The idea of creating your own network may sound hideously complex - and a little boring - but a home network could be the most useful bit of technology you'll have. Once all your computers are connected together, you'll find it easy to share files, printers and even your broadband internet connection. What's more, lots of new devices have networking built in. So, whether you want to browse the internet using your mobile or stream video, audio and pictures to the media player connected to your TV, a home network is the only way to go.
If you think the idea sounds complex, don't worry. Setting up a network is a lot easier than it used to be. In this feature, we'll explain what kit you need to get your home networked, how to configure your network and how to set up a secure and reliable wireless network. This month's cover disc also includes articles on how to share files in Windows Vista and XP and how to troubleshoot network problems.
Choosing your kitWhen installing a network at home, there are three main types of technology available: wireless, wired (Ethernet, which is built into all PCs) and powerline, which uses your home's power cables as a wired network. All three types of network are compatible with each other. A reliable home network could use a mix of different technologies, playing to each one's strengths. Our table opposite shows you what each type of networking technology is good for, but we also explain them in more detail below.
WirelessWireless networking, using a wireless router, is a convenient way to connect computers and other devices without having to run cables everywhere. The downside is that it provides the slowest connections, which can also be unreliable. For that reason, wireless is best suited for mobile devices. For example, if you want to use your laptop anywhere in your house or garden, wireless is the best choice.
You can use a USB adaptor to make any PC wireless. This is a cheap and efficient way of connecting a computer to your network, but unfortunately the further it is from your router, the slower the speed of the connection will be. For that reason, we recommend that you use wireless only with PCs that aren't going to be doing a lot of file sharing.
Wired (Ethernet)Ethernet is technically the best way to network at home, as it uses dedicated cabling to carry your data. Networks are built by connecting one end of a cable to a device and the other end into a network switch.
There are two types of Ethernet generally available. The most common type (10/100Mbit/s) provides speeds of up to 100Mbit/s. Gigabit Ethernet, which runs at 1,000Mbit/s, is becoming more common and is backwardly compatible with slower Ethernet networks. To run at full Gigabit Ethernet speed, you'll need devices, cables and a network switch to support it.
A wireless router contains a network switch, but most of these support only the 10/100Mbit/s standard. It's possible to upgrade by buying a dedicated Gigabit Ethernet switch (a five-port model will cost around £20) and connecting a cross-over Ethernet cable to connect one port on the new switch to a spare port on the router. To achieve Gigabit speed, you then need to connect all your Gigabit Ethernet devices to ports on the new switch. This upgrade is worthwhile only if you're going to be copying a lot of large files over the network.
The problem with Ethernet is that, to use it all around your home, you have to install dedicated wiring. This is potentially expensive and difficult to do. For that reason, Ethernet is best suited to being used by devices that are close to your router.
Wired (powerline)If you don't want to wire your house up for Ethernet, powerline networking is a great alternative. This uses your home's existing power lines as network cables, so you get all the benefits of a wired network without having to do any rewiring. The technology works by using network adaptors that plug into your power sockets. You then simply connect any devices that you want to use into these adaptors using Ethernet cables.
There are two competing powerline networking standards: HomePlug and UPA DHC. Both standards have several versions that run at different speeds. Although the current maximum for both is 200Mbit/s, you're likely to get transfer speeds of only around 60Mbit/s.
There's little to choose between the two standards, but HomePlug products aren't backwards-compatible with previous versions, whereas UPA DHC products are. For that reason, we recommend 200Mbit/s UPA DHC products, such as D-Link's DHP-301 kit (£65 including VAT from www.dabs.com), which will also work with the upcoming 400Mbit/s standard.
Getting startedArmed with this information and the diagram of a typical home network, you should have a pretty good idea of how each device in your home will be connected, so it's just a matter of putting your network together.
The first thing you should do is buy a wireless router, if you don't already have one. These devices are designed to share your broadband connection with multiple computers, but they're an essential investment even if you don't have a fast internet connection. The reason is twofold: first, wireless routers provide both wireless and Ethernet networking; second, a router takes a lot of hassle out of networking. For example, every wireless router has a built-in Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. This may sound like a horrific bit of jargon, but what it means is that any computers connected to it will automatically be given an IP address. In layman's terms, that means they'll just work.
An IP address can be thought of as your computer's unique postal address on the network. Each computer has to have one in order to exchange information with other computers on the network. Without DHCP, every device you connect to your network has to be given an address manually. With DHCP, this is done automatically in the background.
When choosing a wireless router, you need to make sure you get one that will work with your broadband connection. If you have cable internet from Virgin Media, you'll need to buy a cable internet router, which has an Ethernet port for connecting to the cable internet modem that comes with the service. If you subscribe to ADSL broadband, you'll need an ADSL router. These have built-in ADSL modems and connect directly to your telephone line in place of the modem with which you were originally supplied.
We recommend that you buy an 802.11n router. This is the latest standard of wireless networking and has speeds of up to 300Mbit/s, although in practice you're likely to get slower speeds. If you're using ADSL, SMC's SMC7904WBRA-N bundle is a great choice. It comes with a wireless router and USB adaptor and costs £50 including VAT from www.lambda-tek.com/componentshop. If you're using cable internet, D-Link's DIR-615 (£53 including VAT from www.kikatek.com) is a great choice.
Plugging in your kitWith a wireless router taking care of a lot of the administration of a network, your main jobs are configuring the router with your internet settings, setting up a secure wireless network and plugging in any wired devices that you want to use. Our step-by-step walkthrough explains how to configure the router and connect wireless devices, but before you do that you should connect your wired devices.
This is a surprisingly simply job. First, you need to plan where you want to put your wireless router. If you've got broadband, it should be situated near the point where your internet connection enters the house, which is probably where your modem is currently located.
If you've got cable internet with Virgin Media, you should plug an Ethernet cable from the router's WAN port and into the Ethernet port on the cable modem. If you have ADSL, unplug your existing modem and plug the RJ11 telephone cable into the WAN port on the router. The other end of this telephone cable should be connected to an ADSL filter, which in turn is plugged into the telephone socket.
If you've got any PCs or other devices close to your router, you should connect them via Ethernet cables. If you don't have any cables, buy Cat5e Patch Cables. These are available from Maplin in lengths of between 50cm and 5m, for £4.49 to £7.99 including VAT. To connect them, simply plug one end into the network port on the back of your device and the other end into a spare port on the back of the router.
We'll assume that, if you want to connect devices located further away from the router, you're not prepared to rewire your home with Ethernet. For any devices that won't move, we recommend using powerline networking. To get this working, you need to have a spare power socket near the router into which you can plug a powerline networking adaptor. A wall socket is the best option, as powerline networking's speed is affected if you use a multi-way extension socket and won't work at all if you plug an adaptor into a surge-protector.
Plug one end of an Ethernet cable into the powerline adaptor's socket and the other into a spare port on the back of the router. To connect devices around the rest of your home, you simply need to plug one powerline adaptor into a wall socket near the device you want to network, then connect the device to the adaptor using an Ethernet cable.
For security, powerline networking devices can encrypt traffic. How you achieve this will depend on the technology and adaptors you're using. You will either need to use some software or push a button on the front of an adaptor. Check the instructions that came with your adaptors for more details. You can now follow the instructions for configuring your wireless router and connecting your wireless devices.
NetworkingWith your network connected and configured properly, you should find that you can now browse the internet from any connected device simply by starting your web browser. If you can't, you should turn to our network troubleshooting guide, included in the article 'Fix your PC in 15 Minutes', which is on your cover disc.
A home network provides more than the ability to share your internet connection. You can share files and printers, too. The 'How to... Share Files with Vista' article on your cover disc will show you how to share folders between Windows computers. Similar steps will let you share a printer on the network.
Getting secureWith all your computers connected, there's just one final thing to consider: security. Your wireless router has a built-in firewall that will protect all your computers from being attacked, but it won't stop malware being downloaded and installed. Once installed on one PC, malware is free to attack all your other computers over the network.
To prevent this, you should make sure that every single computer has a security suite installed on it. We currently recommend McAfee's VirusScan Plus 2009, which costs just £35 including VAT for three PCs. It has excellent protection and caught the majority of viruses in our in-depth tests.
Author: David Ludlow
Create a home network