Computer and Printer Networking

Configuring the TCP/IP Protocol

Verify The Connection
The next step is to make sure that your computers can talk to each other. In order to do this, follow these steps.

Click Start, (click settings if you have configured Windows XP to show Classic View) click Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections, and then click Network Connections.

You should see a LAN connection that is for your newly created network here.

If you have mutliple connections here, like an internet connection, you should rename your connections so it is easy to distinguish which connection is what. Right click the connection and choose rename. Type a different name in the box and then press enter.

To check your LAN connection settings, right-click your Lan connection, and then click Properties. The installed network components appear.

You components that you should see are Client for Microsoft Networks (enables connection to other Windows based computers), File and Printer Sharing (makes network resources available), Quality of Service (QOS) Packet Scheduler (optimizes network traffic), and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). If any of these components are missing, you can re-install them as shown below.

Client for Microsoft Networks

Click Install, click Client, click Add, click Client for Microsoft Networks.

Click OK, and then click Close.

File and Printer Sharing

Click Install, click Service, click Add, and then click File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks.

Click OK, and then click Close.

QoS Packet Scheduler

Click Install, click Service, click Add, and then click QoS Packet Scheduler.

Click OK, and then click Close.

TCP/IP

Click Install, click Protocol, and then click Add.

Configuring TCP/IP

There are two items that you must configure on each of the computers on your network for the computers to be able to talk to each other, and participate on your network. You must configure the IP Address and the Subnet Mask.

IP Address and Subnet Mask

The IP address must be different on every computer. The IP address must be a unique number becasue it is the address for the packets to be delivered to. This address has four numbers between 0 and 255, separated by periods.

The subnet mask determines the network where a computer resides. This is especially important in larger networks because they are usually divided into several different subnets. In a small network, all of the computers will be on the same subnet.

Internet

The internet is a large network that is based on IP addresses. Each address must be unique so that no two computers will share the same address. If you want to access the Internet, you have to make sure that your network does not use an address that is already in use. There are certain address ranges that you can use in your network without problems. You can use address ranges such as 192.168.0.X, where X is a number between 1 and 254. Use should use 255.255.255.0 for your subnet mask.

To configure your IP address and the subnet mask, follow these steps:

Right-click your LAN connection, and then click Properties.
Click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties.
Click Use the following IP address, and then type in the address you wish to use. If you use 192.168.0.1 for the first computer, use 192.168.0.2 on the second computer, and 192.168.0.3 for the third computer, and so on. The subnet mask is the same for all the computers, and it should be 255.255.255.0.
Click OK, and then click Close.

Introduction to Networking
Buying the Network Hardware
Connecting the Computers
Installing the Network Card(s)
Configuring the TCP/IP Protocol
Setting the Computer Names and the Workgroup Name
Sharing Folders
Sharing a Printer


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