Windows 8 In Depth

Configuring the TCP/IP Protocol

After your network adapters are all installed—and, if you’re using a wired network, cabled together—you need to ensure that each computer is assigned an IP address. This is a number that uniquely identifies each computer on the network. These numbers are assigned in one of the following ways:

• If you have an Internet-sharing router, or if one of your computers shares its Internet connection using Windows Internet Connection Sharing, or if you are on a corporate LAN running Windows Server, each computer will be assigned an IP address automatically—they’re doled out by the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) service that runs on the router or in the sharing computer. This is why I recommend using a router ...