Home Networks
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Home Networks and Networking
Do you have more
than a single PC in your home or home office? Do you need to share a
printer or other devices? Do you have more than one printer or other
multi-function device? Do you have a PDA, a digital camera, scanner,
MP3 player, game controllers (heaven forbid!), a wireless keyboard, Zip or
other external drive, label printers or other devices that connect to your
PC using USB (Universal Serial Bus) interfaces? Do you have a
broadband connection to the Internet?
If you have
any or all of the above, there's a good chance you already have or
desperately need some type of home networking infrastructure. Home
networks and networking come in many shapes and sizes (and price ranges!).
As usual, the more you have that you want to connect and/or share, the
more complex your network will become (nothing is simple, no matter what
the manufacturer might lead you to believe). So let's begin by
taking a quick look at the technologies that are the building blocks for
your home network (and what they're good for).
"Wired" Networks
"Wired" networks, as you might expect, use a cable and a
"port" or "interface" on your PCs or other devices to make a connection.
There are five main types of "wired" networking technologies that are
prevalent in home office environments. They are:
- USB (Universal Serial Bus) - is a
"plug-and-play" interface between your computer and all the devices that
need to connect to it - keyboards, scanners, printers, cameras - you
name it. USB supports a data rate of 12 megabits per second.
When the number of devices you need to connect to your PC outnumbers the
number of USB ports you have on it, then it's time for a USB hub.
USB hubs go for between $12 and $50 for four to eight ports.
Specialized hubs that connect printers and memory may cost more.
Using special software (like LapLink or PC Anywhere) you can also use an
USB connection to transfer files between two PCs. For more
information on this capability see our Software
page. For a quick look at a USB implementation, click on the
picture above and to your right.
- Phoneline Networks - Phoneline networks
use the telephone wiring in your house to connect your PCs. Using
a method known as Frequency-Division Multiplexing (FDM), phoneline
networks put the data from your PC on separate frequencies from the the
voice traffic on your phone lines. The result is that the
telephone wiring in your home can actually support PC-to-PC transmission
(at speeds up to 10 Mbps, and 25 devices) your DSL connection (if that
is what you have) and your telephone calls! Phoneline networks are
cheap - but don't even think of putting one in if you believe the
telephone wiring in your house isn't up to "snuff". You'll need an
adapter card for each PC you want to network, some standard telephone
cord and a phoneline bridge (if you're just connecting the PCs or your
need to extend a connection) and/or router (to connect to your DSL/cable
service and share the connection between the PCs). You should
expect to spend around $200-250 for your phoneline network.
- Powerline Networks - Powerline
networks, like phoneline networks use the wiring in your house - only
this time, it's the electrical wiring. Newer Powerline networks
use another form of multiplexing called Orthogonal Frequency-Division
Multiplexing (say that 4 times very fast!) that separates the electrical
system into 84 frequencies upon which data is sent and received
simultaneously. This makes this technology much faster (14
Mbps) than older powerline technologies that maxed out at 350 Kbps.
All you need for a powerline network is a kit (available from companies
like Intelogis) that will connect two computers and a printer for about
$60. Some powerline networks still use the parallel port on your
printer (the need for the kit) although newer ones know use the USB
port. Again, if you're in an old house and you're not feeling very
good about the wiring, better to choose another networking method!
- Ethernet using Twisted Pair Cable (Cat5e)
- Building a new home? Doing some remodeling? Putting in
your new home theater system? Or are you just plain feeling rich?
If any of the above apply, then investing the time and money on "wiring
your house for data" could be for you. If you're not a good "Mr.
or Ms. Fixit", then you'll have to find a contractor to do the
installation (you can find one at the
Future Home Guild website - they have a directory of Home Network
Installers!), however, the benefit is that you can realize network
speeds of 100 Mbps and add to the value of your home at the same
time. You'll need Ethernet (the most prevalent standard for Local
Area Networks - LANs) cards, a bridge or router (depending upon how or
whether you want to connect to a broadband modem, cable, connectors,
ties and your contractor! You should expect to spend $500 to $700
just on the "components" (labor extra, and changes to your home are
extra!).
- FireWire (400 or 800) - is the most
common ways for cameras and hard drives to connect to your system.
Data rates reach 400 or 800Mbps (FireWire 400, FireWire 800) and
FireWire support "plug and play" device addition to your system.
FireWire ports/hubs can connect up to 63 devices that can be chained
together in a variety of configurations.
Wireless Networks
If you're like us and don't always like to sit in your
office while you're working (maybe you need to watch the dinner you're
cooking or would rather work out by the pool) and you own a laptop or
tablet computer, then a wireless network could be just the ticket.
There are two basic wireless technologies that are used, either to connect
devices (phones, PDAs) and computers or to truly "network" your desktops
and laptops.
- Bluetooth - Bluetooth technology
is principally designed as a method for "multi-function" cell phones
(PDA and phones "in one" like the Palm "Treo") PDAs and computers
to synchronize files, address books, calendars, specific documents and
task lists. Bluetooth requires an embedded Bluetooth "chip" or
"transceiver" in all devices that will be connected (only now coming on
the market). Bluetooth's range is very short (10 meters - around
33 feet) and relatively slow (between 1 and 2 Mbps version 1, 10Mbps
version 2), so it's designed
more to help you move small amounts of data between devices rather than
to truly "network" your home.
- Wi-Fi - or "wireless fidelity"
networks are all the rage. Whether in your home, corporate offices
or at one of the public Wi-Fi "hotspots" (been to Starbucks lately?) -
the ability to network your PCs at 11 Mbps (802.11b standard) or 54
Mbps (802.11g standard - or 108Mbps using dual antennas and MIMO
technology) while you cook dinner, watch TV, sit by the pool
or sip your coffee at Starbucks, is attractive and a real time-saver. Wi-Fi has greater range than Bluetooth (1,000 feet in open areas, 250 to
400 feet in closed areas) and you can get "signal boosters" to
strengthen the signal if you want to go beyond the "limits" of the
network. You'll need Wi-Fi cards for all your PCs ($25.00 to
$50.00)
and and "access point" or "wireless router" ($40.00
to $300.00). The best part is that you can use the wireless card you
purchased for your home wireless network "on the road" to access the
Internet from one of the Wi-Fi "hotspots". Two functions in one!
Ready to network? Know just type type you need?
Great! We'll cover the following equipment areas:
Want to read more about home networks? Try:
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