In this video you will learn about Microsoft Windows networking on client/desktop computers.
Windows 7/8/8.1/10 support two different types of SOHO networks: workgroups and homegroups. The following sections describe how they differ from each other.
Workgroup Networking
In computer networking a workgroup is a collection of computers connected on a LAN that share common resources and responsibilities. Workgroup is Microsoft’s term for a peer-to-peer LAN. Computers running Microsoft operating systems in the same workgroup may share files, printers, or an Internet connection. Windows 8/8.1/10 all support workgroup networks. The Computer Name section of the Systems properties sheet is where you can identify workgroups. Most computers are already in the default WORKGROUP workgroup as soon as Windows is installed.
HomeGroup Networking
Starting with Windows 7, Microsoft added a new ad hoc home networking system known as HomeGroup. The system used a password to join computers into the group, and allowed users’ libraries, along with individual files and folders, to be shared between multiple computers. Only computers running Windows 7 through Windows 10 version 1709 could create or join a HomeGroup. In October 2018, however, HomeGroup was removed from Windows 10 (Version 1803). HomeGroups were allowed to coexist with workgroups, but HomeGroup networking allowed for easier security and sharing than workgroups permitted.
SIDE NOTE: Regardless of either type of networking, only 10 computers at a time can connect to a Workgroup or HomeGroup computer.
A network domain is an administrative grouping of multiple private computer networks or hosts within the same infrastructure. Domains can be identified using a domain name; domains which need to be accessible from the public Internet can be assigned a globally unique name within the Domain Name System (DNS). Some of the features of domain networking are:
In computing, a network share (shared resource) is a computer resource made available from one host to other hosts on a computer network. It is a device or piece of information on a computer that can be remotely accessed from another computer transparently as if it were a resource in the local machine. Network sharing is made possible by inter-process communication over the network.
Shares can be provided in three ways:
Administrative shares are hidden network shares created by Windows NT family of operating systems that can be identified by a $ at the end of the share name that allow system administrators to have remote access to every disk volume on a network-connected system. These shares cannot be seen by standard users when browsing to the computer over the network; they are meant for administrative use. These shares may not be permanently deleted but may be disabled. Administrative shares cannot be accessed by users without administrative privileges. All the shared folders that include administrative shares can be found by navigating to Computer Management > System Tools > Shared Folders > Shares.
Drive mapping is how operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, associate a local drive letter (A through Z) with a shared storage area to another computer (often referred to as a File Server) over a network. After a drive has been mapped, a software application on a client’s computer can read and write files from the shared storage area by accessing that drive, just as if that drive represented a local physical hard disk drive.
Printers connected to network computers can be shared or printers can be connected directly to a network with Ethernet or WiFi connections. To perform printer sharing:
To perform network printer mapping:
To create connections in the Network and Sharing Center, click Start > Settings > Network & Internet and the following connection types are available:
VPN Connections
A virtual private network (VPN) extends a private network across a public network and enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network. To configure a VPN connection:
Dial-Up Connections
Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access to establish a connection to an ISP by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telephone line. Dial-up connections use modems to decode audio signals into data to send to a router or computer, and to encode signals from the latter two devices to send to another modem. Windows can create two types of dial-up connections on systems with analog modems:
Configuring dial-up connections to an ISP:
Configuring direct dial-in connections to corporate computers:
Wireless Connections
Wireless connections can be established by clicking on the SSID from the taskbar or Settings menu. Use the following steps:
Wired Connections
If setting up a point-to-point protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE), use a wired connection:
WWAN (Cellular) Connections
A wireless wide area network (WWAN) is a form of a wireless network. a WWAN often differs from wireless LANs by using mobile telecommunication cellular network technologies such as 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, & 5G to transfer data. A WWAN (cellular) connection shows up in the list of network connections after a SIM card is installed and activated by a mobile provider. To use this type of connection, select it from the list of network connections displayed when selecting the network icon in the taskbar or Settings.
In computer networking, a proxy server is a server application or appliance that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from servers that provides those resources. To configure manual proxy settings for a LAN connection in Windows:
Remote Desktop Services is one of the components of Microsoft Windows that allow a user to take control of a remote computer or virtual machine over a network connection. To enable Remote Desktop or Remote Assistance:
In Windows, network locations are the settings pertaining to Home, Work, Public, and Private. Depending upon what network location is selected, it can affect how Windows Firewall configures protections & networking features available to a particular PC.
Select System and Security from the Control Panel to bring up the firewall settings in Windows 10.
An alternative IP address enables a system to stay on the network if the DHCP server fails or if the system is sometimes on a different network than normal. To change the settings follow these steps:
If you have to change the settings for a wired network adapter (network card or NIC) despite most NICs working well with the default settings, do the following:
Some of the available network card properties are: