# 2 pc LAN. no inet



## Gregsm (Nov 3, 2008)

I want make direct connection between 2 pcs, without internet. I've used the cable used to connect to modem, but instead modem I plugged directly to other pc, and it says, in network connection under the ethernet icon, that cable not plugged. Do I need some special network card? Or the one itegrated into mobo, that used to connect to modem, enough? Maybe special cable? The one used for modem is phone cable I read, and not suitable.


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## Mussels (Nov 3, 2008)

special cable, most often. You need a crossover cable, commonly its red instead of the normal blue.

You will also need to set static IP addresses on each PC, such as 192.168.1.10 and 192.168.1.11 - all numbers must be the same except the last one. 

(you will need to set the IP's back to automatic, if they go back on a regular network)


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## Deleted member 3 (Nov 3, 2008)

Mussels said:


> special cable, most often. You need a crossover cable, commonly its red instead of the normal blue.
> 
> You will also need to set static IP addresses on each PC, such as 192.168.1.10 and 192.168.1.11 - all numbers must be the same except the last one.
> 
> (you will need to set the IP's back to automatic, if they go back on a regular network)



Normal blue? They come in every color of the rainbow, most of my cabling is grey though. The one connected to this laptop is white. I wouldn't recommend guessing the type of cable by color.


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## Mussels (Nov 3, 2008)

regular colors when you buy cables from stores, is blue for normal, red for crossover and yellow for patch cables.

Grey is common for self made/bulk bought cables.


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## MRCL (Nov 3, 2008)

Mussels said:


> regular colors when you buy cables from stores, is blue for normal, red for crossover and yellow for patch cables.
> 
> Grey is common for self made/bulk bought cables.



Maybe in Australia; here I have never seen any other color than grey and black in my life


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## Deleted member 3 (Nov 3, 2008)

MRCL said:


> Maybe in Australia; here I have never seen any other color than grey and black in my life



Some brands do differentiate by color, though you're always best of if you take a few seconds to read the bag it comes in. 
Or just make your own cables, if something doesn't work you know it's your fault  I used to have cables where green and brown were near the same, really was a hell to make cables with that.


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## Mussels (Nov 3, 2008)

MRCL said:


> Maybe in Australia; here I have never seen any other color than grey and black in my life



well, that is quite possible. I definately am not aware of standard colors in other countries, however i did do a Cisco certified course and during that we were told these were the 'common' colors.

Well ignoring the colors for now, you'll need a crossover cable to direct link two PC's.


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## Deleted member 3 (Nov 3, 2008)

Mussels said:


> Well ignoring the colors for now, you'll need a crossover cable to direct link two PC's.



Gigabit NICs auto detect crossover cables and fix that internally. So it won't be a real issue. Also, gigabit crossover != fast ethernet crossover.


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## Mussels (Nov 3, 2008)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> Gigabit NICs auto detect crossover cables and fix that internally. So it won't be a real issue. Also, gigabit crossover != fast ethernet crossover.



the OP mentioned using a standard cable didnt work, hence the assumption he's not on cards with auto negotiation for cable types.

I'm just trying to keep it as simple as possible here, we're probably just confusing the guy with all this extra stuff.


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## Deleted member 3 (Nov 3, 2008)

Mussels said:


> we're probably just confusing the guy with all this extra stuff.



Which is quite fun


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## Cybrnook2002 (Nov 3, 2008)

Mussels is right, you need a crossover cable. The free cable you get with everything like your router is a straight through. (Router does the switching for you). Think of it like this. on a straight through cable, all the wires are at the same position on both ends at the connectors. Well, thats a problem when you go from NIC to NIC because your "send" is trying to send data to the other computers "send". While the "Receive" is trying to receive data on the others pc's "receive". So what a crossover does is switch those two wires at one end, so you can send data to the receive and receive off the send. (Confused yet)


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## Gregsm (Nov 3, 2008)

Ok, I read that to make a LAN you can use that special crossover cable, but router is better because its faster. Whats the difference between cheap and expensive router? I want it mainly for gaming on 2 pc, offline. So all difference is transfer rate, without latency, maybe even crossover will be enough? Another requirement is that I need about 6 meter distance between the two pcs. So what do use in this case?


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## Deleted member 3 (Nov 3, 2008)

Gregsm said:


> Ok, I read that to make a LAN you can use that special crossover cable, but router is better because its faster. Whats the difference between cheap and expensive router? I want it mainly for gaming on 2 pc, offline. So all difference is transfer rate, without latency, maybe even crossover will be enough?



A router is not faster at all, all it can do performance-wise is increase latency, which is bad. Practically this isn't noticeable at all, in fact I doubt you could measure it using any common tool. Routers have nothing to do with LAN's, routers connect two different networks together, ie the internet and your LAN. To create a 2 PC network a cable is enough, more than two PC's > (switching) hub.


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## Mussels (Nov 3, 2008)

Routers are an *easier* way to make a network.

When you have PC's on a network, they need an IP address, just like houses in the real world need an address. Each PC needs a unique address, and a router can do that automatically.

In your situation, i'll give you three possible setups for your network.

1. PC to PC with crossover cable. Both PC's must have manually assigned (by YOU!) IP addresses.

2. PC to switch/hub, to PC using regular cables.  Both PC's must have manually assigned (by YOU!) IP addresses.

3. both PC's connect to a router using regular cables. the router controls the network, and therefore gives out IP adresses. this will *not* increase performance in any way (its just EASIER)


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## Deleted member 3 (Nov 3, 2008)

Mussels said:


> Routers are an *easier* way to make a network.
> 
> When you have PC's on a network, they need an IP address, just like houses in the real world need an address. Each PC needs a unique address, and a router can do that automatically.
> 
> ...



Router != DHCP server. The fact that most, if not all, home routers include DHCP servers doesn't make them the same thing. Using all those names in the wrong way makes things very confusing, which is the opposite of what you want. And since stores do it as well it's very easy to end up buying the wrong stuff when you don't know what you require yourself. 

Just look at everyones ADSL/Cable "router". Half of them are actually bridges or set up as bridges. But nobody ever has bridge problems, only router or modem problems. Which is rather odd when you think about it. 
Surely you can keep things simple, but in the end wrong information makes problems a lot harder to solve.


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## Cybrnook2002 (Nov 3, 2008)

Get em DAN and Mussels "ARGHARGHARGH"


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## Mussels (Nov 3, 2008)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> Router != DHCP server. The fact that most, if not all, home routers include DHCP servers doesn't make them the same thing. Using all those names in the wrong way makes things very confusing, which is the opposite of what you want. And since stores do it as well it's very easy to end up buying the wrong stuff when you don't know what you require yourself.
> 
> Just look at everyones ADSL/Cable "router". Half of them are actually bridges or set up as bridges. But nobody ever has bridge problems, only router or modem problems. Which is rather odd when you think about it.
> Surely you can keep things simple, but in the end wrong information makes problems a lot harder to solve.



all consumer routers have DHCP servers on by default. you gotta go change em to bridge mode. I'm merely explaining how things would work, in the way he asked. the poor guy would need a networking degree to understand the way you're explaining it.

here in oz, you rarely see seperate modems. all our modems are integrated into routers, so there rarely is any bridging going on... even the ISP's that sell 'modems' are just single ethernet port routers.

this is going too off topic, and too confusing - cant you just leave the technicalities aside, and help find a solution that lets the guy connect his two PC's?


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## Gregsm (Nov 3, 2008)

Well ok I got the general idea, except the last replies with dhcp servers and connection bridges, but nvm for now. So Ill get a cross cable simply. Also what are my options for 3 offline pcs in LAN?


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## Cybrnook2002 (Nov 3, 2008)

Gregsm said:


> Well ok I got the general idea, except the last replies with dhcp servers and connection bridges, but nvm for now. So Ill get a cross cable simply. Also what are my options for 3 offline pcs in LAN?



Gregsm, Just got to BB or Circuit city and buy a cheap "switch", all you have to do is plug your PC's into it (straight through or crossover cables) then its done. Your lan games will see all the pc's


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## Deleted member 3 (Nov 3, 2008)

Connect the cross cable. Rightclick network > properties. Rightclick your network adapter> properties, doubleclick TCP/IP.





Select "use following IP address"
Enter IP address 192.168.0.1
Subnet 255.255.255.0
DNS server isn't required.

Do the same on the other machine, though use IP address 192.168.0.2. Poof, network works.





Additionally, it might be easier to use a switch, no configuration is required then. This is where the bridge or router thing comes into play. Just go to start>run, type cmd and enter. Then type ipconfig

It should give you your current IP. If your IP is in either the 10.0.0.x or 192.168.x.x range your modem is most likely a router, as those are reserved ranges for LANs > just buy a €15 switch. If it is your internet IP it's a bridge. You can check your internet IP on http://www.whatismyip.com/


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## Mussels (Nov 3, 2008)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> Connect the cross cable. Rightclick network > properties. Rightclick your network adapter> properties, doubleclick TCP/IP.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



^ dans got it accurate and simple there.

Just to make a few things clear, a normal switch will NOT give out IP addresses. thats usually up to the modem/router. a DHCP server is what gives out the IP's. so you'll probably have to do as dan suggested in this post i'm quoting and give each PC an IP address


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