How to connect two computers using LAN cable and start networking

Why do we need LAN?
At home, we can connect PC's so that we can

• Share movies 
• Share internet
• Share printer
• Play multiplayer games
• And many other uses

What do we need to start networking at home?

Two computers with network interface cards and a LAN cable is all you need.

Setting up network:

You need:

1. Physical Connection
2. Logical Connection

Physical Connection: It involves connecting two PC's using LAN cable.

Logical Connection: It involves setting up the IP addresses and subnet masks on both the machines.

Setting up IP and Subnet:

Step 1:
Type "ncpa.cpl" on Run and press enter

Step 2:

Select the LAN connection ("Local Area Connection") and Press "Enter".

Step 3:

Select "Internet Protocol Version 4(TCP/IPv4)" and click "Properties".

Then choose "Use the following IP address"

Now Assign IP address and Subnet Mask and press "OK"

NOTE:

The IP address should be unique in a network. i.e it should be different for both the machines in this case.

The subnet should be same for the machines only then it will be in the same network.

Here subnet mask is 255.255.0.0 i.e 11111111.11111111.00000000.00000000.

For both the machines to be in same network, IP addresses of both of them should have the same bit for all the bit positions in subnet mask which has '1'.

That is if i give 192.168.0.1 for one machine, then the other machine to be on same network should have the IP address as 192.168.x.x (because we are having 255.255.0.0 as the subnet mask i.e first two octets as '1').

On the other machine, give IP as 192.168.0.2 and subnet mask as 255.255.0.0

Now that we have setup both physical and logical connection, we can start sharing files, printers or start network gaming.

We can verify that connection is established by pinging each other.