Well, I feel so so dumb asking this in this crowd.. But here goes... How can I link my computer up with another? My bro-in-law and I wanna play a couple of games against each other. We both have the same systems, Dell systems, P4's, I have Windows ME ( I know I know, tool of the devil), and I believe he has ME as well. What do I have to do? Buy a LAN cable and that's it? (I hope!!) Does ME have the drivers to run a LAN already? Do you guys need more info on my system? Thanks a bunch. I'll dance at your wedding or your funeral, whichever comes first.
Retard, you have asked in the right place. I happen to have studied shit like this (well, the theory at least) for the past two years, and I know far more than you need to know to set this up. For starters, is your brother in law's computer at your house a lot, or does he bring it around occasionally. Is it even at your house? Are you planning on adding more computers to your LAN, is it a temporary or permanent thing? These sorts of things should help define what you need to lay down. As a basic guideline as to what you need to have a LAN, well, make sure you both have network cards. If you look at the back of your computer, and see something like a phone jack only larger (phone jacks are RJ-11, network card jacks are RJ-45) with a little LED next to it, you have a network card. Make sure your brother (assume the in-law part, I'm not going to keep writing it) has one as well. That done, Windows SHOULD have already set up the necessary network drivers for you (TCP/IP is the most common set of drivers). If not, ring Dell and ask them for help doing that, for a couple of reasons: 1. It'd be long-winded to write down. 2. I'm not covered by your warranty. Once you've checked that you have a network card and drivers installed (like I said, if you have the card, you should have the drivers but it doesn't hurt to check). Now, onto actually connecting your computers. If you're planning on a temporary set-up that is used only occasionally (and only two people) buy yourself an Ethernet crossover cable (made of cat(egory) 5 cable - the blue stuff ) in the appropriate length. 10m (30 feet) ought to be enough. I say buy, because I don't think you want to splash out on crimpers and try doing it yourself. If that's all you need, then to connect your computers, plug in the cable, turn on your computers, and you'll be connected. You'll also have to probably ring Dell and ask for help again with IP settings and the like. If they provide that kind of support. However, if you want something more permanent, with the possibility of expansion, then invest in a switch with a suitable number of ports, and a whole shitload of regular cat 5 cable (no need for crossover). Simply connect each computer to the switch and you're connected, although again you'll need to set up IP addresses properly. If you have any more specific questions, I can help.
If you have network cards in your comps ... Buy this and plug it in If not, buy 2 of these first, and install them I've put the cheap options up there for you. If you want better quality equipment, you'll be able to find it easy enough at slightly higher prices. You might now want a pink cable, for example
Stuff 1. As Jarinor said, make sure you have an ethernet network card in each computer and a crossover cable long enough to go between them. Plug the crossover cable into each network card. 2. Run both computers, on the desktop will be an Icon named "My Network Places" double click on it. Looking at that screen there should be an icon labelled "Set up a Home or Small office network" double click on that, go through the dialogues, at the end, let it make the disk. I advise telling it that you have no internet connection. 3. Put the disk in the other computer, run the program on it. This is far easier than mucking around with IP addresses.
If you wanna know what I used to do years ago with friends of mine, buy a null modem cable for something like $10. One of us would haul our computer over to someone elses house, plug in the cable and away we'd go. No software required. The only problems are: The computers have to be close to one another. IE: Within 5 metres, although it depends on the length of the cable. Of course, we bought a 5 metre cable, which really is WAAAY too short. Should've gone for 10. Some games don't support null modem cables. (Seems to be rare now-a-days. You'll find most games support them, Quake and the like etc...) You're limited to two computers. IE: If you ever want to plug in three, forget about it. You'd need the network card and associated guff then.
Network cards are so cheap these days though, that it's not really an obstacle. And virtually no games support null modem connections. Only the older ones, and unless you play them retard, don't get a null modem cable.
Thanks guys for all the replies. Just to clear up a few questions from Jar's posts, the computers will be at the same house. More than 2 players isn't going to be an issue, and I plan on this being a very temporary thing. We just wanna duke it out on Ghost Recon, Age of Kings, Empire Earth, Barbie and Friends Catfight.... Games like that. Haven't checked me computer yet, but I'm pretty sure I have a network card. Thanks again fellers.
