How to Set Up a

Home Network
- PREVIEW EDITION 1

A word from the author

Thanks very much for taking the time to evaluate this preview version of How to Set up A Home Network Second Edition. Besides being comprehensive, Im sure youll agree that the sample lessons are also very easy to follow. Id be happy to answer any questions you may have about the guide or your home network. Just send me an email at info@pcguidebook.com.

Ed McAuliffe President Kelso Consulting Group, LLC

About this preview version:

This preview contains the table of contents found in the full 260 page version. By clicking on the Bookmarks tab near the upper left, you can expand the topics to get an idea of whats covered. In the full version, all topics are clickable and will take you directly to that section. In this preview edition, only some topics will be clickable. The sample chapters included in this preview: Components of a Home Network Home Network Diagrams Whats my IP address?

Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation Microsoft screenshots reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation

Components of a Home Network

Modem

Whether you have cable or DSL broadband, satellite or dialup, a modem is your path to the Internet. Most of the time, some kind of program on your PC allows you to surf the web through the modem. With most home networks (except for dialup), this program will be eliminated in favor of your routers connection with the modem. In other words, your router handles the logical connection to your modem.

Network adapters
These days, most home computers come with a network card. However, you may need to install one or want to convert an existing PC to wireless. You dont always have to open the case there are USB network cards that plug into a USB port. These remain outside the PC. You can tell if you have a network card by looking at the back of your PC. If you have what looks like a phone jack, only bigger, then you have a network card. Note the center graphic with the zoomed view of the network port. This is called an RJ-45 port.

Router
This small device will distribute the Internet connection provided by your modem, and allow all of your computers to surf the web. They usually have browser-based setup pages to manage your Internet connection and other settings. In addition, it also provides a single connection point for your computers, allowing them to be on the same network and share files and printers. Routers are most commonly used for cable and DSL broadband, but they can be found for satellite and dialup as well. In any home network, you can opt to go without a router. In such cases, one of your computers will function as a router by enabling ICS (Internet Connection Sharing).

A combination wired/wireless router is an ideal central point from which to create a wireless home network.

Ethernet cable would plug into network (RJ-45) ports on the back of a modem or router, shown here at right. Note that theres a port on the router thats set aside from the others. This is the WAN or Internet port where you would plug in your broadband modem.

Hub
If youve run out of ports, a hub is your answer. Hubs are simple devices that merely provide more connections. They lack the logic of a router, and have no setup or configuration you simply plug them in. Youll need to be aware of a special uplink port on the hub, which is used to connect to a router or modem. Since most routers have 4 ports, youll only need a hub for 5 or more computers, or you can just get an 8 port router. You can eliminate the need for a hub if some of your computers are wireless, which wont take up ports in the router.

A hub is also used in the case of routerless home networks, when you want to connect 3 or more computers. If you connect a hub to your broadband modem, your computers may be able to surf the web but they will not be able to share files. This is because a hub does not have the capability of separating the Internet from a home network thats what a router does.

Switch
While a hub simply forwards information to all computers connected to it, a switch will send information to a specific PC, and not broadcast to the other computers. This extra intelligence will cut down traffic on congested networks, and is more or less required in a large office or business setting. Note that the performance difference between a hub and a switch will be unnoticeable on a home network. Most routers will advertise that they have a built in 4 port switch.

Bridge
A bridge looks much the same as a router, switch or hub. Its job is to segment 2 networks, and keep the traffic between them separate, while still allowing common access outside the bridge. This type of device does not belong on a home network for two reasons: 1. A home network does not need to be bridged - its a single network. 2. Bridges are less common today because routers take over the bridging function.

Cabling
The type of cabling youll encounter on a home network is CAT5 Ethernet cable. Its also referred to as Ethernet cable, or simply patch cable. This cable will run between your computers and router and from your router to your modem. Even on wireless networks, CAT5 plays a role. Youll use it to connect a wireless router to your broadband modem, or to connect a wireless access point to a PC, hub or router.

CAT5e and CAT6 are basically the same as CAT5, but offer enhancements in terms of speed and interference protection. CAT5e is the most common sold in stores. All three will suffice on a home network. Ethernet cable can be as long as 300 feet (100 meters). The clips at the ends of a CAT5 cable are known as RJ-45. Much like a phone clip (which is RJ-11), a small plastic tab needs to be pressed in order to release the cable. A positive click sound is heard as you plug CAT5 into a network port on a PC or router.

There are two types of Ethernet cable. One is called straight-through or patch cable. The other is a crossover. It is vital that you know the difference.

Crossover cables are only (and must be) used to directly connect one PC to another PC. Patch (straight-through) cables are used to connect routers to computers, routers to modems, or a computer to a modem. If you use a crossover to connect a PC to a router, it will be as if the cable did not exist there will be no connection. Likewise, if you use a patch cable to directly connect two computers, there will be no connection. How can you tell the difference? Crossover cables are much more expensive, and sometimes brightly colored, such as orange. The way to tell the difference is to look very closely at both ends of the cable. If the order of colored wires is the same, you have a patch or straight-through cable. If its different, you have a crossover cable. Lets take a look at some typical uses of Ethernet cable.

Straight-through or patch cable:

Take a look at the diagram at right. It represents a typical wired/wireless broadband home network, with a cable or DSL modem. The three blue lines represent straight-through Ethernet patch cables. Note that the computers are not directly connected.

Crossover cable:

To directly connect two computers, a crossover cable is used. This is most commonly seen in dialup situations, where one computer shares out the Internet to the other with ICS (Internet Connection Sharing). Again, a crossover cable is only used to connect two computers directly.

Home Network Diagrams

How do I set up my network? What do I need to buy?
Perhaps the best way to explain how a home network can be configured is to show you some diagrams. Well start with very simple, two-computer networks without Internet, and work all the way up to wireless routers and print servers. After each diagram description, theres a Things you can do with this network section denoted by a wrench graphic. It describes specific network tasks for that network topology. Its assumed that for any type of home network, youve already gone through the Components section on page 9 and the TCP/IP Basics section on page 23. It will also benefit you greatly to understand how firewalls block file sharing by default, and need to be configured to allow file and printer sharing on your home network. Firewalls are covered in detail on page 115.

Simply connecting 2 computers - wired

Heres a home network at its most basic. Two computers are directly connected with a crossover cable, with a network card in each PC. Sharing the Internet is not represented on this simple network, but both computers are perfectly capable of sharing files and printers. Its a good idea to assign an IP address to each PC for this setup, covered on page 42.

Assign an IP and Subnet Mask to each PC on page 42 Share files on page 198 Share a Printer on page 132

Simply connecting 2 computers - wireless

If both computers are wireless, you can set up whats known as an ad hoc wireless network. Ad-hoc means that there is no central point, such as a router. Its simply a peer to peer wireless network. Of course, each PC would need a wireless network adapter. As with the simple wired network above, assigning static IPs to each PC would work well.

Establish an Ad-hoc wireless network on page 108 Assign an IP and Subnet Mask to each PC on page 42 Share files on page 198 Share a printer on page 132

Simply connecting 3 or more computers - wired

A hub is used to join 3 or more computers. Since there are no computers directly connected to each other, crossover cables are not used. Standard, straight through CAT5/5e/6 Ethernet cables make the connections to the hub. Assigning IPs is a good idea here, covered on page 42. You may be wondering, If I put multiple network cards in my computers, I wont need a hub. That may be true, but youll spend a lot more money and way more time configuring the network that way.

Assign an IP and Subnet Mask to each PC on page 42 Share files on page 198 Share a Printer on page 132

Simply connecting 3 or more computers - wireless

You can also set up an ad hoc wireless network between 3 or more computers.

Establish an Ad-hoc wireless network on page 108 Assign an IP and Subnet Mask to each PC on page 42 Share files on page 198 Share a printer on page 132

At this point, youre ready to take a look at how to share the web among your computers. Well start with using ICS, commonly seen in dialup situations, but it can also be used for broadband as well. Dont worry well get to routers and printers soon enough.

Sharing the Internet with 2 computers using ICS - wired

Lets add the Internet to a simple 2-computer network. By enabling ICS (page 56) on the PC with web access, the second computer will be able to surf the web. You can use ICS with broadband or dialup, and its a built-in feature of Windows. ICS uses its own IP scheme, so you wont be manually assigning IP addresses here.

Enable ICS on one computer on page 56 Share files on page 198 Share a printer on page 132

Sharing the Internet with 2 computers using ICS - wireless

You can also use ICS wirelessly. Enabling ICS is the same whether wired or wireless, and is covered on page 56.

Establish an Ad-hoc wireless network on page 108 Enable ICS on one computer page 56 Share files on page 198 Share a printer on page 132

Sharing the Internet with 3 or more computers (using ICS)

With a wired network, a PC running ICS can service 2 or more other computers via a hub. Keep in mind that sharing dialup between just 2 computers is slow enough. 3 or more computers trying to share a dialup connection will be brutal. This network configuration works better with broadband.

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Enable ICS on one computer on page 56 Share files on page 198 Share a printer on page 132

Likewise, an ad hoc wireless network can also share the web via ICS.

Establish an Ad-hoc wireless network on page 108 Enable ICS on one computer on page 56 Share files on page 198 Share a printer on page 132

Using a router to share the web - wired

If you have cable or DSL (and increasingly satellite) broadband, youll find that a router has distinct advantages over ICS. Each PC can access the web independently, and expansion to allow more computers is easy just plug the new PC into the router. A router can serve from 1 to 4 (and even 8) wired computers. You can add a hub for even more computers, but a significant boost in flexibility is to be had when the router is wireless, described next.

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Configure your router for web access on page 73 Share files on page 198 Share a printer on page 132

What about satellite or direct wireless?

Depending on your provider, your modem may or may not be compatible with most broadband routers, which are geared towards the cable/DSL crowd. If it is compatible, then your routered network would look exactly like a cable or DSL environment. However, your modem may have a built-in router, which would allow you to use a hub to distribute the web. Otherwise, you can modify a satellite home network by following the same rules as cable/DSL.

Note: Having two routers on the same network is a bad idea, since they will be in competition with each other. At times, people have used a wireless router to expand an already routered network, by disabling the routing function on one of the routers. In this way, there is only one functioning router on the network.

Configure your router for web access on page 73 Share files on page 198 Share a printer on page 132

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Using a router to share the web - wireless

Most wireless routers have room for 4 wired computers as well, which make for a very flexible network. Adding wireless or wired computers is not a problem here. This is a very common home network setup.

Configure your router for web access on page 73 Configure the wireless features of your router on page 81 Configure your wireless computers on page 82 Share files on page 198 Share a printer on page 132

Adding wireless to an existing wired network or expanding wireless range (using a wireless access point)

A wireless access point provides a bridge between your wired and wireless network. Note that it needs to be physically plugged in to a router or hub. You could also run the access point from a wireless router, to provide wireless coverage on another floor of your house, or where there is poor signal.

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Configure your wireless access point on page 89 Configure your wireless computers on page 82 Configure your router for web access on page 73 Share files on page 198 Share a printer on page 132

Sharing a printer directly from a PC

There are two ways to share printers. The simplest is to share a printer thats physically attached to a PC, shown here in various sample home networks. As long as the PC that owns the printer is turned on, all of your other computers will be able to print to it.

Here, a wireless PC is sharing its printer.

A wired PC in an ICS-based network shares out its printer.

Share a printer directly from a PC on page 132

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Sharing a printer using a print server

Here, a wired print server connects a printer to the router, accessible by all computers. Increasingly, printers are equipped with network ports, allowing them to be on the network directly, and not tethered to any single PC. As long as the printer is on, all computers will be able to print to it. This is just about that same as using a print server, which is used to convert a standard USB or Parallel printer to a network printer.

Likewise, a wireless print server can be used to attach a printer to a wireless network.

Configure a print server on page 162

Examples of how not to set up a home network

So far, youve seen diagrams of home networks that are connected properly. By showing you whats wrong with the following networks and why, youll be better able to deal with configuration issues.

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Heres a broadband network shared out through a hub. If youve paid for multiple IP addresses, you can share the Internet, but dont expect to share files or printers on this network. Hubs lack the intelligence to separate your internal network from the external network of the Internet. A router in place of the hub would make things work here.

When directly connecting two computers, a crossover Ethernet cable must be used. Using a patch cable here would be like there was no cable at all; you simply will not have a connection. Using a crossover cable here will solve the issue.

Where do I begin here? A single PC is connected both to the modem and the router. If you have a router, no PC directly connects to the modem. All computers connect to the router only. Modems that have USB-only connections (and thus can not connect to a router, only to a PC) are pretty much useless on a home network. Youre stuck with running ICS on the PC that has the modem. Its probably worth trashing the USB-only modem in favor of one that has a network port.

Whats my IP address?
I love this question the answer can tell you a world of information, such as: - Will that new wireless access point I bought fit into my existing network? - Do I have at least basic connectivity to my router? - Does the router have a connection to my Internet service? - Are all my computers on the same network?

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In addition, knowing the IP addresses of your computers can help out tremendously in all aspects of home network troubleshooting. Take IP addresses very seriously. They are at the very core of your home network.

In fact, when you contact me for support most of the time the first thing Ill ask you is

What are your IP addresses?

When finding out your IP address, there are two levels of information. The basic level includes: IP address Subnet Mask Default Gateway This basic information is usually enough for most troubleshooting. However, there is also a way to get the following additional information: DNS servers MAC Address DHCP status (enabled or not?)

For each operating system, Ill show you how to get both basic and expanded IP information.

Find out your IP: Windows XP Home/Pro

Go to Start > Run:

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In the Run dialog box, type cmd and click OK:

In the resulting black DOS window, type ipconfig at the prompt and hit enter. Your IP, subnet mask, and default gateway are reported.

Expanded IP information with XP Home/Pro:

Sometimes you need a bit more information, such as the MAC address of your network card, or the DNS server addresses. Type ipconfig /all in the command window, and youll get lots of additional information about your network connection and settings. Your MAC address is reported as the Physical Address, which is partially blurred here.

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If I ask you for your ipconfig /all output, theres an easy way to send it to me.

To send the output to a text file that you can email to me, just run ipconfig /all > pc1.txt

Nothing will appear to happen, but a text file named pc1.txt will be in the directory you were in when you ran the command. In this case, well find pc1.txt in My Computer, C:\Documents and Settings\Ed. With multiple PCs, name the files pc1.txt, pc2.txt, etc. At right is the text file ready to be attached to an email.

Find out your IP: Windows 2000

Go to Start > RUN.

Type cmd and click OK.

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Type ipconfig in the resulting black window. Your IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway are reported.

Expanded IP information: Windows 2000

If you need to know a little bit more about your network, run ipconfig /all instead of just ipconfig. In addition to standard information, your MAC address (Physical address) is reported along with DNS and DHCP information.

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Find out your IP: Windows 98

Go to Start > RUN.

In the RUN box, type winipcfg and click OK.

Select your network card from the dropdown. I have a Netgear card in this case. PPP and AOL adapters are not network cards.

Once you select your network card, your MAC address, (called Adapter Address), IP, subnet mask, and default gateway are reported.

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Expanded IP information: Windows 98

Click on the More Info button to access your DNS and other expanded information.

Find out your IP: Windows Millennium

Youll find that Windows ME is quite similar to 98. Go to Start > Run:

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In the Run dialog box, type winipcfg and click OK:

From the dropdown, select your network card. I happen to have an Intel 8255. Note: PPP and AOL adapters are NOT network cards.

In addition to your IP, subnet mask, and default gateway, your MAC address is also reported. Windows ME refers to the MAC address as the Adapter Address.

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Expanded IP information: Windows Millennium

You can click the More Info button on the IP Configuration dialog box to get additional information such as your MAC address. Windows ME refers to the MAC address as your Adapter Address.

This concludes the preview edition.

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Instead of hiring someone set up and configure your home network, you can do it yourself at a fraction of the cost! Download the 260 page full version and get online support!

Click here to go to the order page!

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