Hi,

 

Please excuse my complete inexperience when it comes to networking.  I don't mind getting my hands dirty (can even enjoy it) but would like to get some basic advice on where to start and just as importantly make sure I have what I need to get started.

 

What I have:

 

New Build Rig (i7-4790k) with Main monitor

Old Build Rig (i7-2600) with auxiliary monitor

---Presently these are being used separately and are both connected to the internet through separate wired connections to my router.  These computers are not presently networked together

P3d 2.5

Simpluggins Panel Builder

Active Sky Next

 

What I would like to do:

 

1) Setup the network to get the two computers to talk to each other through the router.  Not sure where to start here? 

 

2) Have Active sky next and Panel Builder operate from the old build rig and communicate/work with P3d on the New Build Rig

 

Questions I have:

 

a) If I network the two computers together can they still access the internet through the same router through the same cable

 

b) Do I have everything I need to accomplish this (software/hardware) etc

 

Thanks for the help

Activesky will work through simconnect.  You just need to install it on the second computer (non FSX) and then there is a small program you copy over and run on your FSX machine.  That's it.  Done.

 

FSInn works by installing it on both machines.

 

 

Most other programs like ACARS, FS Real Time, PlanG, etc. will require a registered copy of FSUIPC plus WIDEFS to communicate between the two machines.

 

And finally it is very useful for programs like PFPX but for this you only need to have the two computers talking on your home network and you copy over files (flightplan, weather, etc) into the correct folders for FSX to use them.  The main issue to sharing the folders correctly and that can be a bit of a pain but generally simple.  The key is making sure the permissions for EVERYONE is set up correctly to write and read files in the appropriate folders.  

 

Hope this helps get you started.

 

And to answer your other question, yes they both use the same router/internet.

Thanks Mark.  Ill give that a go.  I assume things work the same in P3D as they do in FSX as far as networking, etc

Hi,

 

Please excuse my complete inexperience when it comes to networking. I don't mind getting my hands dirty (can even enjoy it) but would like to get some basic advice on where to start and just as importantly make sure I have what I need to get started.

 

What I have:

 

New Build Rig (i7-4790k) with Main monitor

Old Build Rig (i7-2600) with auxiliary monitor

---Presently these are being used separately and are both connected to the internet through separate wired connections to my router. These computers are not presently networked together

P3d 2.5

Simpluggins Panel Builder

Active Sky Next

 

What I would like to do:

 

1) Setup the network to get the two computers to talk to each other through the router. Not sure where to start here?

 

2) Have Active sky next and Panel Builder operate from the old build rig and communicate/work with P3d on the New Build Rig

 

Questions I have:

 

a) If I network the two computers together can they still access the internet through the same router through the same cable

 

b) Do I have everything I need to accomplish this (software/hardware) etc

 

Thanks for the help

If they are connected to the same router, they are probably already "networked" together. Or, on the same local area network and should already be able to "talk" to each other. You can test by going to each computer and getting to a command prompt. Not sure what o/s you are running. The instructions are different for each on how to get there. Win7 you should be able to click the start button and just type "cmd" in the search text box. Not sure for win8 but again, if you can get to a "search" box, just type "cmd" there too. Once at this prompt, type "ipconfig" and hit enter. This command will tell you your network settings. The most important one here being the IP address. Each computer should have its own unique one. They will probably be something like 192.168.0.2 or similar. Once you know both,from one computer at the command prompt, type "ping " and the IP address of the other computer. So, if you're on computer that has IP address 192.168.0.2 and the other computer is 192.168.0.3, type "ping 192.168.0.3" and hit enter. You should see four lines of "reply from..." If it has four lines of "request timed out..." Or something other than reply from, then something is wrong there. Start there and report back the results.

 

Also, yes, both computers should have Internet access as well as access to each other.

Thanks Mark.  Ill give that a go.  I assume things work the same in P3D as they do in FSX as far as networking, etc

 

Yes, I think so.

Thanks Kevin!   I appreciate that!  I am using Win7 btw

If you simply connect both computers to the router, you're good to go. That easy.

 

However, with ActiveSky, please do some testing. I have heard mutterings that performance is actually worse when ASN is on another computer. That being said, had a quick search and couldn't find any indication of that. But might be worth doing a test, or someone else posting either way

If you simply connect both computers to the router, you're good to go. That easy.

 

However, with ActiveSky, please do some testing. I have heard mutterings that performance is actually worse when ASN is on another computer. That being said, had a quick search and couldn't find any indication of that. But might be worth doing a test, or someone else posting either way

 

Interesting, I have never observed this to be an issue.

Ok, so I tried the ping command to see if the two computers are networked together and the new rig can ping the old rig and get a perfect response but the old rig does not get a response from the new rig.  Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.  I am sure it is probably something basic :-)

Fixed it...one computer was setup as public the other as home

 

 

Most other programs like ACARS, FS Real Time, PlanG, etc. will require a registered copy of FSUIPC plus WIDEFS to communicate between the two machines

I don't know about the other programs but I believe PlanG doesn't require WIDEFS to  communicate between two networked Pcs. It can use simconnect or just FSUIPC4 and requires you to choose and configure the transfer protocol yourself. It's all explained in the free downloadable PlanG manual. I'll be sticking to FlightMap on my Nexus 10 myself until I have a lot more time on my hands!

I can confirm this.  I have Plan-G working over the network (using simconnect) and presently do not have FSUIPC.

I can confirm this.  I have Plan-G working over the network (using simconnect) and presently do not have FSUIPC.

Hey Brett, how has your performance been with Plan-G? I heard it can be a bit laggy and possibly a bit more than I need at this stage on flight sim career (only about a month or two of building, tinkering, tweaking and occasionally flying). I currently use FlightMap for my Nexus 10 which has a servicably GPS and moving map. Is Plan-G and say Flight Commander for when you are more experienced with IFR and VFR navigation and you want to create more complex plans which use authentic flight plans and can integrate with the likes of Active Sky? I still don't know half the acronyms involved in navigation, really need to sit down and do some study!

Thanks man!

Hi Little Paulio,

 

It has worked fine for me.  I haven't really seen it as being laggy, but to be honest I haven't used it extensively and have primarily used it as a alternate map/flight planner that I can use if I get lost.  I have just recently got everything up and running and playing well with each other (ASN, Plan-G, Panel Builder on the network computer).  Sorry I couldn't be a whole bunch more help

No, that's great thanks. I was looking into ASN, does that require your secondary PC to be relatively powerful? Mines a three years old laptop with a dual core i5 at about 2.3Ghz , 4GB Ram and a discrete nvidia GC which ran Skyrim pretty well at the time. I assume the FSX PC has quite a bit of processing and rendering to do with ASN in game (correct me if im wromg)/so I'm hoping my laptop will do the job. Sorry for all the questions, that's the last one I promise. If you don't know, that's fine, it wouldn't kill me to do some research myself!

Cheers man!