Home Networking: A Quick 'n Dirty Networking Primer

by Charles Fulton
Summer/Fall 2004

OK, so you've finally decided that now is the time to get your home network off the ground. You've rolled up your sleeves, buckled down to do some research on networking components and, quite honestly, gotten completely lost.

Well, don't despair: it's happened to lots of us. The adaptability and flexibility of modern networking equipment doesn't make it easy to understand. Many companies are working to make networking easier to deploy in the home. To grasp the kinds of equipment you will need, be sure to read Eight Hot Product Guides You Gotta See in the January 2004 Digital Edition of Smart TV and Sound, available on our Web site. Let's start by discussing the basics of networking to help you find your way.

Wired or Wireless?
First and foremost, choose whether you want to build a wired or a wireless network. This is one of the most important choices to make, but depending on your circumstances, it may be one of the easiest.

Wired networks offer the highest data transmission speeds along with the most security for the home or office. The drawback is that if you're installing a LAN (Local Area Network) in an existing home, you'll be crawling around to pull cable through floors, walls and ceilings. For those of us easily wigged out by the creepy-crawlies in the attic or crawl space, this immediately rules out the use of traditional Ethernet wired networking. If you're fortunate enough to be building a new home, this is the absolute best time to run some Ethernet cable: after framing is complete, but before drywall is installed. Have your electrical contractor throw another piece of Cat-5 (Ethernet cable) in the wall wherever you have a TV coax or telephone and route all of the cable runs to a central location (a hallway closet will do nicely).

On the other hand, you can install wireless Ethernet (Wi-Fi) in a home with a minimum of fuss. There are no cables to run. The limitations are simply a matter of range. However, if there are several walls between your access point and the devices on your network, you will probably run into some reception issues. These issues may be crippling, especially if you have a steel-framed home.

Complicating wireless networking is the fact that standards are still "up in the air" so to speak. While 802.11b and 802.11g have emerged as the most popular protocols, some manufacturers are using newer frequency bands.

Bringing in the 'Net
The next consideration is how to connect to the Internet. If you have a broadband connection (particularly one that includes a modem with an Ethernet jack on the back), this is simply a matter of placing an Ethernet or Wi-Fi router between the modem and the devices on the network. (Caution: If your service isn't provided by your local phone company or cable system, there may be other considerations. For example, your provider's terms of service may explicitly forbid performing this procedure.) Make sure you have your login name and password handy:

1. Use your operating system's or service provider's broadband connection utility to disconnect your current Internet connection.

2. You can usually uninstall this connection utility at this point, since leaving it on your computer will only cause confusion down the road. You can also usually root out and delete any PPPoE connections left in your system's networking control panel. Just make sure that you have TCP/IP and DHCP installed (they probably already are).

3. Physically disconnect your broadband modem from your computer's Ethernet jack. Connect it to your new router.

4. Consult your router's documentation to enter its configuration utility. This is where you will enter your user name and password. You'll also check the status on your network and set up any blocking that you may wish to implement, if supported. Follow the procedures in the documentation.

From now on, whenever you connect to the Internet, you'll be connecting via your new router. This also makes it a snap to add devices to your network and the added benefit is the ability to share music and video files through the LAN.

Adding Devices
Now that you have deployed your LAN, the possibilities for devices that you can add to it are nearly endless. The only thing to look out for is whether the devices you want to add are for wired or wireless networks. Then, enjoy shopping for the cornucopia of devices for your network, including networked DVD players, media clients, DVRs and more.

Adding devices is perhaps the easiest part of setting up your network. The basic crux of the matter is pointing your new devices to your router's DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server, so each device can acquire an IP address and locate the other devices on the LAN.

Some devices (e.g. media-playing appliances) require a server program be running somewhere on the LAN so it can perform certain tasks, (e.g. accessing music that lives on various computers elsewhere on your LAN). The finer details of each device are (hopefully) outlined in its documentation.

There You Have It
The home network of your dreams is now at your fingertips. Enjoy your newfound freedom to access your music, video or other resources from various places in your home.