[catfan]

Today i will show you how to make a network with cat 5 cable.

You need:

• 3x cat 5 cable with ethernet plug
  
• 1x switch
  
• 1x bad/old pc
  
• 2x new/shiny pc
  
• 3x network card or onboard lan (100mbit)
  

Step 1:
You put 1 network card in all pc or do nothing if it have onboard lan already.

Step 2:
Install linux on the bad/old pc. Any linux is ok i think but dont install gui. It just waste resource.

Step 3:
Take 1 cat 5 cable and connect the bad/old pc to uplink on your switch.

Step 4:
Take other 2 cat 5 cables and connect shiny pcs to normal switch port.

Step 5:
Boot bad pc and issue this command in root terminal:

Code: (Select All)

echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward

Step 6:
Your network is very dumb so you must configure IP address of all pc now. For bad pc issue this command in root terminal (if you ignored advice to use onboard lan and still put extra network it maybe is different device so you must use eth1 or look at ifconfig output to see which has cable connected):

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ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.0

For good pcs it depend on your OS but be sure you choose 192.168.0.x but not with x as used by other pc in your network and put 192.168.0.1 for gateway.

Step 7:
You are done and your network is ready.

Advanced (maybe for next tutorial):

• Make startup scripts and firewall
  
• Setup up internet and nat on your bad pc (router!)
  
• Give your network dns and dhcp (make it is less dumb) so you can have hostnames and not need to give ip by hand anymore
  
• Use nicer ips. rfc1918 is boring... better to have secret service network!!
  

[Unixfy]

Did you name this Cat5 because you like cats? Instead of naming it "How to create a network"?

I really like your guide. Very in-depth tutorial.

However, I disagree with some things you said:

Today i will show you how to make a network with cat 5 cable.

You need:

2x new/shiny pc

Most people don't have that money. One is enough in this setup.

Today i will show you how to make a network with cat 5 cable.



Step 2:
Install linux on the bad/old pc. Any linux is ok i think but dont install gui. It just waste resource.

For newbies, a GUI is a really helpful tool to have. Especially when it's on a computer, and not a server. Even if you have a low end one (like an XP box) you could still run elementaryOS (a Ubuntu flavor) with a full GUI.

Also, when you said switch, I think you meant router. Not many homes have actual network switches.

[catfan]

Thanks you for liking my little guide I name it cat 5 because we also could use cat 6 or even wifi to make a network (and maybe because i like cats...) so i think it is good name

You are right one good pc would be enough to have basic network. It is for example purpose i use 2 because with 1 only we also could just connect bad and good pc direct with crosswire cat 5 cable with no switch and not enable forward. The reason for switch (it is very cheap) is that with more advanced configuration bad pc can replace this router and add many interesting functionality. Also building your own is fun and i plan continue this in the future so it can be more interesting

About gui: It is true that even very bad pc can use it and it maybe easier for some people but think if you use like raspberry pi (silent and good for electrity bill!) instead of bad pc. There you would not want to waste any resource i think but that is more advanced and i want to make it easy. Also there is not even ssh server on bad pc now so not the time to pull screen and keyboard yet. Maybe there gui can be good still.

[Unixfy]

Thanks you for liking my little guide I name it cat 5 because we also could use cat 6 or even wifi to make a network (and maybe because i like cats...) so i think it is good name

You are right one good pc would be enough to have basic network. It is for example purpose i use 2 because with 1 only we also could just connect bad and good pc direct with crosswire cat 5 cable with no switch and not enable forward. The reason for switch (it is very cheap) is that with more advanced configuration bad pc can replace this router and add many interesting functionality. Also building your own is fun and i plan continue this in the future so it can be more interesting

About gui: It is true that even very bad pc can use it and it maybe easier for some people but think if you use like raspberry pi (silent and good for electrity bill!) instead of bad pc. There you would not want to waste any resource i think but that is more advanced and i want to make it easy. Also there is not even ssh server on bad pc now so not the time to pull screen and keyboard yet. Maybe there gui can be good still.

Ah, I get it. I do the same thing with a server instead of a router. The server came bundled with a buch of D-Link goodies.