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Anyone Know How to Network 2 PCs with a Patch Cable?

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Oy this many posts and not one with much thought put into it... Although it has been answered I will summarize and add some more detail to the above.

As I see it you have two choices:
  1. Router
    This would put both machines on the same network and would provide internet to both. You would hook up your internet connection to the WAN port of the router and your two computers to the LAN side. The router would also likely offer DHCP which would give both an ip address and all is good.
  2. Crossover cable (or depending on the adapters you may be able to use a normal network cable)
    You can leave one connected to the internet and the other adapter can be assigned a static IP under a different subnet. By that I mean if the first adapter, connected to the internet, has an IP of 192.168.1.1 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 then the other could be assigned 192.168.2.1 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. On the second computer you would want to assign a different static ip under the same subnet such as 192.168.2.1 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. That would allow you to connect to the two computers using \\192.168.2.1 and \\192.168.2.2 from windows explorer. You have to statically assign an IP address because there isn't anything between the two to give it an IP address via DHCP as a router would.

I realize I've gone through this with base information - if you need additional info about anything or want me to go into further detail feel free to ask.

As far as I know, Windows Home Group requires that both computers are on the same network (which is the router scenario).
 
awktane said:
Oy this many posts and not one with much thought put into it... Although it has been answered I will summarize and add some more detail to the above.

As I see it you have two choices:
  1. Router
    This would put both machines on the same network and would provide internet to both. You would hook up your internet connection to the WAN port of the router and your two computers to the LAN side. The router would also likely offer DHCP which would give both an ip address and all is good.
  2. Crossover cable (or depending on the adapters you may be able to use a normal network cable)
    You can leave one connected to the internet and the other adapter can be assigned a static IP under a different subnet. By that I mean if the first adapter, connected to the internet, has an IP of 192.168.1.1 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 then the other could be assigned 192.168.2.1 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. On the second computer you would want to assign a different static ip under the same subnet such as 192.168.2.1 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. That would allow you to connect to the two computers using \\192.168.2.1 and \\192.168.2.2 from windows explorer. You have to statically assign an IP address because there isn't anything between the two to give it an IP address via DHCP as a router would.

I realize I've gone through this with base information - if you need additional info about anything or want me to go into further detail feel free to ask.

As far as I know, Windows Home Group requires that both computers are on the same network (which is the router scenario).
Click to expand...

This makes sense. But me asking questions and you (or anyone) answering is inefficient because there are many possible points of failure.

A more efficient way is with pictures (or even video). I tried entering those numbers and got no where. I don't even have it conceptualized how I could look anywhere in Windows (except a public folder) and expect to drag, drop or find files between my 2 PCs. And so I will post some more screen shots.

Also, I know of no way of determining whether the Cat5 Patch cable should work or whether a crossover cable is first needed to work with any of the variety of PCI, PCIe and onboard networking devices that I have on hand. And so I ordered the crossover cable.
 
1Time said:
This makes sense. But me asking questions and you (or anyone) answering is inefficient because there are many possible points of failure.
Click to expand...

True enough. In many ways my post was a knowledge and research test. It would give you a starting point if you were the type that didn't mind looking for what you needed or on the other hand if you knew enough it would allow me to fill in the details you required.

Here are the two questions I need to provide full instructions:
1. From the screen you took a screenshot of where it says "Local Area Connection 2 Status" click details. Under "IPv4 Address" I need the first 2 sets of numbers. As an example if it says 10.10.30.50 I only need 10.10. No need to give everyone your full IP address.
2. Is this a permanent setup or are you using it temporarily to transfer the files?
3. If permanent - Do you want the second computer to have access to the internet or do you only care about sharing files?
 
Insane Scyth said:
If both computers are showing connected on the interface, they won't need a crossover cable. Gigabit NICs are usually auto sensing and won't require a crossover cable.
Click to expand...

Wanted to mention that this is not true. When connected and windows gives up then both adapters will assign themselves an ip address that starts with 169, and both will say "Unidentified network" and "Media State: Enabled". Unfortunately, without using additional tools, there is no way to know if both are capable of Auto-MDIX (or auto sensing) until you confirm that they can "talk" to each other.
 
awktane said:
Here are the two questions I need to provide full instructions:
1. From the screen you took a screenshot of where it says "Local Area Connection 2 Status" click details. Under "IPv4 Address" I need the first 2 sets of numbers. As an example if it says 10.10.30.50 I only need 10.10. No need to give everyone your full IP address.
2. Is this a permanent setup or are you using it temporarily to transfer the files?
3. If permanent - Do you want the second computer to have access to the internet or do you only care about sharing files?
Click to expand...
1. No numbers. Blank. Automatic IP address.
But the other (Local Area Connection) has numbers 192.168.x.x.
2. File sharing is indefinite.
3. Only file sharing. PC1 has internet. PC2 does not.
 
Okay, the first thing we need to do is verify connectivity between the computers. Once we have that, we can figure out the sending files between the computers.

PC1 has 2 network cards, one connected to the internet, the other connected directly to PC2. For testing, disable the connection to the internet. Example of how below:
disable_connection.jpg

PC2 is connected directly to PC1.

Statically assign the following IPs to the network cards on the computers.

PC1
IP: 192.168.2.1
Subnet: 255.255.255.0

PC2
IP: 192.168.2.2
Subnet: 255.255.255.0

Now, if the connections page looks like this, the issue is with the cable (red x and unplugged is primary indicator). The crossover cable you ordered should fix this.
no_net_connection.JPG

However, if it looks this the cable is good.
good_net_connection.JPG

Now from PC1, go to command prompt and try to ping 192.168.2.2.
Then from PC2, ping 192.168.2.1.
If both of these work, you have good connectivity and now the issue is with sharing files.

Let us know if this works, and if not what problems you ran into and we will work further. I think suggestions in this thread have been rather vague since we have no idea exactly where the issue is, whether it is connectivity or actually sharing files.

Edit:
awktane said:
Wanted to mention that this is not true. When connected and windows gives up then both adapters will assign themselves an ip address that starts with 169, and both will say "Unidentified network" and "Media State: Enabled". Unfortunately, without using additional tools, there is no way to know if both are capable of Auto-MDIX (or auto sensing) until you confirm that they can "talk" to each other.
Click to expand...

That is very interesting, I didn't think it would show unidentified network if auto-sensing wasn't working. I'll have to do some tests on that, thanks for the info. My screenshot above maybe wrong then about proving if its a cable issue.
 
Last edited:
Hehe well that saved me some time Scyth but still... does he know how to ping?

To share a file on the second computer right click on it, choose properties, sharing tab, advanced sharing, check the "share this folder" box and give it a name. If you want to be able to read/write the folder from the first machine then click permissions and check the box for full control.

To connect from one computer to the first computer to the second you can enter \\192.168.2.2 in the address bar of any windows explorer window.

If you get nothing you could need the crossover cable or you could have a firewall blocking it. You can also try pinging by holding the windows key and pressing R to open a run window. Type cmd and hit enter. Then in the command window type "ping 192.168.2.2" from the first computer or "ping 192.168.2.1" from the second computer. If you get "reply from blahblahblah" that means you sent something to the other computer and it replied. That means they can talk to each other. If you do get a reply but the last step fails you can try http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/turning-onoff-file-and-printer-sharing-in-a-window.html to make sure sharing is on for that connection.
 
Last edited:
No red X on for the internet. Just disables / connects.
Ping from PC1 to PC2 worked.
Ping from PC2 to PC1 failed.

I can't get drivers loaded for testing an alternative networking device (PCIe) in PC2.
So now I'm waiting for the crossover cable.
 
Last edited:
If you got ping working in either direction then a packet did a round trip - which means you don't need the crossover cable. Do you have a firewall on either of them apart from the windows firewall?
 
awktane said:
If you got ping working in either direction then a packet did a round trip - which means you don't need the crossover cable. Do you have a firewall on either of them apart from the windows firewall?
Click to expand...

Ping from PC2 to PC1 worked with both firewalls turned off for PC1!
Ping times out with either firewall turned on for PC1.

PC1 has 2 firewalls, Windows and PrivateFirewall 7.0.
PC2 has 1 firewall, Windows.

I don't know how to change settings for either firewall to get this to work,
but I'm going to play around with them to see what I can do.

Thanks!
 
Ping is working in both directions.

PC1:
Took 2 seconds to get PrivateFirewall set up so ping would work.
Couldn't figure out Windows firewall; so I turned it off.

PC2:
Windows firewall seems to be set the same as it is in PC1,
but doesn't prevent a working ping with PC1. Go figure.

Now I will try to share files - somehow.
 
awktane said:
To share a file on the second computer right click on it, choose properties, sharing tab, advanced sharing, check the "share this folder" box and give it a name. If you want to be able to read/write the folder from the first machine then click permissions and check the box for full control.

To connect from one computer to the first computer to the second you can enter \\192.168.2.2 in the address bar of any windows explorer window.
Click to expand...
 
I have files to share on each PC.

Edit: I added PrivateFirewall 7.0 and didn't bother doing anything with Windows Firewall.
I now only have one software firewall per PC.
PC1 = PrivateFirewall 7.0
PC2 = Windows Firewall

Right clicking on "it" doesn't tell me where to right click.

I have now ordered a 1000Mbps "switch" and 2 Cat6 ethernet cables - delivery on 9.18.13,
- just in case this isn't resolved before then without the additional equipment.
 
Last edited:
1Time said:
Right clicking on "it" doesn't tell me where to right click.
Click to expand...

If you have a folder of things you want to share then right click on it and continue with the directions. Sorry I should have specified that it has to be a folder not just a single file.
 
awktane said:
If you have a folder of things you want to share then right click on it and continue with the directions. Sorry I should have specified that it has to be a folder not just a single file.
Click to expand...

I tried to explain this (except sharing and mapping a whole drive), except he didn't try it.
 
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