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How to Connect Two Computers With a Serial Cable

Edited bySuper_write and 6 others

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Example of the serial cable male connector computer cable
Example of the serial cable male connector computer cable

The connection by serial cable between one computer and another is a method that can be employed when recycling old equipment for new purposes. It is a method that you can do use to allow a channel of communication between the computers (or other like devices such as networking equipment control ports) when a more prevalent method of networking with RJ45 Ethernet networking is not available or desired.

Edit Steps

  1. 1
    First a cable must be obtained for the connection. For tips of how this can be done please see the #TIPS section of this page
  2. 2
    Enter the cable to each of the computers via the Serial port. It is important not to get confused between the "Serial Comms" port and the "Universal Serial Bus Port".
  3. 3
    Start up a Serial Communication program. Often people have a Windows by Microsoft operating system - and by a default the most used program for this is Hyper Terminals.
  4. 4
    Select the correct Serial Port from the File/New Connection menu item
  5. 5
    The two computers are now connected physically and a communication path has been created between them. You can now send text characters between the computers using the HyperTerminal application.

Edit Tips

    1. Often it is difficult to obtain the required cable these days due to the prevalence of other connection methods such as the light blue tooth and ethernet cat5e networks. Large chain stores often only cater to those with the latest equipment, but many smaller computer stores, computer markets and online retailers such as the online trade site ebay will be a good place to start looking
    2. Another potential source is for the construction to be done by yourself by matter of purchasing the connectors from an electrical hobbyist store and then obtaining by some method cable with four or more cores but no more than 9 cores (unless you are happy to leave some cores unused.).
  • If the connection does not appear to be working attempt the following:
    1. Attempt a different serial port number in the File/New Connection menu item in Hyper Terminal Windows program. Perhaps in the first instance you selected the incorrect port number. Each port has a unique assigned number used to address it.
    2. Test the connectivity of the serial cable itself using the conductivity test on a multimeter
  • Try downloading other software that will allow you to utilise the serial connection between the two computers that you have just created to transfer files between them.

Edit Warnings

  • It is not advisable to use multi-thread cable, a slightly better connection may be obtained by repurposing twisted pair cable (6-cores) from an old ethernet cable you may have
    Showing a difference of single and multicore cables plus what some cables use to shield the cores from outside undue electromagnetical interference.
    Showing a difference of single and multicore cables plus what some cables use to shield the cores from outside undue electromagnetical interference.

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Last edited:
January 4, 2012 by Yellowkippy

Categories:
Computers and Electronics

Recent edits by: Lukepm, Michelle, Teresa (see all)

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