Using a mixed network environment

For a home or small office network, you can use a combination of Ethernet, wireless, and home phoneline network adapter (HPNA) technology.

Here is an example: You have two computers in adjoining rooms that are connected using Ethernet adapters and a network hub. One of the computers is running either Windows XP Home Edition or Windows XP Professional. There is a third computer in a bedroom, and a fourth computer in the den. The bedroom and den computers each have an HPNA installed and are on a network together. To connect the two HPNA computers with the Ethernet computers, you would install an HPNA in the Ethernet computer that is running Windows XP. If your laptop computer has a wireless network adapter, you could join that computer to the network as well by installing a wireless network adapter in one other computer on the network that is running Windows XP.

In a mixed network, also called a multi-segment network, one or more computers have multiple network adapters. Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home Edition support network bridging, which enables the computers and devices on each of the network segments to communicate with each other. Without network bridging, the computers connected using Ethernet can only communicate with each other, and the same rule applies to computers using HPNA or wireless. Network bridging brings each of these network segments together into what appears to be one continuous network.

The following table shows different ways to set up a mixed network environment.