Hardware requirements overview

There are four types of hardware required to set up a home or small office network:

Network adapter: Network adapters (also called network cards) connect your computers to the network and enable them to communicate with each other. Network adapters can be connected to the USB port on your computer or installed inside your computer in an available PCI expansion slot.
Network hubs and cables: A hub connects communication lines at a central location. A hub is typically used for connecting two or more computers to an Ethernet network. A hub is not required if you connect your computers through your phone lines using a home phoneline network adapter (HPNA), or if you use a wireless adapter. You can also use IEEE 1394 network adapters.
Modem: A modem can be a 28.8 or 56 kilobits per second (Kbps) modem, a wireless modem, an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or a cable modem.
The computers on your network must meet the following minimum requirements:

If you use Internet Connection Sharing (ICS), the computer sharing its Internet connection (the ICS host computer) should be running Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional.
The Network Setup Wizard can only be run on computers running Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, or Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2).
When you have all the required hardware installed in each of your computers, you can run the Network Setup Wizard.

Notes

To start the Network Setup Wizard, click Start, click Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections, and then click Network Setup Wizard.
Before running the Network Setup Wizard, create an Internet connection on the computer that is attached to a residential gateway (or the ICS host computer, if you are using ICS). For more information about creating an Internet connection using the New Connection Wizard see, To make an Internet connection.
External network adapters are the easiest to install because you plug them into a USB port on your computer instead of opening up your computer. For more information about installation, read the documentation that came with your hardware.
To find hardware that is supported by Windows operating systems, visit the Windows Catalog on the Microsoft Web site.