What are things needed to set up a network?

Answer 1

2 computers would require 2 network cards and 1 crossover cable.

3 or more computers would require a network card per computer and a hub, switch, router or bridge, along with cables for each network card.

Answer 2

• 10/100 Or 100 Mbps PCI Ethernet Cards
• Crossover Cables

http://www.ehow.com/how_3659_connect-computers-network.html

Basic hardware components

All networks are made up of basic hardware building blocks to interconnect network nodes, such as Network Interface Cards (NICs), Bridges, Hubs, Switches, and Routers. In addition, some method of connecting these building blocks is required, usually in the form of galvanic cable (most commonly Category 5 cable). Less common are microwave links (as in IEEE 802.12) or optical cable ("optical fiber"). An Ethernet card may also be required.

Network interface cards

A network card, network adapter, or NIC (network interface card) is a piece of computer hardware designed to allow computers to communicate over a computer network. It provides physical access to a networking medium and often provides a low-level addressing system through the use of MAC addresses.

Repeaters

A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal, cleans it from the unnecessary noise, regenerates it and retransmits it at a higher power level, or to the other side of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover longer distances without degradation. In most twisted pair Ethernet configurations, repeaters are required for cable which runs longer than 100 meters.

Hubs

A network hub contains multiple ports. When a packet arrives at one port, it is copied unmodified to all ports of the hub for transmission. The destination address in the frame is not changed to a broadcast address.[7]

Bridges

A network bridge connects multiple network segments at the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model. Bridges do send broadcasts to all ports except the one on which the broadcast was received. However, bridges do not promiscuously copy traffic to all ports, as hubs do, but learn which MAC addresses are reachable through specific ports. Once the bridge associates a port and an address, it will send traffic for that address to that port only.

Bridges learn the association of ports and addresses by examining the source address of frames that it sees on various ports. Once a frame arrives through a port, its source address is stored and the bridge assumes that MAC address is associated with that port. The first time that a previously unknown destination address is seen, the bridge will forward the frame to all ports other than the one on which the frame arrived.

Bridges come in three basic types:

• Local bridges: Directly connect local area networks (LANs)
• Remote bridges: Can be used to create a wide area network (WAN) link between LANs. Remote bridges, where the connecting link is slower than the end networks, largely have been replaced with routers.
• Wireless bridges: Can be used to join LANs or connect remote stations to LANs

Switches

A network switch is a device that forwards and filters OSI layer 2 datagrams (chunk of data communication) between ports (connected cables) based on the MAC addresses in the packets.[8] This is distinct from a hub in that it only forwards the frames to the ports involved in the communication rather than all ports connected. A switch breaks the collision domain but represents itself a broadcast domain. Switches make forwarding decisions of frames on the basis of MAC addresses. A switch normally has numerous ports, facilitating a star topology for devices, and cascading additional switches.[9] Some switches are capable of routing based on Layer 3 addressing or additional logical levels; these are called multi-layer switches. The term switch is used loosely in marketing to encompass devices including routers and bridges, as well as devices that may distribute traffic on load or by application content (e.g., a Web URL identifier).

Routers

A router is a networking device that forwards packets between networks using information in protocol headers and forwarding tables to determine the best next router for each packet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_network#Basic_hardware_components

Answer 3

A suitable hub, switch or router, CAT5 or CAT6 cabling terminated with RJ45 plugs (non-crossover) and three computers. If one computer has two Ethernet ports, you don't need a hub, switch or router as the the other two computers can connect directly to it by bridging the ports and using crossover cabling.

If you also require internet access, you will need a suitable hub, switch or router. Most ISPs will provide one free of charge. Wireless options are also available.

Answer 4

A network interface card (NIC) and a CAT5/CAT6 cable with RJ45 terminators (non-crossover). Plug the ends of the cable into the network hub and the NIC. If you have a DHCP server, that's all you should need to do. Power up and you're good to go. Otherwise you need to configure the machine's network options to suit the network.

Answer 5

You need a network interface card for that.

also you might need a network cord and router...

Answer 6

crossover cable