LAN networking

At home I have installed a genuine LAN network. Now my three computers are continuously linked with a 10 Megabit connection (1.25 Mb per second; A harddisk reaches speeds between 10 and 30 Mb per second). You are now probably wondering this :
 

I wanted a network, because :

  1. I have three computers and it's a shame to let the old ones go to waste. They are not that old.
  2. My sister uses the computer regularly and her data is on the newest computer.
  3. Playing computergames together is more fun then waiting for turns.
  4. I only have one Iomega ZIP drive (internal).
  5. It is really cool to tell people that you OWN a entire network (in a nerdy kind of way :).
This is what you can do :
  1. You can share everything :
  2. You can surf the Internet together on only one modem! But you'll need Sygate Windows English link to do that.
  3. You can play multiplayer games.
  4. And there is probably more stuff, I haven't even heard about.
This is how I installed my network :
  1. First I opened my computers up and plugged in my networkcard. Make sure you still have room in your computer!
  2. In case of COAX connect the T-splitters to the networkcards
  3. Connect the networkcards together with the cable. I used 50 Ohm COAX cable , but you can also use UTP or STP. In case of COAX make sure you have terminators. Terminators are resistants, which you connect to the T-splitter of the computers on the edge.
  4. My networkcard was Plug and Play, so the first time you fire your computers up, the card should be detected in Windows 95.  I only had one installation disk, which I barely used. Most of the software is on the W95 CD-ROM. When asked, install all transfer protocols, NetBEUI, IPX, TCP/IP.
    NetBEUI isn't really necessary, but I personally use it for firesharing.
  5. While doing that you have to come up with names. I called my computers Cow, Chicken and Weasel.
  6. Reboot your computers and there you are!
  7. It is time to share your disks, printers and stuff. Rightclick on the "Network Neighbourhood"-icon on your desk en select properties. Then click on the "Share files and printers"-button and enable the appropriate checkboxes.
  8. In "My computer" or Windows explorer: Right click on any drive and select 'Share ...'. Then click full access. Now you can share your drives. CD-ROM drives should be read-only, though that doesn't matter that much. You will get a error message anyway if you want to write a file to a CD-ROM player.
  9. And yet again you have to restart your computers.
  10. If everything went right, you can now enjoy your network.
This is how much my network cost me :
  1. I got three ethernet-cards
  2. I got 10 m COAX cable and one of 2 meter
  3. I got two terminators
  4. I got three T-splitters.
This has cost me €105.48 or $99.23.
(But this was a few years ago, I saw 2 10/100Mbit UTP cards + Game for only €44.92.)
 

These are the minimum sytem requirement :

  1. Two IBM 386 compatibles
  2. One free ISA-slots on each computer. (well mine is ISA, there probably are PCI-cards too)
  3. RAM, I don't know. But if it can operate on a 386, then it can't be much. (My lowest RAM is 15 Mb)
If you want to know something else about my network just click on the 'mail me!' sign on the left.

This is the left part of my network!This is the right part of my network!
This is my network.