I need help setting up a LAN

[Technetium]

I need help setting up a LAN

My brother and I want to network our computers. His computer is running Windows 98, and mine has XP Pro. We both have ethernet cards. I have a Linksys Etherfast switch which each computer is connected to. The switch shows both computers are connected to it (by the LED lights). My computer was able to detect the network connection automatically (I think this is something inherent with XP). I don't even know where to start getting my brother's computer to detect it. The Windows Help file was really useless on this subject. Anyone know what I have to do?

 

[mysnistaken]

Isn't there a network setup wizard on 98?

 

[Suicidal Zebra]

Gah, I really should do a website on this, it would make things so much more simple.

Okay, the first thing you should do is make sure that both have different IP's of the order 192.168.0.XXX, and the same subnet mask (255.255.255.0 is the usual one used). Then you should make sure that they can see each other by 'pinging' one from the other and visa-versa.

Following that, they should both be on the same workgroup, and have 'file and printer sharing' enabled. Then share whatever folders and bob's your mothers brother. In theory at least.

 

[Technetium]

Okay, the first thing you should do is make sure that both have different IP's of the order 192.168.0.XXX, and the same subnet mask (255.255.255.0 is the usual one used). Then you should make sure that they can see each other by 'pinging' one from the other and visa-versa.

How would I choose what my IP address is? The two computers show up with different IP addresses, but the addresses each have 3 digits between each period, and are not at all like what you showed.

I have the two computers connected at this point, but there are some problems. When my brother (using 98) goes to his "network neighborhood" he can see my computer, and he can double-click it to get a shared folder directory. However, when I (using XP) attempt to do the equivalent, and I click on his computer's name listed in the network, I sometimes get an error about access priviledges or whatever, and sometimes it just hangs completely.

Also, while I hate to be on the D2 subject in this forum (gasp!), that is the purpose of establishing this LAN, and if it helps anyone to solve the problem, I can see my brother's character move around with minimal lag, but it takes about 45 seconds of lag for him to see my own character move.

EDIT:

Following that, they should both be on the same workgroup, and have 'file and printer sharing' enabled. Then share whatever folders and bob's your mothers brother. In theory at least.

And I do have all of this part done correctly, just so you know. Both computers are listed on both computers as being in the same workgroup.

 

[Suicidal Zebra]

How would I choose what my IP address is? The two computers show up with different IP addresses, but the addresses each have 3 digits between each period, and are not at all like what you showed.

I have the two computers connected at this point, but there are some problems. When my brother (using 98) goes to his "network neighborhood" he can see my computer, and he can double-click it to get a shared folder directory. However, when I (using XP) attempt to do the equivalent, and I click on his computer's name listed in the network, I sometimes get an error about access priviledges or whatever, and sometimes it just hangs completely.

Also, while I hate to be on the D2 subject in this forum (gasp!), that is the purpose of establishing this LAN, and if it helps anyone to solve the problem, I can see my brother's character move around with minimal lag, but it takes about 45 seconds of lag for him to see my own character move.

EDIT:

And I do have all of this part done correctly, just so you know. Both computers are listed on both computers as being in the same workgroup.

Okay, well if you are up to that part then don't worry about the IP address issue. It is really only a standardising thingy, and makes diagnosing problems up-to the filesharing stage easier.

The first thing that I will ask is do you or your bro have a software firewall (like zonealarm) running? This can be the problem for file sharing.

As for the lag in DiabloII, does that occur whoever is hosting, or only when one specific PC is?

 

[{KOW}Spazed]

Have you tried directly connecting the computers without the switch? Try that if at all possible, you can usually figure out something if that works just fine.


OR

Call your bro a hussy and storm off in a hissy fit.

or

Close all open windows, restart, and then open all the windows back up?


I bet one of those will work.

 

[Technetium]

When I host the game, it has the lag problem. When my brother hosts the game, I can't even join it.

 

[Night]

Try doing two back handsprings then go into a double backflip onto the nose of a camel.

Errr.
I don't know how switches work but maybe you should try a hub or a router..yah.

 

[mysnistaken]

actually if theres one two of them they can directly connect...as in plug the cat 5 into each other's network cards...it seems to help a little with lag when you're directly connected like that

 

[DurfBarian]

God I love Rendezvous.

The 192.168-- numbers SZ mentioned are the addresses given to the computers within the LAN. They are not the same as the addresses presented to the outside world, which you can see by going to www.whatismyip.com for instance. You should be able to designate those LAN addresses by hand.

 

[Painman]

actually if theres one two of them they can directly connect...as in plug the cat 5 into each other's network cards...it seems to help a little with lag when you're directly connected like that

Quick side note, doing this requires a specific type of LAN cable called "crossover cable"

In any case... if all you want to do is play... that game, I'd disable file and printer sharing, NetBIOS over TCP/IP and any other extraneous crap, just to rule them out as problems. If the 2 computers can ping each other, that's all that is needed.

 

[ScanMan]

My brother and I want to network our computers. His computer is running Windows 98, and mine has XP Pro. We both have ethernet cards. I have a Linksys Etherfast switch which each computer is connected to. The switch shows both computers are connected to it (by the LED lights). My computer was able to detect the network connection automatically (I think this is something inherent with XP). I don't even know where to start getting my brother's computer to detect it. The Windows Help file was really useless on this subject. Anyone know what I have to do?

You need to make sure that the Win98 system has a username and password set for Windows Login.

I found this out when networking our computers together at work. All the XP machines could talk to each other, but they all ignored the poor little Win98 machine. I set up a username and password on the Win98 machine, and all the XP systems said "Hi there!".

XP doesn't want to talk to any "unsecured" machines.

 

[Technetium]

You need to make sure that the Win98 system has a username and password set for Windows Login.

I found this out when networking our computers together at work. All the XP machines could talk to each other, but they all ignored the poor little Win98 machine. I set up a username and password on the Win98 machine, and all the XP systems said "Hi there!".

XP doesn't want to talk to any "unsecured" machines.

My brother says it automatically puts in his login name at the startup, but it doesn't have a password. There is a password field, but he left it blank and says he just presses enter at the login prompt. I'll try changing it.

I have already gotten the network IP addresses set. I have mine at 192.168.1.100 and his at 192.168.1.101. Both have the subnet mask set to 255.255.255.0. However, when I run ipconfig on his computer, it claims that there are 3 ethernet adapters, and only the first one has values for IP and subnet mask. The other two are just 0.0.0.0. There is only one ethernet adapter in his machine according to the device manager, however it says there is also an "AOL Adapter" and a "Microsoft Virtual Private Networking Adapter" in addition to his ethernet card, and of course it also lists his dial-up adapter. I have no idea what those other two network adapters are for, and whether or not they could be interfering.

 

[maccool]

With sincere apologies to Black Flag.


LAN PARTY TONIGHT
LAN PARTY TONIGHT
LAN PARTY TONIGHT
LAN PARTY TONIGHT

WE'RE GONNA HAVE A LAN PARTY TONIGHT...ALRIGHT
WE'RE GONNA HAVE A LAN PARTY ...ALRIGHT...TONIGHT
WE'VE GOT NOTHING BETTER TO DO,
THAN USE THE LAN AND HAVE A COUPLE OF BREWS

EVERYBODY'S GONNA HANG OUT HERE TONIGHT...ALRIGHT
WE'LL PASS OUT ON THE COUCH ALRIGHT...TONIGHT
WE'VE GOT NOTHING BETTER TO DO,
THAN USE THE LAN. AND HAVE A COUPLE OF BREWS

DON'T TALK ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE...WE'RE NOT THAT LAME
WE'RE DEDICATED TO OUR FAVORITE GAMES

WE SIT GLUED TO THE LAN ALL NIGHT...AND EVERY NIGHT
WHY GO INTO THE OUTSIDE WORLD AT ALL...IT'S SUCH A FRIGHT
WE'VE GOT NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN USE THE LAN AND
HAVE A COUPLE OF BREWS
T.V. NEWS SHOWS WHAT IT'S LIKE OUT THERE...IT'S A SCARE
YOU CAN GO OUT...IF YOU WANT...WE WOULDN'T DARE!
WE'VE GOT NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN USE THE LAN
AND HAVE A COUPLE OF BREWS
DON'T TALK ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE...WE'RE NOT THAT LAME
WE'RE DEDICATED TO OUR FAVORITE GAMES

I WOULDN'T BE WITHOUT MY LAN FOR A DAY...OR EVEN A MINUTE!
I DON'T BOTHER TO USE MY BRAIN ANYMORE...
THERE'S NOTHING LEFT IN IT

WAIT A MINUTE MY LAN DOESN'T WORK
IT'S BROKEN!
WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO TONIGHT
THIS ISN'T FAIR
WE'RE HURTIN'!
WE'VE GOT NOTHING LEFT TO DO
LEFT WITH NO LAN JUST A COUPLE BREWS

WHAT ARE WE GONNA TALK ABOUT...AM I THAT LAME?
WE'RE GONNA MISS OUR FAVORITE GAMES

NO LAN PARTY TONIGHT


Again, I'm very sorry for disgracing the beauty of Black Flag.

 

[Hatsepsut]

<not meant to be a hijack>

I went the lazy way and just installed Xp Pro on both mine and hubby's computer after having 98 cause me to tear my hair and bang my head against the desk...

Anyways, I have his comp connecting through mine (2 nic's in mine), which is crap, so the next step is to get me a router. I shall keep this here thread for future reference.