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TheTechnologyShop.net Featured Article
A Guide to Home Networks
By
Chris Elsey - Founder Of Elsey's Web Services
In the evolving world of Technology, home networking
is becoming more and more popular in homes around the world.
Imagine being able to share a printer, music, files and other
resources around the home. It’s all possible thanks to the advances
in wireless technology. Most homes now have two or even three laptops
or desktops and it just makes sense to share resources. Here are some
of the Gadgets on the market you can buy to start your home network.
Home Servers. You might have heard of Windows Home Server. This is an operating system
Microsoft have produced for the home market. It will run on a fairly low
spec pc or you can buy a dedicated home server. The HP MediaSmart Server EX490
is a great product and comes with Windows Home Server already installed.
It has a 1TB hard drive, an Intel Celeron 2.2 GHz processor and 2GB of ram.
This will allow you to share your files, music, photos, videos etc. MediaSmart
Server works in harmony with Macs and PCs and will automatically back them up.
Best of all you can set it up to securely view your files from anywhere in the world.
There are other Home Servers on the market such as the Linksys By Cisco Media Hub.
This is ideal if you’re on a budget.
Wireless Printing. Printing and Wi-Fi have also come together.
It’s definately worth thinking about a wireless network printer.
You can be anywhere within range of your wireless network and be
able to print without that USB cable that once dominated the location
of your laptop. There are many to choose from like the HP DeskJet Wifi
F4580 or the Kodak ESP7, both are multifunction machines with Scanner
and Copier facilities. The HP Officejet Pro 8500 also offers a fax facility.
Routers. If you are looking to install a wireless network consider
your router as the hub of your network. Getting this right will mean you
will get the most from your home network. For gaming consider the Netgear
DGN2000 Wireless-N 300 Router. This router has wireless N technology which means
it operates at 300 Mbps per second which is faster than some wired networks.
If you just want to browse the internet it will not be worth investing in an N range router.
Something like the Netgear DG834G will be reliable and good enough for this sort of activity.
Wireless Network Security. Many people buy a wireless router,
set it up and never turn on the security. If you do not turn on the
security this will mean anyone can connect to your network and will
be able to use your internet connection and even access your files.
This is known as piggy-backing. The worst thing is if any criminal
activity is undertaken it will be logged under your address as it is
your connection. It is a crucial part of setting up any wireless network.
It’s generally very easy to enable. Just login to your routers web interface
and click the Wireless Security option. If your devices support it enable WPA2
as this is the strongest level of security currently on domestic routers.
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