19 August 2002

I was playing around with my home network setup this morning and I discovered a cool trick. Red Alert 2 can easily be configured to use IPX network protocol for a networked game. I am currently running Windows XP with ICS, so this trick may not work for everyone. First, I installed the IPX protocol on both machines. What you do on XP is go to Network Connections, right click on your Ethernet card and go to “Properties.” Under Properties click “Install…” For me, the IPX protocol appeared right in this window. If it doesn’t for you, I heard that selected “Microsoft” will cause an IPX protocol driver to appear. Use this. Make sure that NetBIOS and IPX is bound only to your network card. If NetBIOS is bound to the other adapters, this is okay. Next, boot Red Alert 2 on both computers after the protocol is installed. Go to Options/Network. Play around with your network setting on both computers until you can get them to appear simultaneously in the Lobby. Once you have done that, you are set. I hope this works! Enjoy.

Being an inexperienced user of networks and the like, I sought the easiest way to network my old PC (a Celeron 1.2 Ghz) and my new rig (an AMD Athlox XP 2000+). I thought it was as simple as plugging in a cable to connect them, and thus, my journey began from there.

There are a host of concepts when dealing with networking. I didn’t understand the differences between router, gateway, switch and hub. I looked at all the pictures and read all the diagrams. They don’t really help until you get your own hands on the hardware.

So as I continued to build my computer, I kept hiding the thought that I knew I would screw up the networking aspect later. And when my new box was finally done, I bought a switch and some CAT5 cables.

I hooked everything up like they had in the pictures, and I thought everything was running smooth. Windows XP’s ICS system is so simple to use you can do it with your eyes closed. It’s only when you try to get fancy that you get yourself into trouble. Perhaps it’s just me, but every time I try to improve ICS, it gets worse.

Up to now the connection on my new box is not perfect. I can’t check some email accounts, and some pages don’t ever load. Since it is summer I am too lazy to repair it, or spend time thinking about how to repair it.

I just have to find a place for all these extra NICs I happened to amass.