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Home >> Cases & Fans  >> Resources - Cases >> BYO: Build Your Own >> How to Build a Home Network? >> 

Part II. Choosing a Network Setup

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How to build a Home Network? By Jerry Saeva

There are several ways you can setup your home network. While some options may be cheaper than others, they are typically much less flexible when it comes time to expand your network. This manual will focus on network setups using a broadband Internet connection. If you have a dialup connection or no Internet access at all, you should still be able to adapt the information in this manual to suit your particular configuration.

Network Hardware: a brief explanation
To help understand the differences between the network configurations explained in this section, you should first know and understand the hardware used in them.

  • Ethernet/10BaseT: Ethernet is the type of network technology used by almost all home networking hardware available today. Ethernet is a "baseband" technology, which means that all the bandwidth of the cable used in the network is utilized in one single channel. Since there is only one channel, all computers "hear" all the traffic from other computers and filter the information based on addresses. 10BaseT is a specific type of Ethernet that uses Category 5 cable and RJ45 connectors. The 10 represents the maximum throughput (10 Mbits) and Base T refers to the baseband technology used in Ethernet. Note that 100BaseT is the same thing with the exception of the maximum throughput of 100 Mbits. For a brief overview of Ethernet, click here.
  • Network Interface Card (NIC): a PC card that connects the PC to the network. This connection is either to another PC's NIC, a hub or a router. NICs are available for ISA or PCI bus slots, although PCI is recommended if you have a PCI slot available. NOTE: in all the diagrams shown below, a line connected to a PC or laptop indicates a connection to a NIC. The computer labeled "Main PC" requires a NIC for each line connected to it. Also, this manual assumes the use of an Ethernet NIC using RJ45 connectors (10BaseT/100BaseT).
  • Hub: A device that allows you to connect two or more computers together such that all computers can communicate to all others. A hub (or a router with a built in hub) is required if you want more than two computers in the network. Without it, you would need a NIC for every computer connection (i.e., if PC A is connected to PC B and C, it would need two NICs, one for B and one for C, each using a cross-over cable).
  • Router: Generally, a router does just that; routes network traffic to specific sections of a network (called sub-nets), which reduces unnecessary traffic in subnets. Most routers (including Cable/DSL routers) come with a built in hub (i.e., have multiple ports), however, there are some that will require an additional hub.
  • Cable/DSL routers: Specialized routers that allow the sharing of a single cable/DSL Internet connection. Unless you pay for additional IP addresses, most cable/DSL Internet connections supply only a single address. The router supports sharing this single address using Network Address Translation (NAT). This protocol translates between the single cable/DSL address and all other addresses on the home network, thus requiring only one address outside the home network. NOTE: in the configurations that do not use a cable/DSL router, the "Main PC" performs the NAT using "Internet Connection Sharing" built into Windows 98 SE and Higher.

Two computer network with no hub
If you have only two computers and will not want to add any computers to the network in the future, you can use this simple setup. There are two drawbacks to this configuration: 1) you cannot add additional computers to the network and 2) the cable between the client PC and the main PC must be made as a "cross-over". The advantage of this configuration is that a network hub is not necessary

In this configuration, the main PC is connected to the cable/DSL modem and shares the Internet with the client PC. We will see later how the main PC acts like a router to allow simultaneous access to the Internet for both the main PC and client PC. Also note that this configuration requires that the main PC have TWO NICs, one connected to the cable modem and one connected to the client PC.


Computer Network Using a Hub
In this configuration, all the computers in the network are connected to a central network hub, while the main PC is also connected to the cable/DSL modem. The cables used to connect all the computers to the hub are standard "patch cables" (will be discussed later in the Network Cabling section). A hub is required for this configuration, but allows for multiple "client" computers to be networked with the main computer.

The number of computers that can be added to the network is limited to the number of ports on the hub. There are many different hubs available with varying number of ports. Most hubs have an "uplink" port that allows daisy-chaining hubs together to expand the total number of ports on the network. The good news is that hubs are relatively cheap (under $25) so this does not become a large cost factor in your overall network.
Similar to the previous Two computer network configuration, the main PC acts like the router and must have two NICs, one for the cable/DSL modem and the other connected to the hub. Any Internet access to the client PCs must be "channeled" through the main PC. The next configuration, while it is a bit more expensive, eliminates the need for the main PC to act as the router


Computer Network Using a Cable/DSL Router A more expensive, but more flexible network configuration is one that uses a cable/DSL router. The cable/DSL router allows you to connect multiple computers directly to the cable/DSL modem without having to go through a "main PC" Note that a cable/DSL router is about 4 times the cost of a hub, but is worth the additional cost.

The other benefit of a cable/DLS router is that it acts as a hardware-based firewall to protect your home network from outside "hackers" To get this same firewall benefit in the other two configurations, you would have to install a software-based firewall application, such as a Black Ice Defender (about $40) or Zone Alarm (freeware). For more general information on firewalls, visit the Home PC Firewall Guide.

Other Variations
  • Phone-line networks: This type of network uses existing phone lines in your home to connect the computers together instead of running additional network cables. The max throughput is typically 10Mbit (verses 100Mbit using an Ethernet based cabling system). Also note that different vendor's phone-line network cards (NIC) may not work together properly.

  • Wireless: Possibly one of the most expensive options for a home network, the use of wireless hardware gives you complete flexibility as to the locations of the PCs on the network. You won't have to run any cable at all. Most wireless receivers also are routers, giving you cable/DSL sharing along with wireless client PC locations.


NEXT: | Part III. Network Cabling | Part IV: Installing and Configuring the Hardware | Part V: Configuring the Software |
BACK: | Part I. Introduction |

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