Preparing Your Network
3-1
Chapter 3
Preparing Your Network
This chapter describes the preparation for connecting your PCs to the Internet using the Model
RT311 or RT314 Internet Access Gateway Router. Before configuring your router, you must
perform the following tasks:
•
Configure your PCs for using the TCP/IP networking protocol
•
Order broadband Internet service from an Internet service provider (ISP)
Details of these tasks are given in the following sections.
Preparing the PCs for IP Networking
The Model RT311 and RT314 Internet Access Gateway Routers use the Transmission Control
Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP), commonly referred to as TCP/IP. In order to access the
Internet through the router, each PC on your network must have TCP/IP installed and selected as
the networking protocol. The required components are listed below for various operating systems:
•
Windows
®
95, Windows 98, and Windows NT
®
: Windows 95 or later includes the software
components for establishing a TCP/IP network.
•
Windows 3.1: You need a TCP/IP application package such as NetManage Chameleon.
•
Macintosh: You can use MacTCP, which is included with later Macintosh models.
•
UNIX and variants: These operating systems usually include TCP/IP components.
Follow the instructions provided with your operating system or networking software to install
TCP/IP on your computer. Although TCP/IP is built into the Windows operating system,
beginning with Windows 95, it must be enabled and configured. Refer to
“Configuring Windows
95 or Windows 98 for IP Networking
” below for further instructions to configure your PCs for IP
networking.