How to set up Home LAN

Enabling Home LAN will allow you to communicate between two computers and hence share or transfer files at a very fast rate (varies according to your Ethernet card speed) and also it enables you to share the internet connection between two computers. If you have two or more computers at home, then it makes sense to have them on a network. Setting up a home network is no longer a tedious task once you go through our following tutorial.

Things you’ll need:
At least 2 computers
Ethernet Cable: you can buy it from the local computer parts shop
Wireless router: this may be optional if you only want to network between two computers.
Ethernet card with driver installed on both of your computers
First of all run network configuration wizard on both computers by going to Start->Control Panel->Network connections and click on Set up home or small office network. (see below)

Click next and then follow the screenshots: (see below)

Click Next (see below)

Check on Ignore disconnected network hardware and choose your Ethernet adapter and then click next. (see below)

Choose the appropriate connection method. To connect two computers check on the second option, This computer connects to the Internet through a residential gateway or through another computer on my network. If you want to share the internet connection between two computers as well then select the first option, This computer connects directly to the internet. The other computers on my network connect to the internet through this computer.

For better understanding click on View an example link.

Type in your computer description (optional) and computer name then press Next.
Note:
To get the name of your computer accurately, go to Startà right click on My computerà Properties à Go to Computer Name Tab

Note the Full computer name, in my case it’s SAAZ-117D10A6F5 and also the WORKGROUP, it’s usually MSHOME.

Leave the workgroup name MSHOME (by default) and click Next

Set file sharing ON if you want to share files with other computers in network. Then click Next.

You’ll be provided the details you entered after the above procedure: (see below). Make sure that everything is ok and click Next.

Select Just finish the wizard: I don’t need to run the wizard on other computers and click Next.

Click Finish to complete wizard. The system may ask to restart your pc to load the extra drivers needed for LAN Communication.

And you are done by setting up connection between two computers.
To connect with more than two computers, the basic principal stays the same. Simply make sure that all the computers you want to set up in LAN are connected on a network via hubs, switches, etc  and then simply assign a different IP Address to each machine. Just make sure that they are all on the same Subnet Mask.
Note: Usually you don’t need to enter IP Addresses and you don’t need to restart computers to make network connection in windows XP platform.
However if you need to set up the IP addresses of two computers follow these steps:

Setting up different IP addresses

Now you will have to set IP addresses on computers. You can do this by going to Start->Control panel->Network connection and right click on Local area Connection icon and left click on Properties.

In the list find Internet protocol (TPC/IP) select it then click Properties.

In the box check on Use the following IP address and set IP address and Subnet mask. IP address by default can be 192.168.0.1 and Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0. Make sure that the fourth number section of IP address is different on each computer.
For example, if first computer’s IP: 192.168.0.1 then the second computers’ must be 192.168.0.2.
Then click Ok.

Restart both computers if needed. Now you made network between two computers.

Now you can connect both or multiple computers.
Hope it helped you.