Home networking

1
Home networking

• Most households have more then one computer
• Sharing resources keep costs low (such as
  printers and internet connections)
• Same concepts can be used for small business and
  start-up companies
• Good place to learn networking

2
Home networking options

• How are you going to connect the PCs?
• Ethernet Wire house with twisted pair CAT5 wire
• Inexpensive, easy to expand
• If not pre-wired can be a huge undertaking to
  install
• Ethernet Run cables along floor
• Easy to do
• Ugly, may be intrusive

3
Ethernet

• Fastest home option available (10/100 MBPS)
• Reliable, easy to maintain
• Easily expandable
• Need a hub to connect multiple computers
• Can stack hubs
• If connecting 2 computers, use a crossover cable
  (crosses send and receive wires)
• Usually handle CSMA/CD

4
Home networking options

• Power line
• Uses house power wiring
• Instantly connected to network
• Inexpensive
• Limited bandwidth
• Interference caused from power usages

5
Home networking options

• Wireless
• 4 main types
• Bluetooth
• IrDA
• HomeRF (SWAP) uses IEEE 802.11 standard
• WECA (Wi-Fi) uses IEEE802.11b standard
• WECA is faster, but more expensive and difficult
  to set up. Intended for business use
• Home Radio Frequency called SWAP (Shared Wireless
  Access Protocol)
• Uses Frequency Shift Keying
• Uses spread spectrum

6
SWAP

• Advantages
• It's inexpensive (70 to 200 per device).
• It's easy to install.
• It requires no additional wires.
• It has no access point.
• It uses six full-duplex voice channels and one
  data channel.
• It allows up to 127 devices per network.
• It allows multiple networks in the same location.
  
• You can use encryption to make your data secure.

• Disadvantages
• It's not very fast (normally 1 Mbps).
• It has a limited range (75 to 125 ft / 23 to 38
  m).
• Physical obstructions (walls, large metal
  objects) can interfere with communication.
• It's difficult to integrate into existing wired
  networks.

7
Home networking options

• Phone lines
• Already wired in older houses
• Good bandwidth (10 MBPS)
• Supports up to 25 computers
• Works with the phone like a private ADSL
• Compatible with other networking technologies
• Uses FDM
• USP or Card installations and modem cost about
  200
• Sneaker net
• Have to break up large files to fit on disks
• Very time consuming
• Inexpensive
• Cant share resources, only data (Unless you
  Sneaker the actual hardware

8
Setting up the home network

• Choose a networking option that best suits the
  situation
• Install the hardware
• Configure the clients
• Workgroups, Computer Names, File sharing
• Most all home networks should be set up
  peer-to-peer as security is less of an issue and
  compatibility and ease of use is more important

9
Resource Sharing

• Set shares on each computer to dictate what
  others have access to
• Can share
• Files
• Folders
• Drives
• Printers and devices
• Network connections
• Network shares allow for ICS

10
ICS (Internet Connection Sharing)

• Windows versions 98 Second Edition and above
  include ICS
• Allows computer to act as a router
• Computer requires ICS software to be running
• Must have 2 network cards, 1 for interface to
  Internet, 1 for interface to LAN
• Can assign IP addresses to LAN
• Can install firewall protection software to
  protect ICS computer from the rest of the
  internet
• An internet connection must be present or
  possible (ie Dials upon request)
• Can monitor net traffic with software