4. Configuring your home network
4.1 Configuring the server
Go into the Windows Control Panel and choose "System". Go to the "Network Identification" tab and click on "Properties". For computer name, enter anything you want (eg "Phil" if the owner of the computer is Phil). If you're using Optus@Home, the name must be the name given to you by Optus (ie coXXXXXXX-a). Choose to be a member of a workgroup, and put whatever you like as your workgroup name. Note that every computer in your home network should be in the same workgroup. I simply call mine "WORKGROUP"!
Now we'll configure the network cards. Go back to the Control Panel and choose "Network and Dial-Up connections". You should see 3 icons - "Make new connection", and an icon representing each of your 2 network cards. These latter icons can be renamed for readability - you can see that I've named mine according to their function.
Next we'll configure the network card that's connected to your cable modem. Right-click on this network card and choose "Properties". You should see a dialog box similar to this one:
If you're missing "Client for Microsoft Networks", click on "Install...", choose "Client" and click "Add...", then choose "Client for Microsoft Networks" and click "OK". Similarly, if you're missing "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks", do the same but choose "Service" instead of "Client"; and if you're missing "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" do the same but choose "Protocol".
Make sure that only "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" is ticked; in particular, make sure that "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks" is not ticked, as this would share your files over the internet!
Now select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and click "Properties". Make sure that "Obtain an IP address automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address automatically" are chosen.
You've finished configuring the network card that connects to the cable modem. Click "OK" to exit the TCP/IP properties, and "OK" again to exit the network card properties.
Now we're going to configure the network card that's connected to the other computer/s. Right-click on this network card and choose "Properties". Make sure that "Client for Microsoft Networks", "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks" and "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" are all ticked.
Now select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and click "Properties". Choose "Use the following IP address" and type in 192.168.0.1 for the IP address and 255.255.255.0 for the subnet mask.
Click "OK" to exit the TCP/IP configuration and get back to network card properties. Now, click the "Configure" button and then the "Advanced" tab. You may want to enable full duplex mode on the network card. This makes the card transfer data a little faster. You can do this if the computers are connected directly or via a switch (ie a hub with switching capabilities, as described in
part 1), but not if the computers are connected to a non-switching hub, or via coaxial cable. To enable full duplex, change the appropriate setting in this section - I know this sounds a bit vague, but the exact way to do it is different for different cards. It's generally pretty self-explanatory, as you can see it is for my card:
You've now finished configuring the home network card! Click "OK" to exit the network card advanced settings and "OK" again to exit the network card properties.
Before you move on to configuring the client computers, you should take note of which Optus or Telstra "intranet domain" your server is connected to. To do this, open the Windows 2000/XP Command Prompt (in the Start Menu under Accessories) and type "ipconfig" (without the quotes). You should see something like this:
Look at the section for the network card that connects to your cable modem (in my case, "Optus"). Your intranet domain is listed as the "Connection-specific DNS Suffix". In the example above, my intranet domain is "randw1.nsw.optushome.com.au". Optus domains always look something like this. Telstra domains are typically something like "nsw.bigpond.net.au". Remember this intranet domain, because you'll need it when configuring your client computer/s.