Windows 2000 Quick Fixes

Network your home computers

Networking your home computers is a fairly simple task, particularly if you’re comfortable opening your computer and installing adapters. Even if you’ve never opened your computer, however, it’s still a task you can accomplish with a little foresight and care.

There are two phases to networking your home computers, starting with choosing the type of network hardware you’ll use.

Choose network hardware

Each computer to be added to the network needs a network interface card , or NIC. The most common is one that installs in your computer just like a display or sound card. If your computers include USB ports, a nice choice that can simplify the process and eliminate the need to open your computer is a USB network adapter. These external devices plug into your computer’s USB port and are almost effortless to install.

Unless you choose a wireless solution, you also need the appropriate cable to connect together your computers. You have two main options: twisted pair cable or coax cable. Twisted pair looks like a thick phone cable and has a connector that is similar to a phone connector but has eight wires instead of four. Coax cable looks like the cable used for cable TV but is a little different size. A third option uses the electrical wiring in your house for the network cable, but this option requires a special network kit designed specifically for that purpose.

Tip

Wireless solutions are typically more expensive than hardwired solutions but are much easier ...