Networks and Internet Connections

About Networks | Addresses: Dynamic or Static  | Setting IP addresses in Windows XP and Vista | NetBIOS | Workgroup | Sharing | Connecting | URLs | Drive Mapping | Switches and Routers| Troubleshooting

About Networks

For purposes of this article, we will discuss home/small business networks, called a peer-to-peer (P2P) network.  In a P2P situation, there may be one or more computers that share resources with other computers.  High-end networks with a dedicated server, a.k.a. client-server networks will not be addressed here, but they too follow the same rules...

There are two types of networks: 

  • Local Area Network (LAN) that can connect multiple device together, e.g., multiple computers, printers, etc.

  • Wide Area Network (WAN) for this discussion simply means the Internet, but also refer to VPNs.

Each device connecting to a network requires a unique IP address.  This includes every computer, but also each networked* item such as printers, scanners, cameras, etc.  

So for example, here are two ISP customers connecting to the Internet.

The first is connecting directly to the Internet with their computer.  This connection could be dialup or it could be high speed such as DSL.  Either way, the ISP assigns an IP address.  In this case the computer is assigned an address of 69.46.192.16.  

The second customer has a Local Area Network.  So it is a router (discussed later) that gets the IP address.  In their case, it is 69.46.192.17.

Their router in turn assigns each connected device a LAN address.  In our example, they are 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2. 

Here, the computers make Internet requests to the router and the router passes those requests on to the ISP.

*If a device such as a printer is physically connected to a computer, it can be shared and made available to other computers.  But because the device is not physically connected to the network router, it does not require an IP address.

Security notes:

  • We have indicated the inbound Internet connections in red for a reason!  Whenever you are connected to the Internet, the Internet is connected to you!  Depending on your firewalls and computer security settings, hackers could see your machine and perhaps your data. 

  • Because a firewalled router can stop connection attempts from the Internet, they improve security.

Miscellaneous networking notes:

  • As helpful as it would be, sharing certain items such as email messages and contacts can only be done under a client server network running Microsoft Exchange or similar product.  There may be third party software available to make sharing of this information possible under a P2P network, but we are unaware of any...

  • While you can share and connect to another computer's data, certain applications require multiuser licenses to do so.  Accounting software would be the popular example.

Addresses may be a dynamic or static

Whether it's a computer to ISP connection, a router to ISP connection or a computer to router connection, these unique IP addresses are either dynamic or static.

With dynamic addresses, generally there is nothing you need to know or do, simply plug in and you are connected.  By default, the Windows operating system and routers are set to obtain an IP address automatically.  This includes wired and wireless routers.

In some cases it is desirable, even necessary to manually assign static address.  For example; if you have a computer acting as a concurrent file server, it is best to have that machine assigned an address that never changes.  The same is said for networked devices such as printers.
More about these settings shortly...

Setting IP Addresses

If you do not have a router and require a static IP address as assigned by your ISP,
or you need to assign a static IP address to one or more computers, here's how...

Go to the Start menu then the Control Panel.  If the top left of the Control panel has a link to "Switch to Classic View" do so, it will make things easier. 

Windows XP

Once in the Classic View, open Network connections and look for the Local Area Network (LAN) connection.  Double click on it then click the Properties button.

Select Internet Protocol and click Properties. 
(Do not click the check mark box).

 

  

Assign the static IP address

Select the "Use the following..." option and the assign the required static IP address.

It is also here you should check for incorrect or malware assigned DNS addresses.

Note: Do not use the addresses shown in our example as they are unique to our local network...

 

Windows Vista & 7

Once in the Classic View, open Network and Sharing  Center. 

Look for the Local Area Network (LAN) connection and click the View status link. 

From there, click the Properties button and the Continue prompt.

In the Vista Properties window, select the Internet Protocol Version 4 then click the Properties button.  (Do not click the check mark).  Then follow the same "Assign the static IP address" procedure shown above.

NetBIOS

With either XP or Vista, it may be necessary to install the NetBIOS protocol.  (See Troubleshooting.)

By default, this protocol is not installed. 

To install it, access the network adapter Properties as discussed above.

  1. Click the Install button

  2. Select Protocol then click the Add button

  3. Select NWlink IP/SPX/NetBIOS

  4. OK your way out of each window.

You must then assign using NetBIOS over TCP/IP:

  1. Open the Local Area Connection Properties

  2. Click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties.

  3. Click the Advanced button then click to the WINS tab.

  4. Under NetBIOS setting, click Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP

  5. OK your way out of each window.

 

Workgroup

Before you attempt to share or connect anything, be sure all of the computers are are in the same "workgroup."

Under Windows XP, right click the My Computer icon, select Properties then move to the Computer Name tab.  Click the Change button to modify the workgroup name.

Under Vista (not shown), right click the Computer icon, select Properties then under Computer name, domain and workgroup settings, click the Change settings link.

Sharing

Computer folders and many devices can be shared to the network, e.g., you can share a local folder, you can also share most printers.  Other computers can then connect to that shared item. 

A computer sharing a resource is called the host computer.

So if for example Computer "A" has a folder containing letters you want to access from Computer "B", you must first share the folder from Computer A.

Under Windows XP, locate the folder to share, Right click and from the popup menu, select Sharing... 

Place a check mark in the appropriate sharing option and if desired, change the "Share name" that will be seen by other computers on the network.

Be sure to check the "Allow..." option if you want to edit from other computers.

 

  

XP has an option called "Simple file sharing" which is the recommended mode. 

This setting is accessible from My Documents > Tools menu > Folder Options > View Tab.  If that option is turned on, you need only share a folder as described above.

If that option is off (shown here), you will need to specify the level of sharing, e.g., Read, Change (add/modify) or Full control and for which users.

More in this Microsoft article: How to configure file sharing in Windows XP

Vista is a bit more interesting!  Open the Network and Sharing Center from the Control Panel.

You must turn on Network discovery and File Sharing.  You probably will want to turn off Password protected sharing. 

You should then be able to share and connect, but there may be other settings to change.

More in this Microsoft article: Enable file and printer sharing in Vista

But perhaps easier, turn on Public folder sharing and store all files you wish to share in that folder.

Connecting

A computer connecting to a host computer is called the client.

Windows XP

There are many ways to connect to a shared item.  The easiest is to "View workgroup computers" from the Start menu's Network Places icon.  If you do not see Network Places under the Start menu, open My Documents and look for it there...

If prompted, double click Microsoft Windows Network

Then double click the workgroup icon

From there you should see the computers on the network.  Double click the computer you wish to connect to and you should then see the items shared by that computer.

If you are unable to view or connect to shared resources, refer to troubleshooting.

When shared folders, printers or devices are viewed from a different computer, they have a distinctive icon that shows a connecting pipe. 

We have seen networks where connected items are (re)shared.  If the item of interest has this pipe looking icon, do not share it.   That is not proper and will affect network performance...  

Share ONLY those items physically connected to a computer, so if there is a pipe under the icon, do not try and share it...

URL

Viewing or using a shared resource typically uses a URL.  For example, if the computer name is "Mary" and she has a shared folder named "data" the URL to that resource is \\Mary\Data. 

When the network is working properly, you can simply type the URL in any Windows address bar to access that resource.

Sometimes accessing shared resources using a named URL (\\Mary\Data) does not work.  But on those same networks, accessing the resource using a static IP address in the URL does.  E.g. \\192.168.0.1\data

This could be a result of not having the NetBIOS protocol turn on or perhaps a firewall issue.

Drive Mapping

Drive mapping is still required by some software applications even though it is an antiquated way of networking. 

First you should know:  Various drives in a computer are assigned a drive letter, e.g., the floppy drive is A:, the main hard drive is C:, the CD Rom drives are typically D:, E:, other drives such as card readers are the next sequential letter after the last CD.

Mapping forces the computer to use a drive letter instead of a URL.  So in our \\Mary\Data example, we could map that shared resource to drive letter Z:

To do so open the (My) Documents folder and from the Tools menu select Map Network Drive. 

Select the drive letter desired and in the Folder option, type the shared resource, e.g., \\Mary\Data or click the browse button and locate the desired resource.

The mapped drives appear under the clients My Computer icon just as the hard drive C:, CD drive D, etc...

Note for Vista users:  To see the Menu bar, open the Documents folder and from the Organize button, select Layout then turn on the Menu bar. 

Too many mapped drives or mapped drives where the shared resource no longer exists will have an adverse affect on the computer's performance!

Switches and Routers

Local Area Networks require a switch (formerly called a hub) to direct network traffic between all of the devices. 

If the Local Area Network connects to a wide-area network it  requires a router.  Routers generally have multiple ports (connections) and can also serve as a switch. 

NOTE: Most routers have a firewall, which is a necessary security item these days.  Even though you could connect a single computer directly to the provider's DSL/Cable modem, we highly recommend installing a firewall/router.

Routers typically are DHCP servers that can automatically assign addresses to each computer or device connected to it.  When a router is set to automatically assign a dynamic address, it does so on a first come - first serve basis, so if "Computer A" boots before "Computer B", it is assigned a lower address.

Here is an example setting from one of our routers.  In this case the router itself is assigned an IP address of 192.168.0.100.

Each device connected will then be assigned a unique ending address, e.g., 101, 102, etc. making those IP addresses 192.168.0.101, 192.168.0.102, etc.

In this example, the DHCP server hands out IP addresses to various devices starting at address 101 but not to exceed 180.  So here, our router could assign up to 79 addresses...

In the above example, we could then manually assign computers and devices unique static addresses below 100 and/or above 180.

As mentioned, the router to ISP connection could be dynamic or static, depending on your provider and service. 

Routers generally are preset to obtain a dynamic address from the ISP and even those most come with a setup CD, typically you can plug them in and start using them.

However, if you have a static address you will need to manually configure the router.  Each manufacturer has a different interface, but most are similar.  Generally you logon to the router using the Internet browser.

Once logged on, you will need to supply the static address as assigned by the ISP.

In addition, you should set the the DNS server addresses. 

If you are unsure what DNS settings to use or you are having intermittent page not found problems on the Internet, contact your ISP and obtain the proper DNS addresses...

Troubleshooting

Internet issues:

Assuming the computer is virus free...

If you have odd/erratic problems with the Internet, e.g., you experience page not found errors, or you attempt to access one site but you get redirected to another, you may have incorrect DNS settings.  See DNS and checking for malware assigned DNS addresses.

General Network issues:

If you cannot see any shared resources, you may have a firewall blocking.  This problem could be at either the host or client machine so check both.

Try turning off the firewall(s) and if you can then see the shared resources, it will be necessary to modify the firewall(s).  By default, most firewalls will block Windows file sharing.

There are simply too many firewalls to address so here is an example of Norton's Internet Security "Rules" setting that could block your attempts to network.

Remove or disable the NetBIOS and Windows File Sharing rules...

Also look for and approve network adapter and (other) networked computers.  Example settings from Symantec.