We now write a monthly technology article for the Burton Trader newspaper, which we hope will be useful and informative. We would love to hear from you, please email your comments, suggestions or questions to burtontrader@thenetworkhouse.com
Below you will find some of those articles including expanded explanations, diagrams and stuff we were unable to fit in the article.
June
This month we take a look at some low priced laptops and we start our network workshop which will hopefully give you a better understanding of your broadband and linking two or more computers together.
HP 530 Budget LaptopConclusion |  |
Asus F5VL LaptopConclusion The Asus laptop is very well designed and provides all of the features most of us would ever want. At £416.89 this laptop comes across as being a bargain. If you feel you need more power than the HP 530 then this is definitely worth a look. Available from www.pcworx.co.uk |  |
Network Workshop Part 1
More and more homes these days have more than one PC and broadband. Getting everything talking to each other can sometimes be daunting. In this series we hope to help you overcome those fears. Why network your PC’s? Sharing is the simple answer. You can share files, photos, music, videos and even your internet connection with another PC.
A network consists of two or more PC’s connected in some way, usually by a network cable (commonly know as Cat5 cable) or wirelessly. The internet is a network but on a grand scale, when you connect to the internet your PC becomes part of your Internet Service Providers (ISP) network and is issued an IP address. We will cover IP addresses in more detail in a later part but essentially every PC that is part of network requires a unique IP address to identify it, just as the Post Office requires your post code and house number to be able to deliver your mail.
To create your own network all you need is two or more PC’s, a network card for each PC (these days most PC’s come with these built in, if not then they can be picked up quite cheaply) and a Cat5 crossover network cable with an RJ45 plug on each end if you have two PC’s. If you have more than two then you will also need a network switch (again these are widely available, we will cover switches in a later part). Microsoft Windows already has the software built in needed to configure your network.
To connect two PC's together using the crossover cable (this is not done very much anymore as most internet modem/routers have a 4 port switch built in) you need to first boot up the computer that has the internet connection. In this example we are using Windows XP but the process is similar in other versions of Windows. Once it has started then navigate your way to the Control Panel
and click on Network and Internet Connections, then at the bottom click on the icon called Network Connections and you should see a window like the one below, now you need to right click on the icon that represents your internet connection (mine is the forth Local Area Connection) and select Properties
The connection properties box opens and at the top there are several tabs, choose the Advanced tab and at the top you should see the Firewall section and below that is the bit we're interested in, Internet Connection Sharing (ICS). Simply put a tick in the Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection check box as shown below.
Click OK and that's the first PC set up. With the first PC still powered up, connect one end of your crossover cable into the computers network port and the other end into the network port of the computer you'd like to share the internet connection with.
Then boot up the second PC and that should be all there is to it. Test the second PC by starting your internet browser and try to get a web page up. If you do have any questions then please email me on
burtontrader@thenetworkhouse.com
Now connecting those two same PC's using a network switch is fairly straight forward. You'll need a network switch (obviously!) and a Cat5 patch cable (also known a straight through cable or standard Cat5 cable) for each piece of equipment you want to connect together. Plus a modem or router if you want the computers on the internet. Below is a simple diagram of a network using a switch.
Once everything is connected together you need to set an IP address for each PC, we are going to cover IP addressing in more detail next month so don't worry too much.
Next month we will cover IP addressing, modems and routers.
Again please email me if you have any questions on burtontrader@thenetworkhouse.com