Linksys Etherfast 5-Port Switch

... I have that device connected to my two computers. How can I access the harddrive of one computer from the other one? Keep in mind, I have a Linksys router somewhere else whose output is going into this one.. so I can't just do the 192.168.1.1 thing. Thanks.

Still need help on this please.

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Assuming you are using tcp/ip, all devices need to be in the same subnet, in the same workgroup or domain, and the SMB ports need to be open on all the machines. You maqy need to make hosts/lmhosts entries too.

Then it would be also possible to connect to any computer on my main Linxys router, as well as this new 5port device?

All the computers on the same subnet potentially can "see" each other. With windows, you also need to make sure windows networking is correctly configured. The router is just another device on it's own IP address on the subnet, and normally serves as the gateway for your LAN.

A 5-port switch is just a device that will let you add more stuff on your LAN. Typically the switch is fed via a cable on the uplink port from some other lan segment, then other devices plugged in the switch are connected to the lan.

"I have a Linksys router somewhere else whose output is going into this one.. so I can't just do the 192.168.1.1 thing"

What are you talking about? You have multiple routers?

Assuming a single router your phyical setup would look as follows;

adsl/cable modem --> adsl/cable router -->patch cable --> pc's nic

Or ad/ca modem -->patch cable-->router-->5port switch-> pc's nic

If your router has 2-4 ethernet ports you don't need the 5 port switch. The router should be configured to be the dhcp server and your pcs as dhcp clients.

I have a cable modem which links into a linksys router. That router has direct outputs to: a laptop, another laptop, and a linksys ethernet switch. That switch then connects to two seperate computers. Is that more clear? Hopefully it is... I am not good at explaining this stuff.

That topology will work just fine assuming a couple of items. You have dhcp enabled on the router and all pcs are set to be dhcp clients. Test by doing a ipconfig at a prompt. This takes care of the physical connectivity issue.

Next step [and there are lots of how to network faqs out there] is use the same account name and password on every workstation. They are all in the same workgroup. They all have shares enabled with no restrictions.

Now do you see the other pcs and their shares?

IP Address on my main machine: 192.168.1.100
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1

I don't want to do same accounts/passwords.. you have to?