Help please, I'm a LAN noob!

Hi guys! I am trying to LAN a HOMM 1 game on two home computers. I have a router with about 5 ports for LAN cables, so I have done this:

"Plug the other ends of the two Ethernet cables into the back of the router. Turn each of the computers on and their operating systems will automatically recognize that they are on a network. You can now play games between the two computers over the LAN that you have set up"

This makes it look so easy.. http://www.ehow.com/how_6216147_connect-computers-playing-games-lan.html#ixzz2Q3dyHb1N


Firstly, I'm struggling to get the PCs to recognize the home network system, and secondly, I don't know if I should choose
"network" or Hot seat" in the game itself. I'm presuming it won't be direct connect or "modem"... can anyone help out please?

Btw, the connection now allows both PC's to browse the internet, but if I try to make the PC switch to "Home Network" via the Control Pnanel network settings, it simply refuses to, and says: This PC cannot connect to a home network. I have actually set up a home network connecting to my laptop via wi fi from the same router in the past, so I don't what the problem suddenly is now... or are the wi fi settings something completely else?

Oh, sorry, and I'm on Win. 7.

It may be blocking you from changing to "Home Network" if you're not logged in from an account with Administrator privileges. Otherwise it should let you change. There's a big long thread ***at Microsoft forums*** from someone who seems to be having the same problem.

This is how it's supposed to work
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-change-a-network-type-in-windows-7.html

Moondancer, are all the computers you're trying to connect in the Home Network Windows 7?

If you're running AV it may be blocking the connection, other than that have you populated the Home Network password? Did you establish a Home Network under Widows 7?

Hi guys, thanks.. yes, I managed to get us both on a Windows 7 home network, and established somewhere along the way that my firewall is blocking the game... so, will try again and will let you know.

Thanks for your help so far!

Ok, no, I was wrong.. I was only "joined" to the Home Group on one of the PC's. Every time we join the homegroup from the other PC, (both have Win 7),then that other PC freezes. (Call the one that freezes PCX and my PC PCA.)

I've been thinking of trying to host a game, (we have now moved on to HOMM 3 - I suppose we could try any of the first 5 HOMMs)on the internet, since both PC's can connect simultaneously to the internet.

Does anyone know if there is free hosting software out there that I can download for this purpose?

Thank you for all your help--it was Steam that was causing the one PC to reject the connection.

Once we exited Steam with the LAN connection out, we were fine. I never noticed that the one PC automatically opens Steam when it inializes, but that's how you learn, I guess.

Thanks for letting us know the solution.
I would not have guessed that Steam was the culprit.

That's good to know...

So was it that Steam didn't want a second game server connected at the same time it was running on that one computer, or was it a router port conflict? Just a bandwidth problem?

The reason I'm asking is that sometimes I have Steam running while my DH runs another online game program on his computer. Both are Win 7 desktops on a Home Network. Often one of our connections will get lost, but I think it's just that our internet service is not very fast. It's only around 640 Kbps, the best available for our location (long story). But now I wonder if there might be port issues.

I don't know much about online gaming. I've only experienced game portals while playing single player games such as Dragon Age connected to Bioware Social, Sims 3 connected to the Sims network, and now Skyrim on Steam. Oh, I did install Myst Online awhile back and played there a few times.

Anyway, I'm assuming two different computers on a network can access internet game servers at the same time--that it's just our slow connection that's the issue. Hopefully, I don't have to go in and reconfigure my router settings. Right now, we just try to stagger our heavier internet use.