Question #1: What is the purpose of the LAN?

If you don't want internet access for any of them, just get a switch and use static IP's for all of them.

3Com were pretty much the best old ISA and PCI NICs back then, The Parallel Tasking and Parallel Tasking II ones were what I used.

Also had some Netgear back then that worked fine as well.

cyclone3d wrote:

If you don't want internet access for any of them, just get a switch and use static IP's for all of them.

3Com were pretty much the best old ISA and PCI NICs back then, The Parallel Tasking and Parallel Tasking II ones were what I used.

Also had some Netgear back then that worked fine as well.

No need to use Internet on the old PCs, just file share between them all.

So, do you mean I get a switch, and I connect ethernet cables from all the PCs to the switch?
What kind of switch exactly?

dr_st wrote:

Question #1: What is the purpose of the LAN?

The purpose is to share files.

Thanks guys!

A Network switch. Something like a Netgear GS105 (5-port) or Netgear GS108 (8-port).

File sharing is done on the OS side. If in Windows, they will all just need to be in the same workgroup and within the same IP subnet.

Then you set up your shared folders, disable password protected sharing, set permission for the shared folders to "everyone" and you are set.

You can use password protected sharing if you really want, but for something like that, it probably isn't needed.

You can also do some LAN gaming over your little network.

cyclone3d wrote:

A Network switch. Something like a Netgear GS105 (5-port) or Netgear GS108 (8-port). […]
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A Network switch. Something like a Netgear GS105 (5-port) or Netgear GS108 (8-port).

File sharing is done on the OS side. If in Windows, they will all just need to be in the same workgroup and within the same IP subnet.

Then you set up your shared folders, disable password protected sharing, set permission for the shared folders to "everyone" and you are set.

You can use password protected sharing if you really want, but for something like that, it probably isn't needed.

You can also do some LAN gaming over your little network.

GREAT! thanks so much bro and everyone else!

For pure DOS you can transfer from an FTP server on your file server using Mike Brutman's mTCP.

Wrong forum. This subforum is for DOS games on modern systems, as in Very Old Games On New Systems.

collector wrote:

Wrong forum. This subforum is for DOS games on modern systems, as in Very Old Games On New Systems.

You're right, collector.
However, I wasn't superficial. I did my due diligence of going through the list of forums more times to find a networking-related one, but I couldn't.
So, I finally figured, since this is mainly an OS configuration thing, I'll throw it in the DOS forum.
But, please, if you identify a more suitable one, will you please move the thread over there? Thanks!

gdjacobs wrote:

For pure DOS you can transfer from an FTP server on your file server using Mike Brutman's mTCP.

Thanks so much!

If it does not fit a specific forum, Milliways.

Right! Thanks!!

Moved to Milliways, I guess.

Stiletto wrote:

Moved to Milliways, I guess.

Thanks Stiletto! 😀

gdjacobs wrote:

For pure DOS you can transfer from an FTP server on your file server using Mike Brutman's mTCP.

Second that for the DOS FTP programs, but be aware: the site links to crynwr packet drivers for old cards. They are designed for *very* old systems and my experience is that they don't work on 486/Pentium style computers with 3Com cards. I'm not sure whether it's a dodgy driver or some timing issue. Instead, use 3Com's excellent packet driver.

So:
- get the NICs. I second 3Com 509C-TP or similar as ideal ISA NICs in terms of both performance and compatibility.
- download the relevant DOS drivers (i.e. from vogonsdrivers.com)
- most of the 3Com ISA cards are jumperless non-PnP designs. You need to run a DOS config tool (iirc config.exe, to be found on the drivers disks) to set resources.
- once you have non-conflicting resources set, run the packet driver and if it works, put it in autoexec.bat (you can use LH to save conventional memory)
- use mtools for DHCP, FTP etc. Also put these in autoexec.bat when it all works.

dionb wrote:

Second that for the DOS FTP programs, but be aware: the site links to crynwr packet drivers for old cards. They are designed for […]
Show full quote

gdjacobs wrote:

For pure DOS you can transfer from an FTP server on your file server using Mike Brutman's mTCP.

Second that for the DOS FTP programs, but be aware: the site links to crynwr packet drivers for old cards. They are designed for *very* old systems and my experience is that they don't work on 486/Pentium style computers with 3Com cards. I'm not sure whether it's a dodgy driver or some timing issue. Instead, use 3Com's excellent packet driver.

So:
- get the NICs. I second 3Com 509C-TP or similar as ideal ISA NICs in terms of both performance and compatibility.
- download the relevant DOS drivers (i.e. from vogonsdrivers.com)
- most of the 3Com ISA cards are jumperless non-PnP designs. You need to run a DOS config tool (iirc config.exe, to be found on the drivers disks) to set resources.
- once you have non-conflicting resources set, run the packet driver and if it works, put it in autoexec.bat (you can use LH to save conventional memory)
- use mtools for DHCP, FTP etc. Also put these in autoexec.bat when it all works.

Fantastic! Thank you bro!