From Leo's mailbag:
> From: A Computer User
> Sent: May 5, 2006
> To: Ask Leo!
> Subject: networking on COM ports
>
> Leo,
> --------------
> Hi Leo i want to connect two computers together
> I know others have asked this but i think every case is different
> one of my computers has windows xp home sp2 the other windows me
> I have a serial/null modem cable connected to the serial com ports 2
>
> I want them to talk to each other using ipx protocol
> You have great instructions for installing protocols for windows xp
> I have followed them & installed ipx protocols on both computers
>
> What do I do on each computer to get them to talk to each other
> I have tried wizard & different things but failed to connect
> them please help
Serial communications ports are not designed for networking, and do
not work by default. While there may be hacks out there to make it
work, I've never done it - I expect it would be both unreliable
and slow.
The correct approach is to install an ethernet network adapter into
each machine. Then, with the ethernet equivalent of a null modem
cable (same idea, but a very different cable), the scenario you
describe should work.
Thanks for asking,
Leo
Article 1253
| Category:
Networking
