setting up a home network

I see alot of post on doing a small home network but none that really answer my questions.
I will start by filling you in on some of the fine details: I have a cable modem conneted to a netgear wireless router. The modem and router are in my son's room with his computer which is directly wired to the router, my computer on the other hand, is in the next room. I had to resort to a wireless adaptor, I also have a laptop with a wireless card.
My main reason for setting this up and going through all this trouble? I want to be able to play some games with my son from time to time...so it's worth it!
My question is this, how exactly do I go about setting this up? I did some reading in the help section of windows and there was no mention of a router, also it mentioned choosing an ICS computer (Internet connection sharing) that has to be on in order for the rest of the computers to access the internet...I really dont want that, Is there a way around that? I simply want all the computers to be able to access the internet at will if possible. I was also wondering is there a "main" computer in the bunch that acts as the server? As you can see I am a little confused. I was also wondering if by me having a wireless adaptor henders my computer being that "main" computer, If by chance there does have to be an "ICS" or "main" computer, If that makes since. In a nutshell I just want to be able to hook these babies up! lol ANY help would be greatly appreciated!!

THANX in advance!

 

HI fxman,
Are you trying to play online games at the same time or just the two of you playing the game in your home network?
As to ICS, if you have a router, you are not really "sharing" the connection.
ICS is for use with the main computer having the only connection to the internet through one NIC and having a second NIC in the same computer providing the connection to other computer. The first NIC is the "gateway" for all the computers in your set up and the second NIC supplies the other computers access either by wire or wireless.
A router provides access regardless of having a home network set up or not. It is the "gateway" for all the computers.

Here's a link for basic info on networking, you can probably find a better explanation there.

http://www.ezlan.net/basic.html

 

thank you for your time! it is really appreciated!
I believe we will probably be doing both ( online gaming at the same time and at home ) so will there be any difference in the connection of the network?

Thankyou!

 

Your basic network connection won't be different but I'm sure if you get up and running, you can get some tweaks from the gamers here to optimize the speed of the connection. I'm not a gamer myself so I can't help you there.
One thing, with the cable connection, the speed will depend on how many other people are on your portion of the line. So evenings will probably be slower in connection speed for online games since more of the bandwidth is in use by others.
Have fun and remember to get a little sleep.

 

Thanks for everything! The link you posted was very helpful! I havent attempted to hook everything up yet but I have confidence that everything will work out...especially when there are people like yourself that are willing to take the time to explain. Thanks again! I will post back and let you know how it goes this weekend....and I will try to get some good sleep if my son allows!