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It is found that one of the most demanded topic for a normal home user is "How to create a local area network (LAN) between two or more computers at home". Having a home network will allow the user to communicate between two computers and hence share/transfer files at a very fast rate. If you have two or more computers at home, then it makes sense to have them on a network. Making a home network is no longer a tedious task once you go through the following tutorial.

Understanding the required hardware and its purpose

1. Cable/DSL Modem:This device decodes or seperates the broadband internet signal from the combined cable/telephone signal.

2. Wireless/Wired Router: This device splits the broadband internet signal from the Cable/DSL modem into multiple connections and hence creates a LAN between multiple computers. Wired routers will connect multiple computers via the ethernet card (using ethernet cable) installed inside the computer. Wireless routers will form a bridge between both wireless and wired computers.

3. Ethernet cables: These cables are used to make wired connection between modem and router, router and computer, router and gaming systems (Example: PS3,XBOX, etc).

4.Computer: Your own home computer.

Recommended Cheap and Best Product:

If you don't have a wireless router at home, then try the TRENDNET - 432 BRP wireless router shown below from amazon. This is one of the basic and dependable wireless routers. You can also alternatively search products from amazon using the amazon search engine shown below.

All the required hardwares should be connected as shown in the picture above. After connecting all the computers on your network on the LAN, you can choose the tutorial based on your operating system (either windows vista or windows xp).

There are three different ways to connect your computers on the LAN.

#1..Using Broadband Router
#2..Using crossover cable
#3..Using Internet.

All the three different methods were explained with respective tutorials on the links provided in the this website under Home Network section. Hope you find them all usefull. If you have any softwares controlling your firewall, then please turn it off before starting the attached tutorial. Once your LAN works without any problem, you can then turn on your firewall. Sometimes you may have to add each computers IP address on the firewall software on each computer to enable comunication between the computers. As an example, a seperate tutorial that explains how to enable communication between two LAN computers using Mcafee firewall is included under the tutorial "Dealing with Firewall Under LAN Connection".