Tech Note: Reed Sturtevant's Home Network Configuration

We've wired our house with an Ethernet network that connects our three PC's and a shared printer. The whole network is connected to the Internet on a single modem.

Let me describe the network wiring. I have a single thin-net (coax) cable that goes from the basement to the attic. At each end of that backbone is an unmanaged 10-base T hub. In the attic I pulled a twisted pair to my son's bedroom, where he does his homework. From the basement, six runs go to my first floor study, and one to the living room.

In the study I have two computers that are always turned on. One is the PC with the modem: this is running Windows NT and is set up as a router, to connect the whole network to the Internet. This same computer runs our web server and a mail server. The server programs don't take much horsepower - I use the PC as a regular "home computer", too, even while it's busy dishing out web pages. The other PC is a separate web server I run for a non-profit organization.

Below is a diagram of our network configuration. You can visit two of the PCs by clicking on them.

                        |-------------| I have a "dedicated dialup" account
                        |  Internet   | at my ISP, TIAC in Bedford, Mass. They
                        |  Provider   | give me my own phone number and a Class C
                        |-------------| block of static IP addresses.
                             | phone line
ISP-provided subnet  |--------------------| Modem / RAS Dial-up networking
used on LAN:         | NT 4.0 Workstation | IP address:
204.215.189.*        |      ROUTER        |
                     | |
                             |              IP address:
                             |              Subnet mask:
                    Ethernet |              Default gateway: *leave blank*
                       |                           |
                  | NT 4.0 Workstation |      | Windows 95 |
                  |     |      |            |
IP address:             etc.
Subnet mask:     
Default gateway:     

   NOTE: The above addresses are unique to my network. On your network, 
   use ONLY IP addresses that are provided to you by your Internet Service Provider.
I also have some more details on configuring Windows NT as a router.
Reed Sturtevant <>
Last update: December 21, 1997 Note: our home is no longer wired this way.
Sturtevant Technotes