Install a NIC into each computer that you want to connect to the network.

Installing a network card is just like installing an audio adapter, internal modem, or other expansion card. You open the computer case (usually the hardest part), remove the slot cover from an open expansion slot, insert the NIC into the slot, and secure it with the screw that held the slot cover in place.

If your network card is a PC Card, insert it into your laptop.

Find a central location for the hub and plug it into a power socket.

Once everything is connected, you won't need to access the hub unless there's a problem, so you can put it somewhere out of sight, such as behind a piece of furniture. (In corporate offices, it's often hidden away in a wiring closet.) Your best bet is to find a location central to your computers, so that you can keep cable lengths to a minimum.

Insert one end of a cable into the NIC on each computer, run it to the hub, and plug the other end into a hub port.

You can run the cables from the computers to the hub in almost any way you wish: behind furniture, through walls, or inside drop ceilings.

Note, however, that two things can threaten the health of your cables: pinching and electromagnetic interference. Don't walk on your cables, rest furniture on them, or secure them to baseboards with standard square staples. You should also avoid running cables near fluorescent light fixtures, electric motors, nuclear reactors, and the like.

Finally, when you connect the computer cable to the hub, don't use the port marked Uplink or Crossover. It's for connecting hubs together or sharing a cable modem or DSL router among all the computers on your network.