I'm taking my laptop home for christmas, and i jsut wondered what i would need to do / buy to connect my laptop so its networked with my home computer, or at least so i cant get onto broadband...

any help would be fab, thanks love katie xx

 

if the computers are new ish then they prob. both have network cards, then you just need an RJ45 network cable (£5).
but you might not even need that depending on the setup!

worst case scenario - 2 network cards + a cable (£10)

 

Just connect it up and set the internet settings to auto, it should pick up an IP address from the router and access the net. To talk to other computers you'll need to setup windows networking and make sure to set the same workgroup name.

 

If you are running through a router then that may need to be configured. They usually come with step by step instructions. I run a wireless connection for my PC and laptop that share the same line via the router.

What Operating System are you running as someone else mentioned above?

If you are taking the laptop home, does that mean it is kept and networked elsewhere? If so check you have the permissions to add it either to a network or the internet. If it is a uni loaned one, they may not let you.

 

hey thanks for the advise.... its my own laptop, ive got it networked at uni, basically i just want to be able to use the internet at home, would be cool if i could access my files from my home comp but not the end of the world... i ahve broadband at home but my laptop isnt wireless, so do i need to buy another of those boxes that come with broadband?? it wont be plugged into the same point?

its a brand new laptop, a dell 1150 or something... so it has a network card etc.... its networked to my uni network but i jsut wanted to be able to use it at home too....

thanks hope im making sense! katie xx

 

Katie, I would set up a new user. Like I dunno Home or some thing. THis way you wont delete the network settings for your Uni account and piss of your IT man.
In your new account as above run the network wizard I assume its XP and follow the on screen instructions.
Id say your broadband has a modem. Is this is the case you need to run the networking wizard on the main PC also and state that other pcs connect through this main machine - Following so far.
Before you do any of this if you are a little worried use the system restore program and create a restore point. Then if all goes horribly wrong you can revert back to settings which are good.
If you have a modem router for your BB then fantastic you should find most have a onboard hub and its just a case of plugging in a network patch lead.
Hope this helps in some way.