How to connect a laptop to desktop (ashamed)

yup, complete noob question! what kinda cable am I looking at cos i doubt we can connect wireless?

cheers

Im just an idiot with a pooter!

RJ-45 connector on your lappy, patch cable (cat5) network cable into RJ-45 on your other rig perhaps?

you can do it with a cat5 crossover cable.

what r these and where can i get em from? this is basically for gaming and file swaping

ebay

Loads of places, pcworld perhaps :) should be very cheap too

first, verify that you have a network connection on your laptop. it should take a cable that looks like this:

http://www.dynastytech.com/images/computers/cat5.jpg

if not, then you'll need a card:

http://www.buynetworkgear.com/pcmcia...etail/1530.gif

this would go into a PCMCIA slot on the laptop. you could use a wireless card instead if you have wireless already around the house.

a the PC end, you'll be needing a network card

http://oit.uta.edu/helpdesk/public/n...es/ident03.jpg

you may not have one, it might be built onto the motherboard, either way you need that. or wireless, but that costs more & is tricky to set up.

finally, to connect between the machines, you need either a Cat5e Crossover Cable:

http://gccprinters.com/support/doc/crossover.jpg

or a two regular, bog standard, boring cables and a network hub or switch:

http://www.putergeek.com/home_networ...5_cable_sm.jpg
http://www.ncc.at/scs/beowulf/switch.jpg

the crossover cable is for 2 machines only, a hub/switch would allow you to plug in as many machiens as you want over time. a switch is better, btw

Thanks direct!