confused

[Guest]

my name is charles and i have a nt4 server and a win98 client. i have installed the nic's and connected the cable. i have gone through and thought the nic's and everything were set up correctly but the 2 systems can't talk? does anyone have any advice on getting these 2 to say hi? maybe where to look or what to do? thanks for your time.

 

[Guest]

Are you using a hub?

What protocals are installed...

 

[Guest]

It depends on how you are connecting your computers together. I am assuming you are using an RJ-45 cable (similar to a telephone cable).

If you are connecting the computers directly together, without using a hub(both ends of the cable are connected to different computers) you will need a special type of cable. I don't know the exact name of the cable but I'm sure if you tell the salesmen helping you that you need an RJ-45 "Null modem" style cable he'll know what you mean.

Explanation of whats happening ...

Your cable has x amount of wires. One of those wires is used to send data and one is used to receive data.

computer A ..............................Computer B

Rec. ----------- ------------------- Rec.
.....................\../
......................\/
....................../\
...................../..\
Send ----------- ------------------- Send

when the signal goes through a hub it croses the send and receive wires internally. This in effect allows Computer A to send data on the send wire, the hub transferes the data from the send wire on Computer A to the receive wire on Computer B allowing it to read the data.
When you connect 2 computers together without a hub you get the following

Computer A................................Computer B

Rec ------------------------------------- Rec
Send ------------------------------------- Send

Computer A is sending data on the send wire and computer B is receiving data on the send wire. It is not able to receive data on the send wire therefore no connection.

A null modem cable attaches the send wire on one side of the cable to the receive wire on the other end, accomplishing what the hub does.


If you are using a hub and you are using TCP/IP transport protocol make sure thet you have the proper config. Make sure that both computers are using the same subnet mask.

If you use NetBeui you should not have a problem connecting the 2 computers together (no config. needed), but you will need TCP\IP if you plan to access the internet.

If you need to buy a null modem cable compare it to the price of a hub. For the small price difference you are better off buying the hub. With a hub you can always connect more computers if needed.

I hope this helped
Ron

 

[Guest]

called a crossover cat5 cable