How to share files using LAN cable

Sharing data over LAN cable is an obvious thing in 2020, but when it comes to sharing an entire drive you have a huge amount of files to transfer then probably you need to use the LAN cable method, unlike the WIFI and USB transfer. So here it the step by step guide below.

Share Files Between Two Computers Using LAN Cable

Step 1: Connect Both PCs With LAN Cable

Connect both computers to a LAN cable

Step 2: Enable Network Sharing on Both PCs

Turn on Network Sharing on both computers to exchange files between them. Make sure you do this on both PCs. 

To enable sharing, go to the Start menu and search “Control Panel”. Once you see it, click on it, to open it.

Once the Control Panel window opens, click on Network and Internet.

In the next dialogue box, open Network and Sharing Center

On the left-hand side of the ‘Network and Sharing Center’ window, click on “Change advanced sharing settings”.

Here, you’ll find three networks – Public, Private, and All Network. choose “All Networks“.

Next, expand All Networks by clicking on the drop-down icon. Here, we need to enable Public Sharing so that the PCs can access files from each other over the LAN cable. To avoid more configuration, just turn off password protected sharing.

By doing so, you enable the other computer to access shared data without providing any credentials. Once you are done with file sharing, make sure you Turn on password protected sharing.

Once done, click Save Changes. Just as I said in the beginning, repeat the same steps for the other PC.

Step 3: Setup Static IP

To set up a Static IP, open Control Panel, browse to Network and Internet and click on Network Sharing Center

On the next window, you will see the active connections which should be Ethernet, since both PCs are connected with a physical LAN cable. Click on the Ethernet link. A new dialog box will open, here click on the Properties button.

In the next pop-up, select “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)”. Now, click on Properties. This will open another dialogue box.

Here, you need to configure the two PCs with different IP settings.

On computer 1, select the option “Use the following IP address.” and, put the following values

• IP Address: 192.168.1.1

• Subnet mask: 225.225.225.0

• Default gateway: 192.168.1.2

it’s not necessary you use these IP addresses. You can use any Class A or B IP address. In case you are not sure what this all means, better stick with these.

On the second computer, do similar steps, but flip the IP address and Default gateway values

• IP address: 192.168.1.2

• Subnet mask: 225.225.225.0

• Default gateway: 192.168.1.1

Next, open your Window’s File Explorer and click on Network tab at the left side of the window.

If you have set up everything right, both the PCs should appear in this Network window on both computers. Now, you can just click on the other PC’s icon and browse the file. But wait, you still need to configure one last setting.

Step 4: Share a folder

Next, select the folder you want to share and right-click on it. From the context menu, navigate to “Give access to” and select the option “Specific People.”

In the File Sharing window, choose everyone from the drop-down menu. Click on the add button next to it and finally hit the Share button.

That’s it. Just go back to the other PC from where you want to access the file, open the Networks panel, and click on the other computer’s name.

Here, you will see the folder you just shared. From there, just open the folder and transfer the files and folders as you normally do. i.e, by copy and paste. Similarly, you can repeat the same steps from the other computer.

NOTE:

This method would work only between Windows PC. For Mac or Linux, you need to use a different file sharing agent.