How to Set up a Private Network A private network is one which either does not connect to the internet, or is co nnected

indirectly using NAT (Network Address Translation) so its addresses do n ot appear on the public network. However, a private network allows you to connec t to other computers that are on the same physical network. This is desirable wh en you wish to communicate with a group of other computers or share data and int ernet connectivity is not necessary. 1. 1Plan your network. This is probably the hardest part of setting up a ne twork. Draw any routers you may be using to separate major portions of your network fir st. Smaller private networks do not require routers, but may still use them for administrative reasons. Routers are only required if a.)Dividing your network in to multiple smaller networks, b.) Allowing indirect internet access using NAT. N ext, add any switches and hubs. For small networks, only one switch or hub may b e necessary. Draw boxes to represent the computers and lines connecting the devices together. This drawing will serve as your network diagram. Although diagrams intended only for your own use may use any symbols you desire, use of industry standard symbols make this task simpler and eliminates confusio n for others. Typical industry standard symbols are: o Routers: Circle with four arrows arranged in a cross. Or just a cross if drawing a quick draft. o Switches: Square or rectangle, with four staggered arrows, two in each d irection. Represents the concept of signals being "switched" - relayed only out the port which leads to the intended user based on address. o Hubs: Same as switch, with a single double-headed arrow. Represents the concept of all signals being blindly repeated out all ports without concern for which port leads to the intended recipient. o Lines and squares can be used to represent connections leading to comput ers. 2. 2Create an address plan o IPv4 (IP ver. 4) addresses are written like this: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (four numbers separated by three dots), in all RFC-1166 compliant countries. Each numb er ranges from 0 to 255. This is known as "Dotted Decimal Notation" or "Dot Nota tion" for short. The address is divided into two portions: the network portion a nd the host portion. For "Classful" networks, the network and host portions are as follows: ("n" represents the network portion, "x" represents the host portion) When the first number is 0 to 126 - nnn.xxx.xxx.xxx (ex. 10.xxx.xxx.xxx) These are known as "Class A" networks. When the first number is 128 to 191 - nnn.nnn.xxx.xxx (ex. 172.16.xxx.xxx) These are known as "Class B" networks. When the first number is 192 to 223 - nnn.nnn.nnn.xxx (ex. 192.168.1.xxx) These are known as "Class C" networks. When the first number is 224 to 239 - The address is used for multi-casting. When the first number is 240 to 255 - The address is "experimental". Multicast & Experimental addresses are beyond the scope of this article. However , do note that because IPv4 does not treat them the same way as other addresses they should not be used. For simplicity "non-classful networks", sub-netting, and CIDR will not be discus sed in this article.

The network portion specifies a network; the host portion specifies an individua l device on a network. For any given network: The range of all possible host portion numbers gives the Address Range. (ex. 172.16.xxx.xxx the range is 172.16.0.0 to 172.16.255.255) The lowest possible address is the Network Address. (ex. 172.16.xxx.xxx the network address is 172.16.0.0) This address is used by devices to specify the network itself, and cannot be ass igned to any device. The highest possible address is the Broadcast Address. (ex. 172.16.xxx.xxx the broadcast address is 172.16.255.255) This address is used when a packet is meant for all devices on a specific networ k, and cannot be assigned to any device. The remaining numbers in the range are the Host Range. (ex. 172.16.xxx.xxx the host range is 172.16.0.1 to 172.16.255.254) These are the numbers you can assign to computers, printers, and other devices. Host Addresses are individual addresses within this range. o Assign network(s). A network, for this purpose, is any group of connecti ons separated by a router. Your network may not have routers or, if accessing the Internet with NAT, have o nly one router between your private network and the public internet. If this is your only router, or if you have no routers, your entire private network is cons idered one network. Choose a network with a host range large enough to provide an address to each de vice. Class C networks (ex. 192.168.0.x) allow for 254 host addresses (192.168.0 .1 to 192.168.0.254), which is fine if you have no more than 254 devices. But if you have 255 or more devices, you will either need to use a Class B network (ex . 172.16.x.x) or divide your private network into smaller networks with routers. If additional routers are used, they become "internal routers", the private netw ork becomes a "private intranet", and each group of connections is a separate ne twork requiring its own network address and range. This includes connections bet ween routers, and connections directly from a router to a single device. For simplicity, the remainder of these steps will assume you have only one netwo rk, of 254 or less devices, and uses 192.168.2.x as an example. We will also ass ume you are not using DHCP (Dynamic Host Control Protocol) to assign host addres ses automatically. 3. 3Write "192.168.2.x" in the corner somewhere. If you have more than one network it's best to write each address near the network it belongs to. 4. 4Assign host addresses within the range of 1 to 254 to each computer. Wr ite the host addresses next to the devices they belong to on the diagram. At fir st you may wish to write the entire address (ex. 192.168.2.5) next to each devic e. However, as you become more proficient simply writing the host portion (ex. . 5) may help save time. Switches will not require addresses for the purpose discussed here. Routers will require addresses as described in the "Important Notes" section. 5. 5Write down the subnet mask near the network address. For 192.168.2.x, w hich is a Class C, the mask is: 255.255.255.0 The computer needs it to tell whic h part of the IP address is the network and which is the host. IPv4 originally used the first number (ex. 192) to determine this based on the a ddress class, as described above. However, the advent of subnetting and nonclass ful networking made it necessary to provide a mask because other ways of dividin g the address into network and host portions are now possible. For Class A addre

sses the mask is 255.0.0.0, for Class B it's 255.255.0.0 (More information in th e Important Notes section.) 6. 6Connect your network. Gather all needed materials including cables, com puters, ethernet switches, and (if used) routers. Locate the Ethernet ports on t he computers and other devices. Look for the 8-pin modular connector. (RJ-45 sty le) It looks like a standard telephone jack except it's a bit larger because it has more conductors. Connect the cables between each device, just as in your map. If an unforeseen ci rcumstance causes you to vary from the diagram, make notes to show any changes. 7. 7Boot all the computers connected to the network. Power on all other con nected devices. (Some devices have no "power switch" and will power up simply by plugging them in.) 8. 8Configure the computers for networking. Go to internet options (this va ries depending on the Operating System), and go to the dialog box that lets you change the TCP/IP protocol. Change the radio buttons from "Obtain from DHCP serv er automatically" to "Use the following IP address:". Type in your IP address fo r that computer, and the appropriate subnet mask (255.255.255.0). If you have no routers, leave the "Default Gateway" and "DNS server" fields blan k. If connecting to the internet using NAT, use the Host Address assigned to the ro uter between your private network and the internet as both the DNS server and th e Default Gateway. Do not use the Network Address (192.168.2.0) If using more than one router see the Important Notes section. If configuring a home network with a relatively new router, This section can be ignored as long as the network is connected correctly, The router will assign ne twork addresses to everything on the network going into your network, until it h its another router. 9. 9 Verify connectivity. The simplest way to do this is with Ping. Bring up MS-DOS o r the equivalent on other OS's, (In Windows open the command prompt which is loc ated in the Start Menu - Accessories - Command Prompt) and type in: ping 192.168 .2.[insert host number here]. Do this on one host and ping to all other hosts. R emember, your router is considered a host. If you cannot reach one, read over th e steps again or contact a professional. NAT allows private networks to connect to public networks, by converting IP addr esses on the private network to ones allowed on the public network. All devices will appear from the Internet's perspective to be connected to one of its public networks according to the public addressing plan (as defined by IANA - Internet Assignment Numbering Authority). "Dynamic NAT" allows multiple private IPs to " take turns" using a public IP. A related technology, PNAT (Port Network Address Translation) - also known as PA T (Port Address Translation) or NAT "Overloading", allows multiple private IPs t o "share" one public IP at the same time. It manipulates both OSI Layer 3 and OS I Layer 4 information so connections from multiple private IPs appear to come fr om one computer with one public IP. Many computer, electronics, and even department store sell small routers designe d to allow multiple users to share a single internet connection. Almost all of t hese use PAT, to eliminate the need for more than one public IP (extra public IP s may be expensive, or not allowed, depending on your provider). If you use one, you will need to assign one of your private network's Host Addre sses to the router.

If using a more complex commercial router, you will need to assign a private Hos t Addresses to the interface connecting to your private network, your public IP to the interface connecting to the Internet, and configure NAT/PAT manually. If using only one router, the interface used to connect the router to your priva te network will become both the "DNS Server Interface" and the "Default Gateway" . You will need to add its address to these fields when configuring your other d evices. If your network is divided using one or more internal routers, each router will require an address for each network connected to it. (IP Unnumbered is beyond th e scope of this article) This address will need to be a host address (just like a computer's) from the host range of the network. Typically, the first available host address (that's the second address in the address range ex. 192.168.1.1) w ill be used; however any address in the host range is fine as long as you know w hat it is. Do not use the network address (ex. 192.168.1.0), or the broadcast ad dress (ex 192.168.1.255). For networks containing one or more user devices (ex. printers, computers, stora ge devices) the address the router uses for that network will become "Default Ga teway" for the other devices. The DNS server, if present, should remain the addr ess used by the router between your networks and the internet. For networks inte rconnecting routers, no default gateway is needed. For networks containing both user devices and routers, any router on that network will do. A network is a network, no matter how big or small. When two routers are connect ed by one cable, even though a Class C (the smallest network) contains 256 addre sses, all will belong to the cable. The network address will be .0, the broadcas t will be .255, two of the hosts will be used (one for each interface the cable connects), and the other 252 will simply go to waste because they cannot be used anywhere else. Generally, the small home routers described above are not used for this purpose. When they are, understand the ethernet interfaces on the "private network" side usually belong to a "switch" which is built into the router. The router itself connects to this internally using only one interface. When this is the case, onl y one host IP will be used by all of them, and they will all be on the same netw ork. When a router has multiple interfaces with multiple IP's, each interface and IP will create a different network.