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Home Networking
If you aren't networked yet, you will be soon. There are some really good
reasons to network
The last one in the big one. The growth of technology has been doubling every
2 years. This theory was first postulated by Gordon Moore of Intel in the early
70’s. It has held until the present day and is expected to continue until at
least 2015. Multimedia files are larger than text. People are demanding
multimedia Internet content. Dial up access just isn’t fast enough. Houses have
multiple computers. Put it all together and you have a demand for high speed
Internet access. High speed access almost demands that you are on a network.
Fortunately, the equipment available today has dropped in
price and is much easier to install and maintain.
Components of a network
There are a number of components that make up your network. In
some cases, these components might be combined with other components.
-
Cable or DSL Modem - This is usually provided by
your ISP. In some cases users opt to purchase their own modem. This is the
device that will connect you to the high speed internet
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Router/Switch/Firewall - This is a multifunction
device that performs three main functions.
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Router - This is what connects your network to
another network. The other network is your ISP that then connects you to the
Internet.
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Switch - The switch is the portion that creates
your internal network.
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Firewall - Because of the way that the
router/switch/firewall handles traffic, the RSF will control incoming and
outgoing traffic to some extent. You should still be running a software
firewall on individual machines in most cases.
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NIC or Network Interface Card. Most machines today
have a wired and/or wireless NIC. This is the device that will allow your
computer to connect to the network. The 10/100 speed for wired is being
replaced by gigabit ethernet.
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Print Servers - These are devices that will allow a
printer that is not network ready to connect to the network. They can be wired
or wireless.
Basic concepts
The basic layout of a typical network is as follows
The Internet
|
Cable/DSL Modem
|
Firewall/Switch/Router
|
Computer1 Computer2 etc.
Once you set up a network, the information to
connect to your ISP will now reside in the firewall/switch/router
Wired or wireless?
You will need to decide if you want a wired or wireless
network. Most of the installations that we are seeing in a home or small office
environment are wireless. The wireless routers are almost the same prices as a
wired router.
Glossary
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IP address. Every device that is connected to a
network must have a unique IP address. In most home or soho networks, the ip
address is 192.168.1.xxx
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DHCP - This is a means of automatically assigning an
IP address to a device that connects to the network.
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Ping - A command, usually run from dos that will let you
see if another computer is responding
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Tracert - Another DOS command that will provide more detail
than a ping. It will show you the route to another computer.
Troubleshooting
The troubleshooting below assumes you are setting up a network
where the router has an IP of 192.168.1.1. If your router will have a different
address, you will need to modify things a little.
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Check the network status of the computer you are using.
In XP, you go to Start,
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right click on 'my network places'
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left click on properties,
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right click the 'local Area connection',
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left click status.
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left click 'support'
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The ip address should begin with 192.168.1.xxx
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The subnet is usually 255.255.255.0
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The default gateway is usually 192.168.1.1
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If the IP address does not begin with 192 then you could
have either a bad wire, your router is misconfigured or you need to check
the setup of that PC. You could try a different PC to try to see if the
problem is the router or the PC.
-
Try to ping the router. In XP do a Start, Run,
Command. A dos box will pop up. Type Ping 192.168.1.1 If the router does not
respond, try rebooting the router and check it's configuration
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Check the router - If you are installing a router
'out of the box' everything should be at a default setting. You should be able
to access the router by typing 192.168.1.1 in the address bar of your
browser and supplying the password. Make sure that the router is set for DHCP.
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Software firewalls - If you are running any type of
software firewall, you will probably need to configure it so that it trusts
your network. The newer versions of Norton Internet Security will
automatically configure themselves for your network. Older versions will have
to have 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.255 added as a trusted network. You can also
try temporarily turning your software firewall off to see if that is causing
the problem.
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Patience - Sometimes it takes
a minute or so for everything in the network to recognize each other.
Tips
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If you have a number of machines, try networking the
machines running XP first. Older versions of windows require more manual
settings.
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Be sure to change the default password of the router. This
is the password that you need to make any changes to your router
configuration. If you leave it set at the default password
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Follow the instructions that came with your router
carefully. Linksys routers will examine the configuration of a pc that is
hooked directly to a cable/dsl modem and then configure your router
automatically
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Make sure that you have connectivity to your router before
spending a lot of time trying to connect to the Internet.
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Save aggravation with a UPS on
your network. - We’ve found that putting an Interruptible Power Supply on
your network equipment can eliminate a great deal of aggravation. In many
cases, a momentary drop in voltage can cause your DSL/Cable modem and or
router to lock up. If you power those devices with an inexpensive UPS you will
eliminate those small fluctuations and most likely, the accompanying lock ups.
You don’t need an expensive UPS since the power requirements are small and you
are really only trying to prevent momentary drops.
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