OK, now it’s time to actually start doing some networking. Setting up an Ethernet network is usually very easy. The hard part usually comes in running the cables. If you are networking PCs that are in different rooms, then you have the joy associated with running wires through your attic, walls, etc. I’m not going to go into how to tear holes in your wall, but I will show you how to do the actual network setup. The good part is that most Ethernet networks are plug-and-play.

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Cable Preparation

As stated, running the cable for your Ethernet LAN may involve routing cables into your walls and attic. And as promised, I don’t intend to show you how to work with drywall or run cabling. However, there are a few guidelines you can keep in mind when planning the network:

• Think ahead of time of which rooms you are going to want network cabling in
• Think about whether you can somehow run the cable between the computers or if you are going to want to install actual network jacks in your walls (like a phone outlet)
• Choose a central location for your router/switch. Regardless of where the cabling goes in your home, all cables will need to route back to the router. So, your router needs to be situated in a place where all cables can easily get to it, minimizing the amount of cabling required as much as possible. Also bear in mind that the router will require an electrical outlet. In your case, you might want to spend the money on extra cabling so that you can hide the router in an inconspicuous location such as a closet, garage, basement, etc. By placing the router in some unseen area, you can also minimize the amount of cable clutter visible around your computers.

Most stores which sell networking supplies sell network cables in lengths up to 100 feet or so. If these lengths will work for you, this is really convenient because the connectors are already on the cable. If you intend, though, to run Ethernet cabling through the whole home, you might need to purchase Ethernet cabling in bulk. If you do, you will most likely need to attach the connectors yourself.

If you need to prepare your own network cabling, there are a few tools you will need:

• Cable stapler. Useful for stapling network cabling to your wall baseboards. A standard staple gun does not use the right size staples and can damage the cable.
• Cable Crimper. Used to attach the RJ-45 connector to the network cable. The RJ-45 connector looks just like the connector on a phone cord, although bigger.

Using a cable crimper is fairly easy, but you might want to get a little practice with it on some spare cable before trying to do the real thing. The general procedure is as follows:

1. Cut the cabling to the length you will need.
2. Use a cable stripper or a knife to shave about 1” of the outer insulation from the cable. Be careful not to damage the underlying cable.
3. There will be several wires inside the cable, orange/white, orange, green/white, blue, blue/white, green, brown/white, and brown. Separate these wires from each other.
4. Use a wire cutter to trim each wire so that it is about 5/8” from the end of the insulating sleeve on the cable.
5. Place the connector over the wire and insert the wires into the connector. The order of the colored wires is exactly as listed in above, from left to right.
6. Insert the connector into the crimping tool and squeeze the handle.

If you don’t want loose cabling, you can use wall jacks instead. This is good to having presentable connectors in each room of your home. The wall outlets will look just like phone jacks, only with bigger holes. When using a wall jack, you will not need a crimping tool unless you need to crimp connectors at the switch-end of the cable. Connecting a cable to the back of a wall-jack is easier.

1. At the computer end of the Ethernet cable, cut off the connector if there is one already attached.
2. Separate the wires inside the cable just as above.
3. Connect each wire into the appropriate connector on the back of the wall plate. The connectors are usually numbered and color-coded. Simply separate the wires, plug each wire into the right hole, and then close the connection. You do not need to strip the insulation from the wire first because the connectors usually have small blades which will pierce the cable and make connection with the copper wire.
4. Mount the wall jack.
5. Use a shorter Ethernet cable to plug your computer into the wall jack.

If you want to place more than one computer into a single room, bear in mind that you do not need to run two cables to that room from the central router. All you would need to do is run one cable then put a switch into that room to provide extra ports.

Lastly, if running cables throughout your home or office, it would be a good idea to label each cable in some way so that you can tell which room that cable goes to. With long cabling going throughout the home, it will be quite a bit of trouble to trace down which cable goes to which room if they are not labeled.

Setting Up Your Switch

Routers and switches are essentially completely plug-and-play. So, in most cases, setting up your switch is as simple as plugging in the power cord and plugging in all your computers to it using CAT5 cabling.

When installing a router/switch, many times you can simply place the unit on a flat surface and be done with it. However, in some instances, you may want to mount the unit on a wall. Most of them come with some hardware for mounting on the wall. Often when plugging in a bunch of network cables, the weight of the cables will cause the router/switch to lean backwards or even fall off the surface it is sitting on. Wall mounting can get around this issue if it is a problem.

Most switches will have a port on the back called an “Uplink” port. This is for connecting other switches to it. If you wish to use a second switch on the network, you would plug that switch into the Uplink port on the first switch. Some switches have a dedicated Uplink port. Others will use the highest-numbered port as the Uplink port, along with a small switch to select whether that port is operating as an Uplink or a normal port for another computer.

The port labeled “WAN” or “Internet” is reserved for internet connectivity from your cable modem or DSL modem, where it’s CAT-5 cable goes directly from the modem to the “WAN” or “Internet” labeled port.

Above: Example of WAN port and computer ports

Setting Up Your Network Adapters

Above I discussed the different styles of network adapters. Assuming you have already installed the adapter, you now need to set up your computer to use it. Windows XP and some other operating systems will automatically detect the Ethernet device and automatically set it up. No additional drivers are required. If your operating system does not do this, however, you will need to use the floppy or CD-ROM that came with the device to install drivers to your computer.

When you are done, open up the Network Connections dialog in your Control Panel. You will see a list of all available methods for your computer to connect to a network. Active connections will be blue, inactive connections will be grayed out. If the connection is active but disconnected, you will see a red X over it. When the cables are plugged in properly to your Ethernet connection and the power is turned on, you should not see a red X on the “Local Area Connection”. If you do, you may have a wiring problem. To isolate whether it is a wiring issue, try another cable and see if the X goes away. If it does, then you know it is an issue with the original cable. Otherwise, look at your router. If the activity light is not blinking, you may have a software or driver issue.

Checking for a “live” connection

All NIC’s have a green or amber light that will indicate whether or not connectivity is present. If the light is on, connectivity exists. If it is off, connectivity does not exist.

On the router, when a computer has successfully connected, a light will appear next to the port it’s connected to. For example, the first computer is plugged into port 1. Port 1 on the router should be on to indicate a successful connection. Note: A computer’s NIC will not connect to a router unless it is physically turned on.

If for any reason the status light is off on the NIC, check to make sure the CAT-5 cable is connected properly.

If for any reason the status light is off on the hub or router, check the make sure the CAT-5 cable is connected properly, and that the router is turned on.

Above: Example of WAN and port 1 with successful connection. Ports 2 and 3 not in use.

Summary

This is basically all you need to know to do the actual physical setup of an Ethernet LAN. There is more to do to set up file sharing and other things, and this will be covered later.

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