text: how can i connect three computers on lan at minimum hardware cost??   get 3 network cards (nic). they are around $5. get a autoswitch (you can get a dlink dss-5+ for $15 on the net). and get 3 cat5e cables to connect with the switch (they are 3-5 $ each). often computers have a nic on board, so check first (control panel - system - hardware - device - mangager - network adapters) if you need a nic on each pc.