Honestly XP-Pro will just work for internet, and a tiny bit of setup will get file and printer sharing on the road as well.

Edited June 26, 2005 by Crossy

[nephilim]

None of this is difficult and it sounds like you know enough to do it yourself.

Is there some specific aspect of networking that makes you gun shy?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Something specific? Kind of. I'm sick of it. Sometimes it all works, then I reboot and nothing works. Or the printer works, or the internet sharing works. Or then sometimes a pc wont even boot with the network cable plugged in! It's all so ###### random that I'd rather just give someone some $$$, someone who can actually sit down and say "yes, I know why this isn't working and yes I can get it working". That's it, basically.

XP Home has very poor networking capability   

XP-Pro is far better and will take a couple of hours to upgrade over your Home version (make sure you make a backup).

Bite the bullet, you will save much more time than it costs to upgrade to a proper operating system.

You can easily do this yourself.

The hardware is going to cost you around 2k for a decent (3-Com or D-link) hub and a slack handful of cables, do you already have an ADSL router (not a USB modem)??, if not, buy one (get one with a built in hub so you save on that cost), much less hassle than trying to use Windows connection sharing.

Honestly XP-Pro will just work for internet, and a tiny bit of setup will get file and printer sharing on the road as well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We arn't upgrading. I have heard nothing good about an actual upgrade, it would require reformat and clean install (I'm ok with doing this, but I simply do not have the time).

I don't have an adsl router, I have a bog standard USB modem from True. I had a network same as what I want here, back in the UK, with a USB modem and I used a proxy to get internet connection shared (this was before XP).

Cheers

Neph.

[Firefoxx]

Hmm, why not use the crossover cable? But then again, a 5-port switch and 2 cables would only put you back around 900 baht. This is all fairly simple to do, it hardly requires an expert. Your typical pro also wouldn't do a job this small (2 computers vs 50+ norm).

As for wireless, you can do the equivalent of a crossover ("ad hoc" in wireless-speak) and get a PCI adapter for the PC (around 1,800 baht). Otherwise, setup would be the same as a wired connection.

Although windows home does lack some network features, it can do the simple home networking that you require. I don't see a need to upgrade, since it was designed to accomodate this type of setup.

[francois]

hi'

should be simple ... with the risk to leave port 135 open for file sharing ...

one cable between the 2 pc and set it normaly.

pc with internet, needs to share connection and file share(risky)

pc 2 set to go through pc 1 with gateway address of pc1.

range of addresses 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.254

knowing that you have a usb connection, this shouldn't cause any conflict in the ethernet connection.

but...

I would advise to get a router, for the safety, for the firewall and the better connection quality ... and the extended possibility of wifi for some like Linksys

I would avoid Dlink ... had some bad experience with some ...

this is the best you can get and a lot of us say same, get yourself a modem/router, it will be easier to setup and safer to use

anyone would set ip up in less than half hour .. and a few beers

francois

Edited June 27, 2005 by francois

[nephilim]

I really like the idea of an adhoc wireless network. I will admit, I thought adhoc was a fancy term used only by my PSP. Has anyone had any experience setting up a simple adhoc network?

I'd have to get a wifi card for the pc, but thats it I guess. I found this nice (I think) guide here:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,133...=wlan;mode=full

anyone think that guide is lacking?

thanks

neph.

[Vampyros Lesbos]

I really like the idea of an adhoc wireless network. I will admit, I thought adhoc was a fancy term used only by my PSP. Has anyone had any experience setting up a simple adhoc network?

I'd have to get a wifi card for the pc, but thats it I guess. I found this nice (I think) guide here:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,133...=wlan;mode=full

anyone think that guide is lacking?

thanks

neph.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is a block in the HOME XP that you can hack away. My ex staff did it on my Home version i installed in my internetcafe.

I guess if you want him to do it he charge 300 THB an hour

[bkk_mike]

I would recommend going away from using the USB modem if you are planning on enabling file and printer sharing.

i.e. Either you leave yourself wide open to attack, or you install firewall software on the PC with the internet connection, and have the hassle of getting it to still share files with the other PC on the local network (while not sharing them out on the internet).

A router would make things a LOT simpler, and if you want to roam with the laptop, you can can get one with both wired and wi-fi connections - so you could roam with the laptop... (just remember that the default security settings on most wireless equipment is basically OFF - so you do have to change things, but it's not that difficult).

However, you won't find any "professional" network installer that will put in a crossover cable to share internet access on another PC with a USB ADSL connection. - You can get it working - but that's a hobbyist solution if ever there was one...

[nephilim]

I would recommend going away from using the USB modem if you are planning on enabling file and printer sharing.

i.e. Either you leave yourself wide open to attack, or you install firewall software on the PC with the internet connection, and have the hassle of getting it to still share files with the other PC on the local network (while not sharing them out on the internet).

A router would make things a LOT simpler, and if you want to roam with the laptop, you can can get one with both wired and wi-fi connections - so you could roam with the laptop... (just remember that the default security settings on most wireless equipment is basically OFF - so you do have to change things, but it's not that difficult).

However, you won't find any "professional" network installer that will put in a crossover cable to share internet access on another PC with a USB ADSL connection. - You can get it working - but that's a hobbyist solution if ever there was one...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't want crossover, that was the whole point: I tried it and couldnt get it to work. I run a firewall already and have in the past configured them to allow networking, so thats not a problem.

neph