Home Networking

Many people have started setting up their own home networks. This is not very difficult. You only need to purchase the right equipment and obtain broadband Internet service.

Broadband Internet Service

There a few different technologies to choose from when getting broadband Internet service. The most popular ones are DSL and cable. Other, less common technologies include satellite, fiber optic to the home, fixed wireless, and Broadband over Power Lines (BPL).

DSL and cable are similar in that they both provide you with an ethernet connection; they are typically priced similarly (with DSL is usually a little cheaper); they provide similar data transmission speeds (with cable being somewhat faster); and, they require a modem. A modem is a device that converts data from one technology to another - in this case, it converts data from either DSL or cable to ethernet.

DSL service is obtained from a local phone company. Cable service is obtained from a local Cable TV company. One thing to note about DSL service is that a DSL splitter must be installed on the phone line to separate the telephone signal from the DSL signal. A single splitter can be installed where the phone line enters the home, with a specific line then being run to where the DSL modem will be connected. Or, a splitter can be installed at every phone jack in the home, allowing the DSL modem to be connected at any phone jack in the home.

Equipment

If only a single computer is being connected in the home, the DSL or cable modem is the only required equipment. However, that's not much of a network, and, if a laptop is being used, it can only be used by connecting a network cable between the laptop and the modem.

To connect more computers, several devices are needed:

• Router (probably with NAT)
• Ethernet Switch
• Wireless Access Point (if wireless access is desired)
• Network based firewall (not required, but a good idea)

All of these can be obtained in a single piece of hardware. These are generally known as a "Wireless Router." Wireless routers have a WAN port and several LAN ports on the back. The WAN port connected to the DSL or cable modem. The LAN ports are connected to home computers. All wireless routers for home use use NAT. NAT (network address translation) allows all of the computers connected to a router to share a single, public IP address. It then assigns all computers connected to it a private IP address that it translates to the public address when sending the traffic to the Internet. As a function of how it works, NAT acts as a firewall as well.

A few things need to be configured when setting up the wireless portition of a home network. The SSID needs to be set and authentication and encryption need to be configured. While these are being configured, the password for logging in to the wireless router's configuration utility needs to be changed.

An SSID is just a the name used to identify a wireless network. For a home network, it is generally recommended to use something very easy for you to remember, but not necessarily something a person scanning for networks in your neighborhood will be able to associate with you or your home. Authentication is what keeps other people from using your network without your permission. Encryption keeps people near your home from being able to see the contents of the network traffic travelling between a computer and the wireless access point to which it is connected. WEP and WPA are both protocols that can be used for authentication and encryption. WEP is an outdated and very weak standard; therefore, WPA, which is newer and much stronger, should be used instead. Because each wireless router is configured differently, follow the instructions in the manual provided with the wireless router when setting the SSID, configuring WPA, and setting the password for logging in to the wirelesss router.

Figure 1 shows the layout of a typical home network when using cable for broadband service.

Fig. 1:Example Home Network