Configuring Home Networks

Using Windows XP Professional, you can easily set up a home office network between desktops without using a server. Its Microsoft Windows NT style user account management and permissions offer an environment ready-made for secure home and small office networking. You can also integrate other hardware devices such as printers, scanners, or cameras into your home network. The Network Setup Wizard guides you through the process of setting up your home network including Internet Connection Sharing (ICS), naming your workgroup, and naming your computer.

You can use Home Networking to:

• Share an Internet connection with all of the computers on your home network.

• Work on files stored on any computer on the network.

• Share printers from any computer.

• Play multiplayer games.

• Use one computer to secure your entire network and protect your Internet connection.

In addition, Windows XP Professional is compatible with previous versions of Windows. You can introduce Windows XP Professional into a peer-to-peer network configured between clients running Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), or introduce clients running Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me into a Windows XP Professional network.

You can set up one computer to communicate to the Internet using Internet Connection Sharing. ICS provides access to the public network (the Internet) for all computers in your home network to communicate with the Internet at the same time. The computers that do not have a direct Internet connection, called clients, rely on the host computer to provide access to the Internet. The ICS host computer manages network addressing. Besides providing Internet access, the ICS host computer in your network assigns itself a permanent private address and acts as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server for ICS clients, assigning a unique address to each ICS client and, therefore, providing a way for computers to communicate with other computers on the network.

For more information about ICS, see Internet Connection Sharing later in this chapter.

Successfully setting up your home network is a two-part process:

1. Install and configure the appropriate hardware on each computer.

2. Run the Windows XP Professional Network Setup Wizard on each computer in your home network.

Before you run the Network Setup Wizard, be sure you have addressed these concerns:

• The Network Setup Wizard is only supported on computers running Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Windows Me, or Windows 98.

• Before setting up your home network, make sure that the ICS host computer has the Internet connection configured.

• Before running the Network Setup Wizard, install a network adapter in your Windows XP Professional based computer. If you plan to enable ICS, you will need 2 network connections.

• When planning to run the Network Setup Wizard, make sure your computer is not a member of a domain. These setup options do not appear on a Windows XP based computer that is a domain member.

Home Network Hardware Requirements

Make sure your network hardware, such as devices and cables, is installed and set up correctly before you run the Network Setup Wizard. When planning your home or small office network, pick the type of hardware to use for connecting your computers. In the business world, the standard network connection technology is Ethernet, which requires a network adapter and dedicated physical cabling. Depending on its complexity, an Ethernet network might also require other interconnecting devices to perform the negotiation the configuration requires.

There are several components that you need to create a home network:

• Computers. You need two or more computers for a network.

• Network adapter. Often called a network interface card, network adapters connect your computers to the network and allow your computers to communicate with each other.

• Network hubs and cables. A hub connects multiple computers at a central location. A hub is typically used when connecting two or more computers to an Ethernet network. A hub is not required if you are going to connect your computers through your phone lines using Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HPNA) or if you use wireless adapters. Using Ethernet or HPNA, you need cables to connect to either a hub or the phone lines.

• Modem. This includes 28.8 or 56 Kbps analog modems, wireless modems, ISDN adapters, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) adapters, and cable modems.

In addition, you ll want to make sure that the computers on your network meet the following minimum requirements:

• The computer sharing its Internet connection is running Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional. This is called the host computer.

• The Network Setup Wizard can only be run on computers using Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional.

After you install all of the required hardware in each of your computers, you can run the Home Networking Wizard.

Home Network Configuration Instructions

In Windows XP Professional, setup of the ICS host and client computers is greatly simplified by using the Network Setup Wizard. Run the Network Setup Wizard on the ICS host computer first. Then, run the wizard on the client computers. After you answer some basic questions, the wizard configures the computers to operate correctly on the network.

When running the Network Setup Wizard, be aware of the following:

• You must run the Network Setup Wizard on every computer in your network.

• Run the Network Setup Wizard on the host computer first. The host computer is the one that will share its Internet connection. When the Network Setup Wizard is run on subsequent computers, it automatically looks for a host computer that has shared its Internet connection.

• To run the Network Setup Wizard in Windows 98 or Windows Me, you must use a Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition CD-ROM. You can also use a Microsoft Windows XP based computer with Network Setup Wizard to create Network Setup Wizard diskettes for use on other computers.

• To start the Network Setup Wizard on a Windows XP Professional based computer, in Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections, and then click Network Connections. Under Common Tasks, click Network Setup Wizard.

  Note 

  You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to complete this procedure.

To configure other computers on your home network

1. Insert the Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition operating system CD.

2. Under What do you want to do?, click Perform additional tasks.

3. In Perform additional tasks, click Set up a home or small office network.

4. In the dialog box welcoming you to the Network Setup Wizard, click yes to continue.

5. Follow the instructions on your screen.