Need To Build A Home Network?

Written by: Niche Content - Oct 15, 2008

Home Networking - Guidelines For Building A Simple Home Network

For many people, their computing needs at home are fairly simple. Even today when it's more commonplace for multiple family members to have their own computer, the systems are often stand alone devices. They have little or no need to share data. 'Sneaker net', or sharing data by passing a CD from one to the next, is often good enough. Emailing over the Internet is, of course, another now-common method.

But for those who want to take the next step and build their own home network, the timing is good. Costs have come down and complexity is less than ever. The initial hurdle for most home network wannabees is simply to get over the techno-babble barrier. Familiarity can help.

The basic equipment needed is fairly simple to understand. You'll need something called Ethernet Cat-5 cable if you plan to build a wired network. Just estimate how much you need by planning out where you want to connect devices to/from and then add about 20% more. You always need more than you think you do. For wireless networks, which sometimes cost more, you can skip that requirement.

Those cables or, in the case of wireless networks the radio beams, have to have something to connect to. So, you'll need a hub or switch or router. A hub is the simplest and cheapest device. It's just a small device with ports (holes) to plug cables into. A switch looks the same but has slightly more function. A router is more costly, but has the most features. For connecting to the Internet, it is almost a must.

'Almost' because it is possible to use one of the computers to do Internet Connection Sharing. But it's often better to have a dedicated router, rather than consuming resources on one of the computers in the network.

Lastly, you need devices - called adapters - inside the computers, printers, fax machines that you want to connect to the network. They can be standard 10/100 Ethernet NICs (network interface cards) or 802.11 (b or g) wireless cards that perform the same function in a cable-free network. There are other possbile methods and associated gear, as well.

With Ethernet, you have two basic choices of speed 10 Mb or 100 Mb. But the price difference is so little these days, that it's usually pointless to get anything less than 100 Mb gear. They typically support older devices that will run only at the slower speed. Gigabit Ethernet is an option, but it's more expensive than most home network builders may want to pay.

Install, attach and/or setup all hardware according to the manufacturers' directions.

Each device on the network will need at least one IP address. These are the dotted octet numbers you may have seen when accessing the Internet, such as 70.1.2.125. In your home network, they will have numbers like 192.168.0.1 or 10.121.0.1.

Focus your numbering scheme starting at the router. Consider that device the central hub by imagining a star with rays coming out. The router is at the center and each cable or radio beam is a ray. The endpoints are where your connected devices will be. If the router is assigned a number such as 192.168.0.1 then computers, printers and other devices on the network may have numbers like 192.168.0.2, 192.168.0.3, etc. Never assign the same number to two different devices.

For specific instructions on how to assign these addresses, you'll need to read the directions for your router and your computer. Each one is different.