A crossover cable takes the output of one end of the cable and connects it to the input of the other. If you were using an Ethernet switch or hub, the crossing over would happen within that device.
Ever needed to connect two computers together without going through a wireless network? I’ve previously written about how to connect two computers wirelessly using an ad-hoc wireless network, but it’s not as fast as being directly connected.
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If your computers are on a wired network, you can network two computers and then share files and folders, but it’s a lot of work! An easier way is to simply create a homegroup if you are running Windows 7 or higher. A third way is to use a crossover cable to connect two computers and transfer data.
In order for this setup to work, there are a few things you need to make sure are setup or configured properly. I will try to go through all the different steps in this article.
Step 1 – Configure IP Addresses
Usually, if you are using a crossover cable to connect two computers, the computers are not connected to a LAN network. In this case, you will need to configure static IP addresses for each computer.
You have to make sure that both computers have IP addresses that are on the same subnet. For example, if you give one computer an IP address of 192.168.0.1, then you should give the second computer an IP of 192.168.0.2.
If you used the above IP addresses, you should use a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. If you use an incorrect subnet mask, the connection will not work.
Lastly, the value for the default gateway should be the same on both machines. You can pick which IP address you want to use, but use it on both computers for the default gateway. Below is how my setup looks for one computer:
It’s worth noting that you could technically leave the Default Gateway and Preferred DNS server fields blank as you really don’t have to connect to any device outside the local network. If you need more info about static IPs, make sure to read my post on how to assign a static IP address in Windows and Mac.
Step 2 – Crossover Cable
The second thing you need to verify is that you actually have a proper crossover cable. Basically, there are a few different types of crossover cables, but it’s best to get the standard crossover cable where the green and orange pairs are swapped and the brown and blue pairs stay in the same position.
The only pins that need to be crossed are 1,3 and 2,6. So just check your cable on both end and make sure it matches the diagram. You can get a cheap 10ft crossover cable on Amazon for $5 or you can get crossover adapters, which are a little bit more, but can turn any Ethernet cable into a crossover cable.
Connect Mac To Pc NetworkStep 3 – Local User AccountsConnect Mac To Pc With Crossover Cable
If you’re having problems accessing files both ways, you may have to create a user account on each computer that has the same name and same password. This helps get past any kind of Access is Denied errors that may pop up.
Connect Mac And Pc With Crossover Cable Network
Make sure the accounts are administrator accounts also! It’s best to create a new account rather than rename a current account.
Step 4 – Disable Firewalls
Finally, you should disable the firewall on both computers to ensure that none of the file sharing ports are being blocked. You can do this by going to Control Panel and then Windows Firewall. Click on Off.
That’s about it! If you follow all these steps, each computer should be able to access the other properly. You can check the connection by opening a command prompt (click on Start and type in cmd) and trying to ping the other computer. Just type the word ping followed by the IP address of the other computer.
You should now be able to go to My Network Places or Network in Windows Explorer and access the other computer. You’ll also need to setup a shared folder if you want to transfer files. Also, check out my other post that talks about all the other ways you can share files between multiple computers. If you are having problems, post a comment here and I will try to help! Enjoy!
This is from my Help Window: (copy and paste)
Connecting two computers using Ethernet
You can use an Ethernet cable to connect two Mac computers and share files or play network games.
To connect two computers using Ethernet:
Connect Mac And Pc With Crossover Cable Connection
Connect a standard Ethernet cable from the Ethernet port on one computer to the Ethernet port on the other. You don’t need to use an Ethernet crossover cable.
If your computer doesn’t have an Ethernet port, try using a USB-to-Ethernet adapter.
On each computer, choose Apple menu > System Preferences and click Sharing. Note the computer name for each computer.
In the Finder on one of the computers, choose Go > “Connect to Server,” and then click Browse.
Double-click the other computer in the window and enter your password, if necessary.
If you manually configured the TCP/IP settings for the Ethernet service on the computer you are connecting to, you may need to enter that computer’s TCP/IP address in the “Connect to Server” dialog.
To see or set the TCP/IP address, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Network, and select Ethernet in the list.
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sharing files
The one question I had - if both computers are connected to the same wireless router, would the computers that are connected via ethernet cable to each other know to go to each other via ethernet rather than wifi?
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