Wired Networking

A traditional wired network has its advantages over wireless options, and it’s important to explore all of the possibilities before you decide on a way to link up your home computers. Here’s our guide to wired networking.

What you’ll need to buy

You’ll need crossed cat5 cables for a PC-to-PC link, and every computer on the network will need a network card installed.

Advantages

The cat5 cables will allow you to connect to another PC with or without a hub or router. Wired networking is a cheap and cheerful way to share files between two PCs simply by having two network cards. It’s also a lot simpler than wireless networking.

Disadvantages

This method will allow you to connect a maximum of two PCs, so it’s not suitable for most businesses.