Thread: Networking Questions

  1. #1
    Quietly Lurking
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Posts
    208

    Networking Questions

    First off I will start by saying that networking is the one computer topic I never really learned about, not sure why just never did.

    Here is my situation, I basicly have a single thick cable that provides my house with phone, cable, digital conectionfor my alarm system, and most importantly my 100 mb/s internet connection. when the cable enters my house in the basement it is split and cable tv is sent to the cable jacks, phone to phone jacks, etc. The 'net connection is fed into what is an off the shelf netgear switch (FS 108) which then connects to all the network jacks in my house. This is a nice system because In theory all of my computers are networked together without having to do any of my own wiring (read wire hanging out windows or running across the hall). The problem is that the network traffic looks like internet traffic to zone alarm thus the computers can't be networked with zone alarm on. My question is what would be the best / easiest / cheapest way to allow the computers to be networked without having to rely on the windows built in firewall (shudder).

  2. #2
    pronounced 'fib' FillYourBrain's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Posts
    2,297
    I'm no networking expert myself but I do mine a bit differently. I have a single machine that is my server. It has two nics, one for internet, one for internal network. It essentially does the job of a router with DHCP etc. It would seem that with your setup there is no firewall between your network and the internet which is why zone alarm does this. I say, either do what I did or buy a router that has a firewall built in. My way is cheaper as hubs are very inexpensive.
    "You are stupid! You are stupid! Oh, and don't forget, you are STUPID!" - Dexter

  3. #3
    pronounced 'fib' FillYourBrain's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Posts
    2,297
    actually, if you already have a switch, you don't need a hub. use the switch internally.
    "You are stupid! You are stupid! Oh, and don't forget, you are STUPID!" - Dexter

  4. #4
    The Earth is not flat. Clyde's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Posts
    1,403
    Could he not buy a cheap single socket router with a firewall and then connect that to his switch?

  5. #5
    Redundantly Redundant RoD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    6,331
    What version of ZA? Did u try the "setup ZA for home network" option?

  6. #6
    pronounced 'fib' FillYourBrain's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Posts
    2,297
    Originally posted by Clyde
    Could he not buy a cheap single socket router with a firewall and then connect that to his switch?
    I imagine so. I don't know how much that would cost him though. If he were to do it the way I did, he wouldn't have to buy anything except maybe another network card. I think he's looking for something cheap.
    "You are stupid! You are stupid! Oh, and don't forget, you are STUPID!" - Dexter

  7. #7
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Vancouver
    Posts
    2,212

    Re: Networking Questions

    Originally posted by Dalren
    , I basicly have a single thick cable that provides my house with phone, cable, digital conectionfor my alarm system, and most importantly my 100 mb/s internet connection.
    HUH? Is that a typo?

  8. #8
    pronounced 'fib' FillYourBrain's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2002
    Posts
    2,297
    I was guessing its an apartment complex with a LAN. So I just took his word as gospel.

    edit:
    that would be 100 mb/s LAN with an internet connection that is slower no doubt. I've seen dorms that have these type of set ups.
    Last edited by FillYourBrain; 07-24-2003 at 11:30 AM.
    "You are stupid! You are stupid! Oh, and don't forget, you are STUPID!" - Dexter

  9. #9
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Posts
    9,607
    Not sure what you are after, but maybe a router would help. The cable modem (I'm assuming you have a cable connection to the net - I'm somewhat confused by your post) plugs into the WAN port and the computers plug into the other ports. This way each computer can use the cable modem as long as the router is on. Problem here is that each computer must have a 10/100 network card (I recommend LinkSys) in it with RJ45 cable connecting the card to the router.

    The really good part is that the router already has a firewall (again LinkSys router) so there is little need for a firewall on each system. But if you insist on having a redundant firewall, I've used ZoneAlarm with LinkSys routers and they do not conflict. Each computer will be assigned its own IP and the router will have one as well - which is the gateway to the net.

    As well each computer is hidden behind the router's IP, so you can't even as much as play a game over the net w/o specifically opening ports on the router, forwarding IPs, or changing the DMZ address.

    Granted the more people that are accessing the NET on the LAN, the slower the access becomes. The only way to avoid this is a far more expensive and extensive setup.

    If you want more information, let me know. I'm an A+ certified technician and work on this stuff quite a bit. Perhaps I could come up with a better solution if you clearly explained exactly what you need and why.
    Last edited by VirtualAce; 07-24-2003 at 11:33 AM.

  10. #10
    Registered User Xei's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Posts
    719
    You can still network the computers, even if you have ZoneAlarm. When using a switch your computers can still send and receive datagrams over the network, which is much faster than a network through a VPN over your internet connection(which it sounds like you are doing). Remember that if you are using WindowsXP then either all computers have to be Windows XP or have a patch installed before the network can be configured properly. You just need to configure ZoneAlarm to allow traffic to connect to your PC. ZoneAlarm also has security presets, and one of them should allow you to set up your network properly.

    Remember: When networking you DO NOT use the computers internet-IP's, you use reserved IP's or the computer names.
    Last edited by Xei; 07-24-2003 at 11:36 AM.
    "What are you after - the vague post of the week award?" - Salem
    IPv6 Ready.
    Travel the world, meet interesting people...kill them.
    Trying to fix or change something, only guaruntees and perpetuates its existence.
    I don't know about angels, but it is fear that gives men wings.
    The problem with wanting something is the fear of losing it, or never having it. The thought makes you weak.

    E-Mail Xei

  11. #11
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Posts
    9,607
    Remember that if you are using WindowsXP then either all computers have to be Windows XP or have a patch installed before the network can be configured properly
    You simply need to run the network wizard on each non-XP computer to set-up the network. Setup the network first on XP and follow the on-screen directions for the rest. Note that the network tables do not update very quick so clicking on My Network Connections may show faulty information.

    To really test whether or not the LAN is setup, access each computer by Start->Run and typing:

    \\<computer_name or IP>

    and hitting enter.

    Also you can Start->Run: cmd

    ipconfig /all

    which will show all IP information, including the router

    tracert <desired IP or name>

    which will show a trace from your IP to the desired IP.

    If the net still does not work then you can do this:

    ipconfig /release - releases all IPs
    ipconfig /renew - attempts to renew all IPs

    All of these 'DOS-like' commands should be run in full-screen mode or you will not see the results of ipconfig. Windows XP will close the window after ipconfig executes which will not allow you to see the info.

    Windows 98SE and Windows XP will network together with no problems. I've not tried this on Windows 95 yet.
    Last edited by VirtualAce; 07-24-2003 at 11:50 AM.

  12. #12
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    385
    Originally posted by Xei
    ..snip.. Remember that if you are using WindowsXP then either all computers have to be Windows XP or have a patch installed before the network can be configured properly. ..snip..
    Umm, that couldn't be more wrong...... I've had PCs with XP setup in a Novell, NT, and Linux environment and it worked like a charm. Please explain.
    Wandering aimlessly through C.....

    http://dbrink.phpwebhosting.com

  13. #13
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    385
    Dalren, could you please explain what type of internet connection you have? Is it cable, DSL, through a complex? That will help us help you.

    Here's my setup.

    Code:
    INTERNET->Cable modem->Cable router w/ built in switch->PC1
                                                           |
                                                           ->PC2
    The cable router acts as NAT so that my PCs can access the Internet at the same.
    Wandering aimlessly through C.....

    http://dbrink.phpwebhosting.com

  14. #14
    Registered User Xei's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Posts
    719
    Originally posted by damonbrinkley
    Umm, that couldn't be more wrong...... I've had PCs with XP setup in a Novell, NT, and Linux environment and it worked like a charm. Please explain.
    Last time I set up a network where a Windows XP machine would act as a proxy for the others (all Win98 machines) so they could all have access to the internet, Windows XP prompted me to create a Diskette which would need to be installed on each machine before they would be able to interact with Windows XP. I'm guessing that they required the updates because XP uses a different NetBIOS than 9x machines. This is likely only specific to 9x machines, as there are many different ways of creating a network. I believe MSDN has this documented.

    Here is a link:
    http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro...asp?frame=true
    Last edited by Xei; 07-24-2003 at 12:14 PM.
    "What are you after - the vague post of the week award?" - Salem
    IPv6 Ready.
    Travel the world, meet interesting people...kill them.
    Trying to fix or change something, only guaruntees and perpetuates its existence.
    I don't know about angels, but it is fear that gives men wings.
    The problem with wanting something is the fear of losing it, or never having it. The thought makes you weak.

    E-Mail Xei

  15. #15
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    385
    Originally posted by Xei
    Last time I set up a network where a Windows XP machine would act as a proxy for the others (all Win98 machines) so they could all have access to the internet, Windows XP prompted me to create a Diskette which would need to be installed on each machine before they would be able to interact with Windows XP. I'm guessing that they required the updates because XP uses a different NetBIOS than 9x machines. This is likely only specific to 9x machines, as there are many different ways of creating a network. I believe MSDN has this documented.
    You're talking about two completely different things. You're talking about setting up XP with ICS (internet connection sharing) for internal LAN PCs so they can access the Internet. That's is networking but that's not the end-all be-all of networking. Networking is just hooking up two PCs and having them communicate with each other. You can do that right out of the box with XP, Linux, 9x, etc. The diskette you created I believe was just used to set the TCP/IP settings to DHCP and use the XP machine as a gateway. I don't believe it had anything to do with updating the PCs. Your internet connection has absolutely nothing to do with Netbios either, it's all TCP/IP.
    Last edited by damonbrinkley; 07-24-2003 at 12:16 PM.
    Wandering aimlessly through C.....

    http://dbrink.phpwebhosting.com

Popular pages Recent additions subscribe to a feed

Similar Threads

  1. A very long list of questions... maybe to long...
    By Ravens'sWrath in forum C Programming
    Replies: 16
    Last Post: 05-16-2007, 05:36 AM
  2. Trivial questions - what to do?
    By Aerie in forum A Brief History of Cprogramming.com
    Replies: 23
    Last Post: 12-26-2004, 09:44 AM
  3. Pair of networking questions
    By Javariel in forum Windows Programming
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 07-31-2002, 08:26 PM
  4. Beyond MFC : COM || Networking
    By kuphryn in forum Windows Programming
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 04-25-2002, 04:28 PM
  5. C++: Reference Book, GUI, Networking & Beyond
    By kuphryn in forum C++ Programming
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 11-10-2001, 08:03 PM