Starting out

Chose the connection

IP addressing

After you have build the network with the hardware it's time to think about the software. Lets start with the addressing. Every machine in the network should have it's own unique number. The IP address. If you are not going to connect your network to the internet the numbers you can assign could start at 0.0.0.1 for the first machine, 0.0.0.2 for the second, 0.0.0.3 for the third etc.

But most (private) networks will connect to the internet in some way. If you have assigned number(s) from previous example, it's possible that these numbers already exsist on the internet resulting in "strange" behaviour or not working at all. Therefore it's better to use special reserved numbers. The 192.168.x.x is one of these. it's reserved for private networks. The "x" in the number can be anything from 0 to 255.

Now start assigning number by writing them down. For my own network I have assigned 192.168.50.01 to the TT030 and 192.168.50.32 to the Falcon. Other numbers are possible of course.

Below is a table with all major settings of my own network between the Falcon and the TT030.

Route table(s)

Now we have to modify the routing tables on all machines. The routing table is a plain text file that tells STinG where to send what.

This file can be found in the STinG module folder and is called "ROUTE.TAB". Open this file in a text editor. Qed or Everest will do fine.

The route table on the Falcon

The first line tells STinG that all data send to IP:192.168.50.32 should go to the internal port. Thus it should not go to another machine at all. The second line tells STinG that all data send to IP:192.168.50.01 should be send to the Modem 2 port. If you have a midi connection between the two machines then it should be Midi. The last line tells STinG that all other data should be send to the Modem 2 port. The names used for the ports are the same as found in the STinG port cpx. Note that the names can be different on different machines!

The last line should always be the so called 'default' route.

The route table on the TT030

The route table from the TT030 is almost the same as the Falcon. Only the ports are different.

Now you have modified the route tables it's time to set the IP Addresses. So get your note you made when you assigned the IP numbers and open the port cpx from STinG. Go to the port you want to use and the assigned IP address in the port cpx. And don't forget to make it active.

After setting the IP address click on addressing and go to general. Set here the desired protocol. If this is done, save the settings. Activate "Reload Routing Table" And click "OK"

Now go to the STinG Internals cpx and make sure that STinG is active. If not, make it active and save the settings.

Repeat this on all machines that you what to connect to the network. Don't forget that all machines have their own IP address.

Another thing you should remember is to use the correct protocol. If the Falcon modem2 is connected to the TT030 modem2 and both machines have different protocols assigned, the connection will not work correct.

Testing the connection(s)

To test a connection you can use the STinG dialer. Just open the dialer and select 'PING' from the tools menu.

Fill in the IP address from the machine you want to reach. For example we want to test the connection between the Falcon and the TT030 using the Falcon. So we fill in the IP address from the TT030 and click 'OK'.

Another window will now appear showing what happens. If you have done every thing right the ping will work and you have a real network.

Often a connection does not work at first attempt. Check everything in your settings. Most often a connection does not work due to human errors. (It already costs me hours to look for small typing error).