Which protocols to choose?

Hi,

I would just stick with TCP/IP as my only protocol.

The reason being, it can be used for the LAN and for the internet. As long as both your machines are on the same subnet, have a unique IP address, unique computer name, same workgroup, then you should have no problems whatsoever.

If you're getting an IP addrss from the router, then it'll do all the work for you. All you have to do is get rid of un-necessary network components.

Communication across the network will be faster too.

So, here's what I would recommend for your network components:

Client for MS networks
File and Printer Sharing
TCP/IP (with a static or dynamic IP, your choice)

that's it! get rid of everything else :)

good luck,

You are runnign way overkill, and frankly have the potential for a large number of problems.

Here's what I would suggest:

Enable your router as a firewall. Disable/deny access to all inbound connections. If set up properly, a hardware firewall is always better than a software one.

Your hardware firewall will make both Zonealarm and the XP firewall superflous. If you are super paranoid leave Zonealarm installed. You don't need 3 firewalls (you don't really need 2).
QoS Packet Scheduler - not needed in a simple home environment.

SAP Agent - not needed if you aren't running any SAP applications. Delete it.

NetBEUI - not needed if using TCP/IP. Not even installed in XP by default. Protocol is routable. Delet it.

Network Monitor Driver - not needed in a simple home environment unless you just want to see what it does. Delete it unless you want to play with it.

IPX/SPX - mainly used for a Novell environment. Not necessary if running TCP/IP. Delete it.

Themore protocols you have running, the harder it is to troubleshoot when something breaks. You won't know where to start.

Security - Assuming your hardware firewall does its job of stopping all incoming connections, noone will be able to see anything inside your network to attack.

BTW, what I have described above is exactly what I am running at home. I have a Linksys firewall (vs. D-link). I at one time had BlackIce Defender installed. But since I wasn't getting any hits (the Linksys box was catching everything), I uninstalled it.

Having said all this, the more holes you open through any firewall (hardware or software) (for things like Internet games, video conferencing, remote control, etc.), the more you open yourself up to attack.

You should run all the protocols you need.
You should NOT run any protocol that you don't need.
Which protocol you need depends on what you are doing. Running StarCraft over the Internet requires TCP/IP. Running StarCraft locally in the Home Area Network reqires IPX/SPX (for reasons must be wrong) so I have both loaded on my home computers that play StarCraft.
I agree - you probably have too much loaded in the protocol department. Each of those takes up a bit of system resources, taking that away from the work you are trying to get done.

Less is more.

I have a similar setup for my family net, and use TCPIP for the net and NetBEUI for the LAN.
Works fine through Motorola cablemodem and Linksys router.

IF you have games you play on local network, keep IPX/SPX, otherwise NetBEUI works fine also.

Don't know why you'd need SAP Agent, but maybe you do. Network Monitor Driver is for Microsoft's watered down Network Monitor (works ok, but limited).

Be sure to unbind TCPIP from Printer/File sharing in Advanced Settings.

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