Thread: Home Networking: How do I make Mac/Linux/Windows all talking to each other over a wireless network?

The equipments:- Mac- Few windows laptops (all on XP)- Linksys wireless router- Linux box (planning to buy, but not bought yet, most likely to be a desktop connected to the linksys router thru a physical ethernet cable).Ideally, I want to be able to access all the diff machines by hostnames.My need: Need to be able to use Linux machine as a mysql server, and want to be able to connect to it from php/apache running on my mac/windows.Problem: Linksys wireless router assigns a diff IP address to the windows machines everytime. Is it possible to make it fixed (like 192.168.1.101)?I guess there is nothing more I need to buy, but if you know any product helps making things smoother, please let me know. And some detailed steps or DIY links will be appreciated.Thanks in advance!I hear something named Hamachi (pivate VPN software) is freely available .. yet to try that out.

All of these will talk very nicely with each other. With OSX and Linux you will need SAMBA, (part of the OS) to communicate with windows. But they will all "file and printer share" without issues (provided you have the printer drivers etc)DHCP will still work just fine, you will be able to find them by hostname! If you run MySql on linux, it probably will need a "static" ip assigned so it doesn't move, just put that machine "outside" the DHCP pool range, works fine. Make it something like 192.168.1.10 not in the 100-150 DHCP pool range!!!!! (that is linksys default range for DHCP it can be changed)(added -- Run your apache server on the linux box as well!!!!!! you really don't want apache on windows, why???)Of course you can its just a network! Here are some great starting points.http://www.mac-connect.com/win_from_mac.phphttp://www.reallylinux.com/docs/basicnetworking.shtml(your distribution of linux makes a slight difference so which disto you use, will probably also have a tutorial! Ubuntu has a good one!)https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SettingUpSambaIt isn't hard, just setup the systems.Good LuckOh forgot,, Hamachi is ok but what do you need it for? If all these are LOCAL you don't need a VPN, VPN's are for creating a private network over the internet!