BlameThePixel!

I want to know what i would need to connect two computers together. TO play stuff like UT CS etc. I cant play these games online cos i cant get anything better than a dial up. If i wanted to link up say three or so computers. ( me + few mates )

how do i go about doing this. What hardware do i need. And is this the right thing. I just need fast connection between the puters.I think.

Im not really much use at this part of computing heh.

I dont need to share net connections or anything. Just be able to have mates round with PCs and have a good fragfest.

you need a NIC (network interface card) in each one, some CAT5 ethernet cabling and a ethernet hub, try and go for the 100mbps ones, http://www.ebuyer.com http://www.dabs.com http://www.aut-direct.co.uk and http://overclockers.co.uk should all be good points of call for buying stuff.

You can do it without a hub, but as network topographies go, the star network is much better than a ring or Bus.

you want to make connections like in internet cafes whit games(i dont know how to say this on english, maybe playhouse?)

i think that is is LAN connection
and, as i know, it isnt so complicated
and, you need to have 2+ PC in same room/house

Arch, It's still Internet cafes in english.

http://ukpc.com/ have been advertising wireless networking, I think you should check it out.

u dont nessarly need 2 have the computer in the same house
you can have a wireless lan with a large radius
this way u could share ur internetconnection with ur next dor neighbour, and split the fee

But there not super large, I think with the strengh of some of them, I think both PCs would have to be next to the walls. in open air they can go about the width of my road, (Not very far)

u can get like 500m
which is vv long 4 a wireless thingy

I havn't check the range's in ages, It's amazing what they improze in such little time, Technoligy has really moved on

hmmm....my friend has a wireless router and the card to go with it....and you can have like 4 people with there own cards on there pcs playing.....and you can use ethernet cables(don't know the real name lol) to get more people in.....but this is for cable modems i think.....

thanks everyone. Ill go check out the websites now.

As long as it doesnt costr too much, this could be very interesting.


edit: been to overclock.co.uk

cables and cards for a shade over a tenner. Got to be good. Whats the hub bit though. It sounds important.

right, a brief lesson on network topography it is then. Did no-one else bother to read the questions in the first post lol? btw - wireless is cool, but pointless and expensive.

A network card has one port in it. You have 2 PCs? simple - one cable between them (crossover cable needed, doens't matter why)

You have 3 PCs? now it gets tricky, how do you connect 3 computers if each on has only one port in the back of it? Well you could go for the old fashioned ring or bus networks, which connect up a bunch of computers in series using a 2 port NIC, but this isn't ver economical or fast, i wont go into why - trust me on this. (or have a look at a GCSE business or AS level ICT textbook)

So how do you do it? the topology known as a 'star' network. Each PC has a NIC and is connected to a central hub, any connections go into the hub, then out to the PC. As long as the hub has power, the network is up. With the other types all PCs must be on.

As for actually configuring past the network once the physical stuff is done, thats simple. As long as at least one PC has XP you can use the very handy network setup wizard, which also allows you to create a disk to run it on other OSs.

Minor note that will be important once you get it set up - you'll need to add an IPX protocol into the network setup, i can explain more on this later. Basically most games use IPX over a LAN, but the default is TCP/IP only.

even though I knew that, i'll use this as an excuse to post the picture i found:

Lol, very nice CBWhiz.

Well, personally, I think that setting up a LAN is more trouble than it's worth. But if you have the funds, time, and enough knowledge of PC's to get it working, then more power to you Wishmaster!

I thought you could just get a USB cable and stick into both of the PC's behinds. Meh, I was wrong (Again)

hey ho. Thanks readme.

Glenn. I was looking at stuff on the net. And a card for each computer costs like 10 pounds. Cable for each puter costs 3 pounds and the doodad to wire them all up ( i am buiying a switch ) is like 16 pounds and allows up to 5 pcs.

so that is only 10 pound for me and each of my m8s then we share to buy th switch. Less than 15 pounds each