Windows 8 Bible

Setting Up a Wired Network

With a wired network, your first step after setting up the hardware and connecting the PCs to the hub (or gateway device that contains the hub) will usually be to get online from one computer. You’ll need to refer to instructions that came with your router, as well as your ISP’s instructions, to do that. In a typical scenario, however, you configure the router or gateway to automatically assign an IP address, default gateway address, and DNS addresses to your computers. Then, you configure your devices for automatic address assignment. The computers should then receive their addresses (generally no need to reboot them) and have access to the network and the Internet.

Tip

While the computers on the network should have access to the Internet at this point, they won’t necessarily have access to one another’s resources such as files and printers. Instead, you need to configure sharing. See Chapter 50, “Sharing Resources on a Network,” to learn how to set up your computers to share resources.

After connecting and configuring your PCs, Windows attempts to find the network for you. To see where you stand, follow these steps:

1. Open Control Panel.

2. If Control Panel opens in Category view, click the Network and Internet icon.

3. Open the View Network Status And Tasks link below Network And Sharing Center.

As shown in Figure 49.3, the system is connected to a local network and to the Internet.

FIGURE 49.3 A computer connected to the network and ...