So I have a simple question (maybe, I don't know.) I live in Michigan and have my own network. My brother lives in Texas on his own network. How can we set it up so our networks act as one or to the effect?
You need to setup a site-to-site VPN tunnel. Then your networks can network with each other. You'll need to have a firewall or VPN concentrator that can do the VPN action. I recommend pfSense for this.
I hope you have a sick internet connection...most residential connections limit uploads big time. Pretty much making it a pain in the ass to host files/website, sharing large files over VPN, etc...