A Home network system come in two basic types. These are cabled (or wired) or wireless. Whichever type home network system you opt for, you basically find out that they both will have some of the same types of equipment, although the specifics will differ between the two.
For any two parts of the network to talk to each other, there has to be a route between them. In a wired network, this is done by physical means – the cables (generally cat 5 or Ethernet cables). These cables come in lengths varying from a few feet to hundreds of yards long. There is a limit to how long a cable can be before a router or a switch must be put in between cables; however, this is a lot longer than most people setting up a home network will need to be concerned with.
With a wireless network, you can’t see the path between components, but they are no less real. Instead of cables, radio waves carry data. Though they may be affected by interference, just as a radio or TV signal, this is almost never an issue in a home network, almost never. Be aware though that metal inside your walls, microwaves, solar flares and the like can interfere with a wireless signal. Even walls can reduce the strength of a wireless signal.
When setting up our home network, you’ll need some equipment to send and receive the signals that will be carried, whether by radio or cables. A network interface card (or NIC), typically an Ethernet card is one component that you will need. These are common and very inexpensive and come in different range of speeds, anywhere between 10MB and 1 GB. The speeds depend on the card you use – a 802.11g wireless network works at 54MB per second, while a 802.11b network runs at 11MB per second. As prices keep dropping, the lower speeds are becoming less commonly seen.
A network interface card can be either cabled or wireless. The cards in two different devices on a network are hardly ever connected directly by cables, but rather are connected to a switch or a router.A switch is a simple device; it’s like a box with ports for the Ethernet cables to connect to. They are extremely inexpensive and work well for networks which don’t need an internet connection. Routers are more commonly used these days though; sometimes multiple routers will be used by home network builders.
A router does exactly as the name implies; it directs network traffic. It performs this function by means of IP addresses and software created for sending and receiving data between devices. Routers can be either wireless or cabled. Each can be found in many different models from different manufacturers. There are different built in software’s with different functionality; some feature antivirus software built in. These routers differ in their number of ports (which decides how many devices can be plugged in to the router). There is also a difference in the speeds at which they operate; they may not run at the speed they are rated at. For instance, a router rated at 54MB may actually run at 6MB.
There are other components which will be part of your home network, such as a cable, DSL or satellite modem for internet connection. The devices listed above are what you’ll need to get started though with the basic set up of your home networks system..
By: Joseph Nyamache
Posts Tagged ‘Cat 5’
Setting a Home Network System
February 10th, 2010Home Networking
February 4th, 2010
Setting up Your Home Network
As society and technology change, it’s becoming common for homes to have more than one computer. When an existing computer is a few years old, parents will often take advantage of today’s lower prices, purchase a new computer, and pass the old one down to the kids.
Suddenly, there’s a need for a home network, so all computers in the house can share an files, printers and an Internet connection. Fortunately, setting up a basic home network is not rocket science. To start, you’ll need a router which becomes the central point of your network. Most office and electronics stores offer home networking kits with a router, ethernet (network) adapters and CAT-5 networking cable.
If your computer was assembled in the past five years, it probably already has an ethernet adapter. Check the back of the system unit for a port that looks like a telephone jack, but slightly bigger.
If you don’t have an ethernet adapter, you can purchase one (about $20) and install it yourself. You can also use a special ethernet adapter that plugs into a USB port, if you can’t stand the thought of opening your system unit to install an ethernet adapter.
Wired or Wireless Networking?
You’ll need to connect each of your computers to the router with a cable, or go wireless. If you want to use wireless connections, you’ll need a wireless router and a wireless adapter for each computer. Most laptops have a wireless adapter built in, most desktop models do not. If you need a wireless adapter, you can purchase one that installs inside the system unit, or get a USB-style adapter.
Having a wireless network eliminates the need to string unsightly cables all around the house, but it can also create a security risk. Wireless networks are often configured by default to allow access to any computer that attempts to connect. So an Evil Hacker driving by with a laptop (or even your neighbor) might be able to tap into your Internet connection or poke around your hard disk.
Fortunately, wireless security encryption is easy to set up. See my article Wireless Security for step-by-step instructions.
Network Configuration
Whether the network signals travel through wires or through the air, network resources must still be shared so that other computers can access them. If you are running Windows XP or MacOS X, all you have to do is connect your computers and high-speed modem to the router, and Internet connection sharing should just work like magic. If not, restart the cable modem, router, and the computers (in that order) and see if that does the trick. If you can’t access the Internet from one or more computers on the network, consult the manual that came with your router.
One nice side benefit of having a router is that they have firewalls built in to the hardware. Firewalls protect you by hiding your computers from network attacks, but still allow you to surf the web and handle email. So after installing a router, you can turn OFF the Windows firewall and any other software-based firewalls you may have running.
Sharing Files and Printers
Sharing files and printers on a Windows network is also pretty painless. To share a printer, go into the Printers section of the Control Panel, right-click the icon for the printer that needs to be shared, and choose Sharing from the resulting menu. By assigning a name to the shared printer, the owner allows other computers on the network to access the printer by browsing using their Network Neighborhood (or My Network Places) icons. Access can be restricted to only some computers or users through the use of the Security or Permissions options on the Sharing screen.
The same concept applies for shared file and folders on a network. For example, if you want to share a collection of MP3 files on a home network, just browse to the folder using the My Computer icon, right-click the folder name and choose Sharing. After assigning a name to the shared resource and setting Permissions other computers on the network can access that resource via Network Neighborhood or My Network Places.
By: Bob Rankin
How to Build a Simple Home Network System
October 19th, 2009
Many people have relatively uncomplicated needs for their home networks. Even now that multiple computers within a single home are common, the systems are often not networked, with file transfer being done by means of “sneaker net”, or copying files to and from a CD or by Sending files via email.
This is a great time to build your own home network, if you have always wanted to. The costs and the complexity of the systems are lower than ever. Just getting past the technical terminology used is the biggest barrier for many new home network builders. The equipment you’ll need is pretty simple. You’re going to need Cat-5 (or Ethernet) cables for a wired network. Think about where you plan to set up your computers to determine how much cable you’re going to need and then add on about 1/5 more cable than that – you always need a little more than you think. If you plan to build a wireless network, you can skip the cables.
You’ll also need a switch or a router for all of these cables (or radio waves if it’s a wireless network) to connect to. A hub or a switch is just a box with ports to plug cables into – a switch has slightly more functionality than does a hub. A router is better and can handle internet connection sharing; it is almost a must for a home network. I say almost because you can use one of the computers on your network to handle internet connection sharing. However, it is in most cases far easier to just use a router instead of tying up a lot of the resources of one of your computers dealing with connection sharing.
You’re also going to need Network Interface Cards (or NICs) in each computer, printer or any other device you want to be on the network. These can be your standard 10/100 ethernet cards or 802.11b/g cards which can be used for a wireless network. If you are building a wired network, you can use Ethernet equipment with 10MB or 100MB speeds. They are both so inexpensive, that there is really no reason not to go for the 100MB equipment. These devices generally support equipment which runs in the older standard as well. There is also Gigabit Ethernet, but this is prohibitively expensive for many building a home network.
Install, attach and/or setup all hardware as per the manufacturers’ directions. Every device on the network needs to have at least one IP address of its own. IP addresses are those numbers you may have seen on the internet before, such as: 70-1-2-125. On a home network, your IP addresses will look like 192.168.0.1 or 10.121.0.1.
Your IP numbering should begin with the router. This device is the center of your network; imagine a star with rays of light emanating from it. Each cable or wireless signal is one of these rays of light. The ends of these rays are where your devices are. If the router has the number 192.168.0.1, then computers and other device should be numbered 192.168.0.2, 192.168.0.3. Don’t assign the same address to two devices.
You’ll have to read the manual for your router for the specifics on how to assign these addresses, as well as the documentation for your computer’s operating system.
By: Joseph Nyamache
