How to Connect 2 Computers with an Ethernet Crossover Cable

Connecting computers together so that they can share files, printers or an Internet connection is easy and cheap with an Ethernet crossover cable. This is a fairly common situation when you have more than one computer in the home,

Step 1 - Understanding Ethernet Crossover Cable

An Ethernet crossover cable is just like a standard category-5 cable, but while a standard cat-5 cable usually connects a computer to a hub router, the crossover cable's sending and receiving pins are literally crossed over to allow for direct connection between two computers. This kind of cable is best as a quick fix for connecting two computers together, but in order to connect three or more computers together in a network it would be best to buy a hub router and some standard cat-5 cables.

Step 2 - Install the network adapters

If your computers do not come with motherboards which have integrated network adapters and RJ-45 sockets on the back panel, then you will need to install a network adapter. If you connect to the internet using a cat-5 cable, and have no spare RJ-45 sockets for the crossover cable, then you will need to install a second network adapter.

You can get internal network cards which are circuit-boards that plug into the PCI slots on your motherboard inside your computer, or you can get an external network adapter which you can simply plug into one of the USB sockets. The hardware will come packaged with driver software that you will need to install for it to work, so after plugging in the network adapter boot up the computer and install the drivers. Windows will usually prompt you to do this anyway.

Step 3 - Connect the computers together

Take your Ethernet crossover cable and plug it into the RJ-45 sockets which should be located in the back panel of each computer. Both ends are the same so it doesn't matter which way the cable goes. Also, make sure that your internet connection is plugged into one of the computers, and remember that the other computer won't be able to connect to the internet if the internet gateway computer is turned off.

Step 4 - Create a network

Now that your computers are connected to each other, you need to get them to talk to each other via a local area network. Windows will detect the network connection and has a wizard function that will automatically set up a network for you, along with any internet sharing you may want to do.

Step 5 - Share files and printers

The exact procedure for sharing resources such as folders, hard drives and printers varies with different versions of windows, but usually the sharing options can be found by right clicking the icon or in the item's properties panel. To share a printer you will have to go to Control Panel > Printers to find the sharing options, then once it is enabled for sharing you will have to run the Add Printer wizard on the other computer to be able to use it.