pre FAQ : Home Networking Guide - Computing and Networks

kev · 09-10-2005, 10:10

I've seen a lot of questions recently about how to get Wireless networks setup - particully what equipment to buy. Has anyone got anything to add to the following, because we can update this and make it a proper FAQ, including asking for pinned status.

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The purpose of this guide is to help you choose what equipment to buy for a home network. I am assuming that you don’t leave PCs on when not in use, and want to be able to get onto the internet (via Broadband, either ADSL or Cable) from any PC without another being turned on. Additional accessories such as Printers, Xboxes and the like would be nice to access from all PCs. I will assume that aesthetic reasons mean that you can’t run wires to all PCs so wireless is preferred, but I will add wired options where appropriate.

You will see I have a fondness for Belkin gear, I make no apologies for this as I find it simple to use and ultra reliable, however your mileage may vary.
Netgear also appears to be rated highly on these forums, as does Linksys gear (with the exception of their ADSL Modem/Router/Access Point (WAG54G) which lets the whole Linksys range down badly – avoid this device like the plague.). D-link doesn’t fair two badly, but in mine (and my colleagues) experience it can be a right PITA to get working if you can’t find the manual / don’t read the manual – i.e. it is not intuitive – but when it is working it is very reliable.

As always there are cheaper options available, but in my experience you get what you pay for.

I make no reference to wireless security here, but you should ensure that you enable WEP and change the SSID of all your gear. There are many posts here on the subject and if you get stuck you can always ask.

Additionally there are a number of wireless standards :
802.11a is a relatively rare standard, not usually used in the home environment. It is not compliant with any of the other standards.

All the following standards (or pre-standards) are based on the old 802.11b standard, and will fall back to the lowest common denominator to work together.

802.11b is the first version of the standard used in many homes (commonly known as 11b) but is relatively slow. I would avoid buying 802.11b only equipment.
802.11g is the updated version of the 11b standard and is commonly called 54g.
802.11n is a pre standard with supposedly better range and speed, but as the standard has not been ratified you may find future equipment, or preN equipment from different manufacturers may not work together
125mbps or speed booster technologies are extensions to the 54g standard to allow those to run at faster speeds. Although the equipment is backwards compatible with 11b and 54g it is not a ratified standard so different manufacturers gear may not work together. However some manufactures (such as Belkin) claim that their equipment will run at 125mbps while other gear will connect at their supported speeds without effecting the faster stuff.

All the equipment here is 54g complaint as this is the fastest, most common STANDARD available at the moment. Some of it offers Speed Booster technologies, some doesn’t.

All prices listed are from Amazon.co.uk on 09/10/2005 and do not include delivery.

The Main Box
Firstly you will need something called a router with built in NAT. This allows you to share a single “IP Address” (Internet Address) between multiple computers. In the Consumer Electronics (CE) arena these also tend to come as all in one boxes combining Wireless Access Point, Router, NAT, Hub and optionally an ADSL modem. A single box is also more SWMBO friendly than a lot of boxes, plugs and wires.

For Cable / Communal Ethernet
If you are a cable broadband customer (NTL or Telewest) you will need a Cable Router.
The Belkin F5D7231uk4 (Amazon £49.93) is an example of this type of device, although I have not used it myself, some of my colleagues have and they find it easy to setup and reliable.

This can also be used for any internet connection where you are presented with an Ethernet socket, such as the broadband connection you can in some student halls or communal accommodation – although you will need to check your terms of service to see if you are allowed to use one of these.

For Broadband via Homechoice

How does Homechoice connect? Can someone with knowledge fill the blanks - I assume it's the same as Cable?

For ADSL (via a BT or Kingston telecom line)

If you are an ADSL customer you would also want an integrated ADSL modem, as well as all the gubbins you get in the cable version. The modem your ISP supplied will undoubtedly be USB based which you can not connect to a cable router. I recommend buying an ADSL2 modem based device to allow you to connect to the new services from the likes of Be and Bulldog which offer connection speeds of >8MB/S
I use the Belkin F5D7633uk4A (Amazon £68.12) which is easy to setup and ultra reliable.

Karoo customers – please note that Karoo does not use the same VCI/VPI settings as BT based ADSL connections do, your instruction manual will probably say that the VPI should be 0 and VCI should be 38, you will need to use the values VPI=1 and VCI=50 instead.

For more ADSL troubleshooting please see http://www.adslguide.org.uk/qanda.as...roubleshooting

Connecting the Desktop PC(s)
Once you have installed and configured this box you will have an internet connection which you can access via Ethernet (wires) and Wirelessly. You have three options.

Option 1 – Connect via a wired connection.
For this you will need something called a Network card, which can be found in most modern PC’s as standard. If you click on Start > Network Connections you should see a device listed as “Local Area Connection”, if you do then this is very likely to be a network card. If the gray type mentions “Realtek” then it is (Realtek are a common brand, but there are other manufacturers). These are ideal for PC’s located next to the router, or where you are able to run cable too.
If you don’t have a card then one example is the Belkin F5D5000uk (£6.95).

Option 2 – Connect via an internal Wireless card
If you wish to connect wirelessly, the neatest solution is to install a PCI Wireless card inside your PC. This option would also be ideal for PCs in the kids bedroom for example.
e.g. Belkin F5D7000UK (£19.99)

Option 3 – Connect via an external Wireless card
If you don’t fancy opening you case then you need a USB based Wireless card. These could also be used on Laptop computers.
e.g. Belkin F5D7050uk (£19.99)

Connecting you Laptop
If you want to connect your laptop you have four choices.

Option 1 – Utilise your onboard network card.
If you only use your laptop in one place then you can run a cable to that location and connect using that.

Option 2 – Utilise your internal wireless card.
All Intel Centrino laptops come with one of these installed, as do many other laptops. The Apple PowerBooks has this installed as an optional extra. These are usually not possibly to retrofit.

Option 3 – Buy a PCMCIA based wireless card
This inserts into the PCMCIA socket (also known as PC Card) on the side of you laptop.
e.g. Belkin F5D7010UK (£17.41)

Option 4 – Buy a USB based wireless card
This inserts into the USB socket on your laptop, but as they tend to stick out more they are prone to being broken.
e.g. Belkin F5D7050uk (£19.99)

Sharing a printer
By now you will have everything connected to the internet, and also one another, so you may decide that it would be nice to print directly from each computer.

For this you will need to buy a device called a print server (you could also share on a PC, but you would need to leave that one).
The Belkin F1UP0001UK (£46.34) allows you to connect up to two printers to the network either wirelessly or via wired (depending on location), however the problem with these devices is that they can not show the ink levels which may be a small problem, however on my Epson you can print the current ink levels by pressing the ink button for a few seconds. Additionally some routers (see “The Main Box”) come with a built-in print server, as do devices like the Buffalo LinkStation which I will mention shortly.

Sharing files
If you just want to be able to copy files from one PC to another on an occasional basis then you can utilise the Windows File Sharing, but if you wish to access the same files from multiple PCs (for example you may want to view your holiday snaps on your laptop, lounge PC and one of the kids machines, or to play your music on different PCs) then you want an Network Attached Storage (NAS) device such as the Buffalo LinkStation (From £149.99 for 120GB). Basically they are a small PC designed to store files which you can access from many PCs. The LinkStation requires a wired connection to your network, so mine is located next to the router (you could also buy a bridge mentioned in Games consoles). Additionally the LinkStation also allows you to share one printer.

Games Consoles
If you have a games console with an Ethernet socket such as the XBOX you may wish to connect to the online services (such as XBOX live) to play online games, or if you have multiple XBOXs you may wish to connect them together to play network games. As these don’t come with wireless connections as standard you will need to buy a wireless card (for the XBOX 360) or something called an Wireless Ethernet Bridge. This is similar to the network cards you buy for a PC but are designed to connect to an existing wired connection and convert that to wireless.
e.g. Belkin F5D7330uk (£49.21).

Extending the network
Now we have got to the stage where you have a wireless network, you are happily sharing files the internet and printers, but you have one slight problem – you can’t use it reliably throughout the house.

The first thing to do is try to position the router higher to get it above local obstructions such as people and televisions. However this doesn’t always work. You now need some way of extending your network. There are two options here.

To make the following descriptions clearer we will say your router is in the lounge and you have a poor signal in the conservatory and garden.

Option 1 – Connect a wireless access point.
If you are able to run some network cable from the lounge to the conservatory you can buy something called a “Wireless Access Point” and place it in the conservatory. If you ensure the SSID and WEP Keys are identical to the main box, but with the channel different, you will be able to take your laptop from the lounge to the garden and when the main boxes signal gets too low it will seamlessly jump to the Wireless Access Point to allow you to continue accessing your network and the internet.
e.g. Belkin F5D7130UK (£38.28)

Option 2 – Buy a wireless repeater
If you are unable to run cable from one location to another you can use a wireless repeater, however the place you locate this needs to have a good signal in the first place, and the performance will suffer.
e.g. Linksys WRE54G (£60.15)

Media Streaming
Media streaming devices allow you to stream content stored on a PC to various devices round your home - both Audio and Video. For video you would need a strong 54g connection, or wired (currently essential for HDTV).

In the version of the preFAQ's I will not include any details as I am looking into this for myself.

Pingu · 09-10-2005, 10:53

Nice work, Kev

mdma · 09-10-2005, 11:30

Not sure if this is a separate thing or not, but I have my network all up and running, printer and file sharing all working fine. I have my SSID hidden and security keys in place.

If, for example, I was to have a vistor with wireless equipment who wanted to use the internet - I would I go about doing this? I wouldnt want them knowing the security key, nor would I want them having access to the files (perhaps I could cahnges the security settings of the file sharing to get round this one?)

How could I grant them temporary access?

edit : Ive posted in this, as perhaps the answer could be included the FAQs!

kev · 09-10-2005, 15:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdma

Not sure if this is a separate thing or not, but I have my network all up and running, printer and file sharing all working fine. I have my SSID hidden and security keys in place.

If, for example, I was to have a vistor with wireless equipment who wanted to use the internet - I would I go about doing this? I wouldnt want them knowing the security key, nor would I want them having access to the files (perhaps I could cahnges the security settings of the file sharing to get round this one?)

How could I grant them temporary access?

edit : Ive posted in this, as perhaps the answer could be included the FAQs!

On Windows XP pro you just ensure guest access is turned off and then you need to set up identical user accounts on all PCs. Alternativly buy and install a Netware server, install the Netware clients on your PC's and then you can access the files via Netware and can disable Windows file sharing (I've never really had to deal with Windows file sharing at a selected users only level)

As for the visitor - set it up for them yourself, but they could see the SSID if they went to the network properties later.

If your really paranoid you could have an ADSL Router and a Cable One.

The cable one would be the main router for your network, which would run though the ADSL one on the way to the internet, and your visitors would connect to the ADSL network which would probably have a visible SSID.

kev · 09-10-2005, 16:00

Just noticed in another thread, so will add this (caught me out a few times!)
I have changed a setting on my thingy-bob and now I can't connect from that PC, but when i connect from another PC i can't change anything as it says an Admin is already logged in
Usually a power cycle fixes this. Whenever you have made changes ensure you click the "Logout" button or link if one is available.

brundles · 10-10-2005, 10:14

With the higher speeds seen from cable (and LLU ADSL) you might want to clarify the 802.11b part from 'I would avoid' to something indicating that running a wireless network on 802.11b will never see the high end speeds of cable/LLU connections.

Perhaps also a brief section on what sort of stuff is well known for messing up wireless network signals as part of that?

Orbitalzone · 10-10-2005, 10:44

Great article Kev, well done... I know how long you must have spent doing that!

I guess this will end up in the cluttered FAQ like all the other decent articles that 'we all written....

I think the FAQ at the top needs clearing out and made so it can't be posted into.. as currently people have been asking questions there and makes it a long thread to read and no one bothers, just see how many virus and spyware questions we keep answering.

and the same questions asked too!

flagpole · 10-10-2005, 11:33

Nice work kev. I've been pushing for a proper FAQ for ages.

A mention of how to do this on AOL maybe????

flagpole · 10-10-2005, 11:43

Quote:

(you could also share on a PC, but you would need to leave that one).

(you could also share on a PC, but you would need to leave that one on).

kev · 10-10-2005, 20:55

I've created a seperate page to put it on
http://www.kswindells.34sp.com/it/wi...ers_guide.html

This is so we can add images and the like, as well as ensuring all changes are in one place.

09-10-2005, 10:10	#1
kev Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: South Notts (Waltham TV TX) Services: Freeview(PaceTwin Hummy9200TB), DAB (x6), T-Mobile, Be* (from May 19) Posts: 16,803 Blog Entries: 1	pre FAQ : Home Networking Guide I've seen a lot of questions recently about how to get Wireless networks setup - particully what equipment to buy. Has anyone got anything to add to the following, because we can update this and make it a proper FAQ, including asking for pinned status. ---------------------------------------------------------------- The purpose of this guide is to help you choose what equipment to buy for a home network. I am assuming that you don’t leave PCs on when not in use, and want to be able to get onto the internet (via Broadband, either ADSL or Cable) from any PC without another being turned on. Additional accessories such as Printers, Xboxes and the like would be nice to access from all PCs. I will assume that aesthetic reasons mean that you can’t run wires to all PCs so wireless is preferred, but I will add wired options where appropriate. You will see I have a fondness for Belkin gear, I make no apologies for this as I find it simple to use and ultra reliable, however your mileage may vary. Netgear also appears to be rated highly on these forums, as does Linksys gear (with the exception of their ADSL Modem/Router/Access Point (WAG54G) which lets the whole Linksys range down badly – avoid this device like the plague.). D-link doesn’t fair two badly, but in mine (and my colleagues) experience it can be a right PITA to get working if you can’t find the manual / don’t read the manual – i.e. it is not intuitive – but when it is working it is very reliable. As always there are cheaper options available, but in my experience you get what you pay for. I make no reference to wireless security here, but you should ensure that you enable WEP and change the SSID of all your gear. There are many posts here on the subject and if you get stuck you can always ask. Additionally there are a number of wireless standards : 802.11a is a relatively rare standard, not usually used in the home environment. It is not compliant with any of the other standards. All the following standards (or pre-standards) are based on the old 802.11b standard, and will fall back to the lowest common denominator to work together. 802.11b is the first version of the standard used in many homes (commonly known as 11b) but is relatively slow. I would avoid buying 802.11b only equipment. 802.11g is the updated version of the 11b standard and is commonly called 54g. 802.11n is a pre standard with supposedly better range and speed, but as the standard has not been ratified you may find future equipment, or preN equipment from different manufacturers may not work together 125mbps or speed booster technologies are extensions to the 54g standard to allow those to run at faster speeds. Although the equipment is backwards compatible with 11b and 54g it is not a ratified standard so different manufacturers gear may not work together. However some manufactures (such as Belkin) claim that their equipment will run at 125mbps while other gear will connect at their supported speeds without effecting the faster stuff. All the equipment here is 54g complaint as this is the fastest, most common STANDARD available at the moment. Some of it offers Speed Booster technologies, some doesn’t. All prices listed are from Amazon.co.uk on 09/10/2005 and do not include delivery. The Main Box Firstly you will need something called a router with built in NAT. This allows you to share a single “IP Address” (Internet Address) between multiple computers. In the Consumer Electronics (CE) arena these also tend to come as all in one boxes combining Wireless Access Point, Router, NAT, Hub and optionally an ADSL modem. A single box is also more SWMBO friendly than a lot of boxes, plugs and wires. *For Cable / Communal Ethernet* If you are a cable broadband customer (NTL or Telewest) you will need a Cable Router. The Belkin F5D7231uk4 (Amazon £49.93) is an example of this type of device, although I have not used it myself, some of my colleagues have and they find it easy to setup and reliable. This can also be used for any internet connection where you are presented with an Ethernet socket, such as the broadband connection you can in some student halls or communal accommodation – although you will need to check your terms of service to see if you are allowed to use one of these. *For Broadband via Homechoice* How does Homechoice connect? Can someone with knowledge fill the blanks - I assume it's the same as Cable? *For ADSL (via a BT or Kingston telecom line)* If you are an ADSL customer you would also want an integrated ADSL modem, as well as all the gubbins you get in the cable version. The modem your ISP supplied will undoubtedly be USB based which you can not connect to a cable router. I recommend buying an ADSL2 modem based device to allow you to connect to the new services from the likes of Be and Bulldog which offer connection speeds of >8MB/S I use the Belkin F5D7633uk4A (Amazon £68.12) which is easy to setup and ultra reliable. Karoo customers – please note that Karoo does not use the same VCI/VPI settings as BT based ADSL connections do, your instruction manual will probably say that the VPI should be 0 and VCI should be 38, you will need to use the values VPI=1 and VCI=50 instead. For more ADSL troubleshooting please see http://www.adslguide.org.uk/qanda.as...roubleshooting Connecting the Desktop PC(s) Once you have installed and configured this box you will have an internet connection which you can access via Ethernet (wires) and Wirelessly. You have three options. Option 1 – Connect via a wired connection. For this you will need something called a Network card, which can be found in most modern PC’s as standard. If you click on Start > Network Connections you should see a device listed as “Local Area Connection”, if you do then this is very likely to be a network card. If the gray type mentions “Realtek” then it is (Realtek are a common brand, but there are other manufacturers). These are ideal for PC’s located next to the router, or where you are able to run cable too. If you don’t have a card then one example is the Belkin F5D5000uk (£6.95). Option 2 – Connect via an internal Wireless card If you wish to connect wirelessly, the neatest solution is to install a PCI Wireless card inside your PC. This option would also be ideal for PCs in the kids bedroom for example. e.g. Belkin F5D7000UK (£19.99) Option 3 – Connect via an external Wireless card If you don’t fancy opening you case then you need a USB based Wireless card. These could also be used on Laptop computers. e.g. Belkin F5D7050uk (£19.99) Connecting you Laptop If you want to connect your laptop you have four choices. Option 1 – Utilise your onboard network card. If you only use your laptop in one place then you can run a cable to that location and connect using that. Option 2 – Utilise your internal wireless card. All Intel Centrino laptops come with one of these installed, as do many other laptops. The Apple PowerBooks has this installed as an optional extra. These are usually not possibly to retrofit. Option 3 – Buy a PCMCIA based wireless card This inserts into the PCMCIA socket (also known as PC Card) on the side of you laptop. e.g. Belkin F5D7010UK (£17.41) Option 4 – Buy a USB based wireless card This inserts into the USB socket on your laptop, but as they tend to stick out more they are prone to being broken. e.g. Belkin F5D7050uk (£19.99) Sharing a printer By now you will have everything connected to the internet, and also one another, so you may decide that it would be nice to print directly from each computer. For this you will need to buy a device called a print server (you could also share on a PC, but you would need to leave that one). The Belkin F1UP0001UK (£46.34) allows you to connect up to two printers to the network either wirelessly or via wired (depending on location), however the problem with these devices is that they can not show the ink levels which may be a small problem, however on my Epson you can print the current ink levels by pressing the ink button for a few seconds. Additionally some routers (see “The Main Box”) come with a built-in print server, as do devices like the Buffalo LinkStation which I will mention shortly. Sharing files If you just want to be able to copy files from one PC to another on an occasional basis then you can utilise the Windows File Sharing, but if you wish to access the same files from multiple PCs (for example you may want to view your holiday snaps on your laptop, lounge PC and one of the kids machines, or to play your music on different PCs) then you want an Network Attached Storage (NAS) device such as the Buffalo LinkStation (From £149.99 for 120GB). Basically they are a small PC designed to store files which you can access from many PCs. The LinkStation requires a wired connection to your network, so mine is located next to the router (you could also buy a bridge mentioned in Games consoles). Additionally the LinkStation also allows you to share one printer. Games Consoles If you have a games console with an Ethernet socket such as the XBOX you may wish to connect to the online services (such as XBOX live) to play online games, or if you have multiple XBOXs you may wish to connect them together to play network games. As these don’t come with wireless connections as standard you will need to buy a wireless card (for the XBOX 360) or something called an Wireless Ethernet Bridge. This is similar to the network cards you buy for a PC but are designed to connect to an existing wired connection and convert that to wireless. e.g. Belkin F5D7330uk (£49.21). Extending the network Now we have got to the stage where you have a wireless network, you are happily sharing files the internet and printers, but you have one slight problem – you can’t use it reliably throughout the house. The first thing to do is try to position the router higher to get it above local obstructions such as people and televisions. However this doesn’t always work. You now need some way of extending your network. There are two options here. To make the following descriptions clearer we will say your router is in the lounge and you have a poor signal in the conservatory and garden. Option 1 – Connect a wireless access point. If you are able to run some network cable from the lounge to the conservatory you can buy something called a “Wireless Access Point” and place it in the conservatory. If you ensure the SSID and WEP Keys are identical to the main box, but with the channel different, you will be able to take your laptop from the lounge to the garden and when the main boxes signal gets too low it will seamlessly jump to the Wireless Access Point to allow you to continue accessing your network and the internet. e.g. Belkin F5D7130UK (£38.28) Option 2 – Buy a wireless repeater If you are unable to run cable from one location to another you can use a wireless repeater, however the place you locate this needs to have a good signal in the first place, and the performance will suffer. e.g. Linksys WRE54G (£60.15) Media Streaming Media streaming devices allow you to stream content stored on a PC to various devices round your home - both Audio and Video. For video you would need a strong 54g connection, or wired (currently essential for HDTV). In the version of the preFAQ's I will not include any details as I am looking into this for myself.

09-10-2005, 10:53	#2
Pingu Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Bath mostly Services: Virgin, HDTV, iPhone 3GS, 360/PS3/Wii, Mac, 3 Poodles Posts: 10,470	Nice work, Kev

09-10-2005, 11:30	#3
mdma Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 12,713	Not sure if this is a separate thing or not, but I have my network all up and running, printer and file sharing all working fine. I have my SSID hidden and security keys in place. If, for example, I was to have a vistor with wireless equipment who wanted to use the internet - I would I go about doing this? I wouldnt want them knowing the security key, nor would I want them having access to the files (perhaps I could cahnges the security settings of the file sharing to get round this one?) How could I grant them temporary access? edit : Ive posted in this, as perhaps the answer could be included the FAQs!

09-10-2005, 16:00	#5
kev Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: South Notts (Waltham TV TX) Services: Freeview(PaceTwin Hummy9200TB), DAB (x6), T-Mobile, Be* (from May 19) Posts: 16,803 Blog Entries: 1	Just noticed in another thread, so will add this (caught me out a few times!) I have changed a setting on my thingy-bob and now I can't connect from that PC, but when i connect from another PC i can't change anything as it says an Admin is already logged in Usually a power cycle fixes this. Whenever you have made changes ensure you click the "Logout" button or link if one is available.

10-10-2005, 10:14	#6
brundles Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Berkshire Services: V+, Broadband L, VOIP Posts: 1,496	With the higher speeds seen from cable (and LLU ADSL) you might want to clarify the 802.11b part from 'I would avoid' to something indicating that running a wireless network on 802.11b will never see the high end speeds of cable/LLU connections. Perhaps also a brief section on what sort of stuff is well known for messing up wireless network signals as part of that?

10-10-2005, 10:44	#7
Orbitalzone Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: East Sussex Services: SkyHD, PlusNet ADSL, Pointless Posts: 6,954 Posts: 8,430	Great article Kev, well done... I know how long you must have spent doing that! I guess this will end up in the cluttered FAQ like all the other decent articles that 'we all written.... I think the FAQ at the top needs clearing out and made so it can't be posted into.. as currently people have been asking questions there and makes it a long thread to read and no one bothers, just see how many virus and spyware questions we keep answering. and the same questions asked too!

10-10-2005, 11:33	#8
flagpole Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: london Services: N97-1 vod, O2 BB 8meg, digihome PVR, W7-64 - addicted to World of Goo Posts: 15,131	Nice work kev. I've been pushing for a proper FAQ for ages. A mention of how to do this on AOL maybe????

10-10-2005, 20:55	#10
kev Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: South Notts (Waltham TV TX) Services: Freeview(PaceTwin Hummy9200TB), DAB (x6), T-Mobile, Be* (from May 19) Posts: 16,803 Blog Entries: 1	I've created a seperate page to put it on http://www.kswindells.34sp.com/it/wi...ers_guide.html This is so we can add images and the like, as well as ensuring all changes are in one place.