ID:276098
 May 26 2005, 5:37 pm
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I have 2 computers at home and sometimes I need to get a file from the other one while I'm using the other but i dont have a network or anything like that and I dont know much about that stuff anyway. My question is how would I connect the 2 computers? One of them is in my garage, which is a seperate structure, so would I need a bunch of wires all over the place? Like I said, I don't know about much about that so if anyone could just post soemthing about what i would need and stuff like that.
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Get this plastic thing, I'm not quite sure what it's called it has two places to plug in phone cords on the front, and one on the back, and I'm sure you can do it that way by plugging phone cords from both modems into it then another to the wall then, if you have XP look in like control panel, and there's a button that you have to click that tells you what to do.
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Phone lines? Bah, ooooold technology. =)
Cheapest and simplest solution: Get a pair of ethernet cards and put one in each computer. Get a cross-over ethernet cable (make sure you specifically ask for cross-over) and connect the ethernet cards together. Yay, network! If the wire has to go outside to get to the other computer, though, that's not hugely practical, so you'll probably have to get wireless ethernet. I don't know a huge amount about it, but I don't think you can do a simple crossover setup with wireless networking. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.) Instead, you'll need a wireless hub/switch/router (routers are better than switches which are better than hubs), and wireless access points that receive data and are plugged into each computer on the network. Make sure the range is good enough, though (remember that the signal will also degrade when passing through walls). Advantages of wireless: Um... no wires. =) Disadvantages of wireless: More expensive; slightly harder to set up; harder to secure (make sure you set up the security settings on the router so that random people can't tap into your network as they walk past your house). Note that getting a hub/switch/router might be a good idea even if you get a wired network, as they allow more than two computers to be on the network at once (useful for LAN parties!). Routers also let you share internet connections between multiple machines (something that's possible, but often flaky, with a crossover cable). | |
Wireless has gotten cheaper lately. About $100 for the whole shabang. You could end up spending just as much on ethernet cards, router, and wires. Instead, get 2 wireless usb adapters and a wireless router. http://www.newegg.com has good prices.
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Also, if you have cable internet, connecting them using a router and modem might work.
If I am wrong, Sorry! This is just my guess.