How to quickly connect 2 computers with a network cable

Do you want to share data and information between two computers? But, you do not know how to connect two computers with a network cable? Let's refer to the steps with TipsMake.

1. Preparation

1.1 Network cable (crossover)

The equipment needed to prepare is a network cable with 2 standard plugs. This step requires checking whether the strips at each end of the cable match each other or not. The cable will have different colored wire strips at both ends. With a standard cable, the colored strips at both ends match completely.

If not, you can crimp the network cable yourself. You will need to prepare

- Ethernet network cable and some necessary equipment including UTP Cat 5/5e cable, RJ45 connector, network cable crimping pliers.

- Then, cut a piece of the outer sheath of one end of the UTP cable with pliers or scissors. 

- The inner core wire consists of 4 pairs of wires: orange pair, green pair, blue pair and 1 brown pair.

- Straighten the core ends to make it easier to crimp the network cable.

- Then, arrange the cable segments in order from left to right: Orange white > orange > green white > blue > blue white > green > brown white > brown.

- Next, you will crimp the network cable: When you have finished installing as above, insert the wire segments into the RJ45 connector, then use network crimping pliers to clamp the plastic end when you hear a cracking sound. Do the same with the remaining network end.

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1.2 Network card is supported in both computers.

2. Configure your computer to be able to share data on Windows 7, Windows 10

To connect 2 computers using a network cable, try the steps below.

Step 1: Set up LAN

First you will assign IP addresses to both computers. To change the IP address of your computer to connect to LAN. You should change in the LAN adapter settings.

- Click to open Control Panel from the Start menu and click on Network and Internet and click on 'Network and Sharing center' .

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- From the left sidebar, click 'Change adapter settings' .

The 'Network connections' window appears, select the appropriate icon for your LAN adapter and right-click on it.

Then select 'Properties'

- The 'Local Area Connection Properties' dialog box appears

- In the Networking tab, select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP / IPv4) and click the 'Properties' button.

- Next, you set the addresses as mentioned below in each computer.

At the first computer:

IP Address: 192.168.0.1

Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0

- Now set the addresses as below for each computer.

Connect 2 computers using network cable

On the second computer:

IP Address: 192.168.0.2

Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0

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Step 2: Connect to the network

Connect one end of the cable to the Internet port of computer 1 and the other end to the Internet port of computer 2. Then perform the following steps with both computers.

- Right-click on Computer from the Start menu and select 'Properties' .The Control Panel system properties tab opens

- Next, click on 'Change settings' and the 'System properties' dialog box appears. At 'Computer Name', click on the 'Change' button to select the workgroup name. Do this for both computers or it won't work.

- Restart your computer. Once both computers have booted up, double-click 'Network ' from the left side of the Explorer window.

On computer 1 screen, you will see an icon. This represents your second computer name under the 'Network ' window. Similarly, you can see that the first computer has been appeared under the 'Network ' window of your second computer.

Step 3: Share data

The screen will show a message turn on 'Network Discovery and file Sharing' when they are not present. At that time, click on the pop-up and select 'make the network a private network'. However, in some cases, you may have to restart your computer.

When you see other computers in your 'network' window just double click on it. 

If you want to share a file or folder on a computer with other computers on the network. Right-click on it and select 'Share with' > 'Homegroup' . You can also share a drive by right-clicking on it.

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3. Connect 2 computers to share data on Macintosh (Mac) OSX

Step 1: First, plug each end of the standard cable into the network port of both computers. If one or both of your Macs don't have a network port, you'll need to use a USB to Ethernet adapter.

Step 2: On the first computer screen, open the "Apple" menu.

Step 3: Then click "System Preferences" from the available options and then select "Sharing".

Step 4: Note the computer name in the "Sharing" dialog box.

Step 5: On the other computer, navigate to the "Finder" application. "Finder" is the square icon, located on the toolbar of your Mac computer.

Step 6: Click "Go" then click "Connect to Server" in the Finder menu.

Step 7: Then you continue to click on the button labeled "Browse", then double-click on the name of the original computer that is displayed on the window.

Step 8: The final step is to enter the computer administrator account password if requested. The connection will be established between the two computers and you can now share data.

Above, TipsMake has guided you how to connect 2 computers with a network cable simply and quickly. This is very useful in many cases where we want to share data and transmit information securely. Hopefully this information is useful to you. Wish you success. 

Isabella Humphrey

Update 16 January 2025