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Networking XP computers with just a switch

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Perryg114

Senior member
Is it possible to network several computers with just a switch? Do I just need to fix the IP address on all the computers so that none of them are the same or do I really need a router to make things work? I am wanting to network some lab computers together to share data and maybe a printer.

Perry
 
Unless you have some kind of DHCP server, just set a static IP and set the subnet mask. You can leave gateway, DNS, and the rest blank.

Router is only needed if they need to get to another subnet.
 
So anything that uses a subnet mask of say 255.255.255.0 would be networkable on a small LAN. Most home or small business oriented devices are by default on 255.255.255.0 anyway if I have my facts straight? The actual IP address can be anything that has a subnet of 255.255.255.0 ?

Perry
 
The subnet mask just determines the number of hosts valid on that subnet. A mask of 255.255.255.0 (or /24) means that you can have 254 hosts with x.x.x.1-254 being usable for normal hosts while .0 is the network number and .255 is the broadcast address. You adjust the subnet mask to increase or decrease the number of valid hosts.
 
Perryg114 said:
So anything that uses a subnet mask of say 255.255.255.0 would be networkable on a small LAN. Most home or small business oriented devices are by default on 255.255.255.0 anyway if I have my facts straight? The actual IP address can be anything that has a subnet of 255.255.255.0 ?
Click to expand...
It's the combination of IP address and subnet mask that determines whether two PCs are on the same subnet.

192.168.1.100/255.255.255.0 is NOT on the same subnet as 192.168.2.101/255.255.255.0 , for instance. IP addresses from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.254 are on the same subnet.
 
Although if you have one of those home broadband router devices, you can use it in conjunction with a switch and leave the WAN port free. These generally have built in DHCP server so it would save you the task of setting a static IP on every computer.
 
ecom said:
Although if you have one of those home broadband router devices, you can use it in conjunction with a switch and leave the WAN port free. These generally have built in DHCP server so it would save you the task of setting a static IP on every computer.
Click to expand...

This would be my recommendation as well - if you have no internet any cheapy router will do as all you need is the DHCP server it provides. Alot easier than setting up static IP's on each PC
 
Setting static IP's has its benefits.

It is ever so simple too:

#1 192.168.1.10

#2 192.168.1.15

#3 192.168.1.20

And you can see the pattern, it really is THAT simple. Leave all other fields blank.
 
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