Setting up your home network is very important for all types of gaming and internet related activities. This guide will show you how to setup your home network for flawless delivery of gaming, security, and speed.

The diagrams below show the setup of a Linksys Router configured behind a cable modem. If you have a different type of router or internet service provider, don't worry. These basics can be found on all brands of routers (some consultation with your user manual maybe necessary) and will work with all types of internet service providers.

This guide is provided as is. We do not warranty any information, security, or administration of your home network. We recommend that everyone be familiar with their gaming environment and deployment before flight simming for the maximum performance and playability. Don't be afraid to ask questions on the boards should you need further assistance.

 

STEP ONE: Configure a Static LAN Environment.

1. Backup your router settings. Most routers will allow you to backup your current router configuration to a file on your desktop. We recommend you do this should you need to revert back to your prior configuration.
   
   
2. Access the router administration / setup area. Today's routers allow for a web browser based setup and configuration. If you are unsure of how to access this area consult your user manual. For our example the Linksys setup area is accessible by opening a browser window to the router or gateway IP. (192.168.1.1) A username and password are necessary. Default access information and how to reset your admin access is located in your manual.
   
   

   

   
   
   
3. Disable the LAN DHCP Protocol. Usually located on the main setup or basic setup page you will see two areas. One is your WAN (Wide Area Network) the part of your network that access the internet through your cable modem. Do not make any changes to this area, it's working correctly or you could not see this page to begin with. The second is the LAN (Local Area Network) "Network Setup" area. Our changes apply to this area. Find the section to disable the DHCP protocol on your LAN and select "Disable". You may loose internet service temporarily, don't worry, complete this setup and you'll be fine.
   
   

   

   
   
   
4. Save The Settings. At the bottom of the page click the "Save Settings" button to save your configuration.
   
   

   

   
   
   
5. Locate and write down your Router Information. Before continuing locate on this page your Router IP address and Subnet Mask. Write these down for later use. Your Router IP will be the IP you used to get to the configuration and setup utility. For our example it was 192.168.1.1 (This confusingly can be called your LAN Gateway, Router Gateway, or Router Local IP Address)
   
   

   

   
   
   
6. Locate and write down your DNS IP Information. Locate the "Status" page in the router setup utility and verify you are on the "Router" tab where the Internet Configuration Type is viewable. Locate and write down the following information, we'll need it later, DNS 1 and DNS 2.
   
   

   

   
   
   
7. Forwarding ports. Before we leave the router setup forward the ports we are going to use.
   
   **NOTE** - We assume that the machine running Flight Sim (Gaming Machine) is set to the first IP address (192.168.1.101) You will see the "101" portion is needed in port forwarding. It defines the actual machine we need to forward the ports to. In our case the 101 is our gaming machine. This is the whole reason we use static IP assignment, we need to know that no matter what order we turn the machines on in the network, that our gaming machine will always have the dot 101 IP address. If you have other applications configured in your port forwarding area you will need to make sure the service listed routes back to the machine running the application.You may already have ports forwarded in this area. If so please add these additional ports to the page.
   
   

   

   
   
   **NOTE** - We assume that there are multiple machines on your network, hence the reason for the router. Each machine in this network, when we are done with this page, will have it's own unique IP address.
   
   Here are the ports we will forward.
   

STEP TWO - Configure your ethernet adaptors.

1. Open your Network Connections Setup. (START > Control Panel > Network Connections) Double click this icon to open the network adaptors area in Windows.
   
   

   

   
   
   
2. Open the Properties Page for your Local Area Connection. Locate on the network connections page your Local Area Connection (Wireless users will configure the wireless Network). Right click on the icon or list item and choose "Properties" as shown below.
   
   

   

   
   
   
3. Open the Internet Properties TCP / IP Settings. On the adaptor details page locate the "Internet Properties TCIP IP" in the list shown, left click once to highlight. Below and to the right click the "Properties" button as shown below.
   
   

   

   
   
   
4. Setup your new LAN IP, Subnet, and DNS Server Info. Here you will need the information you wrote down in step 5 and 6 of the router setup above.
   
   Select the radial button in this window to "Use the following IP Address" Here you will enter the LAN IP address of the machine. You will also enter the Subnet and Default Gateway as shown below. **NOTE** You must configure EACH machine on your network with it's own IP address. See picture in step 7 of the Router Configuration titled "Typical Network Configuration"..
   
   

   

   
   
   Next select the radial button to "Use the following DNS server addresses". Enter in the preferred DNS Server the IP address you wrote down in step 6 of the Router Configuration above. Now enter the alternate DNS Server IP. DNS1 is the same as preferred and DNS2 is the same as alternate.
   
   
5. Click the OK button to save the changes.
   
   
6. Reboot your machine and you should be back online.
   
   
7. You must configure each machine on the network with it's own IP address. (192.168.1.101 - 192.168.1.102 etc) Start at the beginning of this section step 1 to configure each machine on the network. When finished reboot each machine.

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