can anyone tell me, how to do computer networking in the small office?

Question

tell me what i should buy and do? i wanna it simple and the network fast. in my office there is about 12 pc. help me please...

Answer 1

It really depends on what you want your network to do.

Im assuming you will want to share a internet connection between all the computers.

Will you be wanting to setup a company email server or be using a third party on the web?

Will you be running a employee Intranet web site?

Hosting a companies web site on your server?

Be needing remote access to computers from other offsite locatiuons? Like from home?

Will you need network based applications, such as SAP or Oracle?


If none of the above is needed and all you want to do is connect the computers together to do simple file and printer sharing and have internet access then all you need to purchase is a router and a few switches. If you want it fast you will want the units that can run up to 1Gb/s. You will also probably want the router to be wireless so customers or other employes that use laptops can access your network.

Router: http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=1&pid=530
Switch (you will need two of these) http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=1&pid=495

Answer 2

For a start, it will not be a cheap job. 12 computers in an office will require you buying 12 wireless PCI network cards. You need a wireless modem/router and all computers to be running Windows XP Professional for ease of use.

Assuming you have all that (because you really don't want 12 different lengths of network cable all over the floor) then you must install each of those network cards. Once that is done, then simply use the Windows XP Network Setup Wizard. Make sure ALL the computers are logged on first so the wizard can find all of them. Follow the instructions on screen as you do this. Make sure you ENABLE File and Printer Sharing on all of them. No need to specifically setup wireless network. Simpler for you to use the above mentioned program and you'll be fine. It really is a simple thing.

Answer 3

Cheap, but with wires - 16 port switch wired to each PCs network card.
Easy, but not so cheap - Wireless switch to wireless network card at each PC.
Use a switch, not just a hub. Switches are relatively cheap and faster in a multi-PC environment.
A DSL or Cable Modem can be plugged into the switch for shared Internet access for all PCs.

Answer 4

You should be looking for companies that sell 12 port or above Routers. Hook this router to the internet cable, or dsl or T1 Modem, then hook the computers to the router. This is about as simple as it gets.

Answer 5

Buy a 16 port switch and one 4 port router. hook the 12 pc's into the 16 port switch, hook the 16 port switch into the router. hook the router to your internet. voila.