Home Network

Overview As the number of households with multiple PCs grows each year, many people are interested in setting up a home network. Home networking allows the computers on the network to share resources such as printers, hard drives, and even Internet connections. There are a wide variety of options for networking multiple PCs in your home, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Check out the links below for specifics about the various home networking technologies, hardware and software resources, and general networking how-tos.

General Information Home networking techniques such as power-line networking (HomePLC), phone-line networking (HomePNA), wireless, and Ethernet are all affordable and effective ways to gain communication between your PCs. The definition page for “Home Networking” at SearchNetworking.com provides further information and links to other sites. Different networking techniques are thoroughly described at www.howstuffworks.com/home-network.htm. CNET.com provides an excellent overview of home networking in their article “Home Networking Comes Knocking” by Wylie Wong. One home networking company, Proxim, provides an easy-to-use guide for setting up your home network. 

Home Networking Solutions Hardware and software solutions for home networking needs can be found on the Internet. Many companies provide services ranging from selling hardware (www.pricewatch.com or www.buy.com) to complete home network installation (www.jphewitt.com). Visit ZDNet’s Home Network Guide to read articles and reviews of different manufacturer’s home-networking products. The Sygate Company provides valuable information about various home-networking techniques. They also sell products related to home networking. Specific home-networking techniques such as HomePNA and HomePLC are inexpensive and effective, and do not require cables between PCs. 

Home-networking resources (including tutorials, tips, FAQs, and articles) can be found at many Web sites. Microsoft provides valuable information about networking Windows PCs on their Web page www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/columns/davies/july30.asp. The Web site www.homepcnetwork.com is dedicated to providing home-networking resources such as forums, articles, reviews, and links. The article “Web-Based Resources for Network Computing” by Timothy Haight details different home-networking techniques. It also provides information about cables, technology, network management, and LANs in general. HomePNA resources can be found at www.homepna.com. Home network security is the topic of the page www.cert.org/tech_tips/home_networks.htm. Here you’ll find discussions of the security weaknesses in home networks and the importance of network security.