Now, with both NICs installed in the computers, you are ready to connect them. As we mentioned in Step 1, this will include hooking the cables into a hub which will have several jacks to accept a number of cables..usually either 4, 8 or more.

Buy cables that are high quality so that they can be used if you later decide to upgrade your network to fast ethernet. These quality cables are often called Category 5 cables. These look like phone wires, but actually have eight small connectors in the plug.

Here's what the hub and cable will look like.

You'll find similar plugs in the back of the NICs now in your computer. Once all of the cables are installed, you are ready to power up the hub (usually just connecting a power supply), start up your computers and go to next step.