Netopia 4542, 4541 manual Chapter Connecting to Your Local Area Network

Connecting to Your Local Area Network 4-1

Chapter 4

Connecting to Your Local Area Network

This chapter describes how to physically connect the Netopia 4541/4542 to your local area network (LAN). Before you proceed, make sure the Netopia 4541/4542 is properly configured. You can customize the router’s configuration for your particular LAN requirements using console-based management (see “Console-Based Management” on page 5-1).

This section covers the following topics:

■“Readying computers on your local network” on page 4-1

■“Connecting to an Ethernet network” on page 4-2

Readying computers on your local network

PC and Macintosh computers must have certain components installed before they can communicate through the Netopia 4541/4542. The following illustration shows the minimal requirements for a typical PC or Macintosh computer.

Application software

TCP/IP stack

Ethernet Driver

Your PC

or Macintosh computer

To the Netopia

Application software: This is the software you use to send e-mail, browse the World Wide Web, read newsgroups, etc. These applications may require some configuration. Examples include the Eudora e-mail client and the Web browsers Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.

TCP/IP stack: This is the software that lets your PC or Macintosh computer communicate using Internet protocols. TCP/IP stacks must be configured with some of the same information you used to configure the Netopia 4541/4542. There are a number of TCP/IP stacks available for PC computers. Windows 95 includes a built-in TCP/IP stack. Macintosh computers use either MacTCP or Open Transport. See “Configuring TCP/IP on Windows-based Computers” on page 3-1. Macintosh computers use either MacTCP or Open Transport. See “Configuring TCP/IP on Macintosh Computers” on page 3-5.

Ethernet: Ethernet hardware and software drivers enable your PC or Macintosh computer to communicate on the LAN.