You can connect your PCs using any of several different kinds of gear. Many of the world’s offices are wired with Ethernet cable, but, as you probably know, wireless networks are very popular for small offices and homes. Here and there, a few renegades are even installing networking systems that rely on the phone or power lines already in the walls. Here’s an overview of the most popular networking systems.
Note
Be sure that whatever networking gear you buy is compatible with Windows 8.1, either by checking logos on the package or by checking the maker’s Web site. Networking is complicated enough without having to troubleshoot some gadget that’s not designed for Win8.
Ethernet is the world’s most popular networking protocol. It gives you fast, reliable, cheap, trouble-free communication. All you need are three components:
Network adapters. An Ethernet jack is built into virtually every Win8-compatible PC. That’s your network adapter—the circuitry that provides the Ethernet jack (Figure 25-1). You may also hear a network adapter called a network interface card or NIC (“nick”).
If your machine doesn’t have an Ethernet jack—plenty of laptops and tablets don’t—you can add one. Adapters are available as internal cards, external USB attachments, or laptop cards.
A router. If you have a cable modem or DSL connection to the Internet, a router (about $60) distributes that Internet signal to all the computers on your network. (The dialog boxes in Windows call these devices gateways, although almost no one else does.)
Routers with four or eight ports (that is, Ethernet jacks where you can plug in computers) are popular in homes and small offices.
It’s worth noting that you can inexpensively expand your network by plugging a hub or switch into one of the router’s jacks. Hubs and switches are similar-looking little boxes that offer another five or eight Ethernet jacks, connecting all your computers together. (A switch is more intelligent than a hub. It’s more selective when sending data to the right PCs on your network; as a result, the bits and bytes move a little faster.)
Tip
There’s also such a thing as a router with both physical Ethernet jacks and wireless antennas that broadcast the signal throughout your place.
To set up a router, plug it into your cable or DSL modem using an Ethernet cable. Restart the cable modem. Now use whatever software came with the router to set up its security features. Often, the software is actually built into the router; you’re supposed to view it by opening up a special page in your Web browser, of all things.
Figure 25-1. Top: The Ethernet cable is connected to a computer at one end, and the router (shown here) at the other end. The computers communicate through the router; there’s no direct connection between any two computers. The front of the router has little lights for each connector port, which light up only on the ports in use. You can watch the lights flash as the computers communicate with one another. Bottom: Here’s what a typical “I’ve got three PCs in the house, and I’d like them to share my cable modem” setup might look like.
The router then logs onto your Internet service and stands ready to transmit Internet data to and from all the computers on your network.
As a bonus, the router provides excellent security, serving as a firewall that isolates your network computers from the Internet and keeps out hackers. (See Chapter 14 for much more on firewalls.)
Ethernet cables. The cables used for most Ethernet networks look something like telephone cables, but they’re not the same thing—and they’re definitely not interchangeable. Both the cable itself (called 10BaseT, 100BaseT, or Cat 5) and the little clips at each end (RJ-45 connectors) are slightly fatter than those on a phone cable. You can buy Ethernet cables in a variety of lengths and colors. Each computer must be connected to the hub, switch, or router with a cable that’s no longer than about 100 yards.
Tip
If you’ve got a computer that sits in one place, like a desktop PC, you should use an Ethernet cable even if you have a wireless network.
One reason is security (wired networks are harder for the baddies to “sniff”). Another is speed. Yes, wireless technologies like 802.11n promise speeds of 300 megabits per second, which is very, very fast. But, first of all, the real-world speed is about a third of that; second, that speed is shared among all computers on the network. As a result, if you’re copying a big file across the network, it will probably go twice as fast if it’s going between one wireless and one wired PC than between two wireless PCs.
Ethernet gear can be shockingly inexpensive; a search at www.buy.com, for example, reveals five-port Ethernet hubs for $30 from no-name companies. If you’re willing to pay slightly more—$20 for the card, $50 for the hub, for example—you can get brand-name gear (like D-Link, NETGEAR, 3Com, or Linksys) whose support with installation, phone help, and driver updates through the years may reward you many times over. Setting up an Ethernet network generally goes very smoothly, but in the few cases where trouble arises, cheapo equipment is often the problem.
On paper, the hardware part of setting up the network is simple: Just connect each computer to the router or hub using an Ethernet cable.
It’s that “using an Ethernet cable” part that sometimes gets sticky. Depending on where your PCs are and how concerned you are about the network’s appearance, this wiring process may involve drilling holes in floors or walls, stapling cables to baseboard trim, or calling in an electrician to do the job.
When all your computers are in the same room, you can run the cables along the walls and behind the furniture. If you have to run cables between rooms, you can secure the cables to the floor or baseboards using staples—use the round kind that won’t crush the cables—or plastic “raceways” with adhesive backing.
Of course, you might not be thrilled about having any exposed cables in your home or office. In that case, the installation process can be much more complicated. You should probably hire a professional cable installer to do the job—or don’t use cables at all. Read on.
So far, this discussion has focused on using wired Ethernet to hook up your computers. Millions of people, however, have embraced the flexibility of WiFi (802.11), a wireless networking system.
Every laptop sold today has a WiFi antenna built in. You can also add it to a desktop in the form of a wireless card or USB adapter. Once all your equipment is wireless, that’s it: Your PCs can now communicate with one another.
To get onto an existing wireless network, follow the steps on Connecting to a WiFi Network.
But if you want your own wireless network, right there in your own home or office, you also need a wireless router (about $50)—a box that connects to your router or hub and broadcasts the Internet signal to the whole building. The usual suspects—Linksys, NETGEAR, D-Link, and others—sell these routers. They’re also called base stations or access points.
Now, 802.11 equipment has a range of about 150 feet, sometimes even through walls. In concept, this setup works much like a cordless phone, where the base station is plugged into the wall phone jack and a wireless handset can talk to it from anywhere in the house.
Wireless networking is not without its downsides, however. You may get intermittent service interruptions from 2.4-gigahertz cordless phones and other machinery, or even the weather. Furthermore, big metal things, or walls containing big metal things (like pipes) can interfere with communication among the PCs, much to the disappointment of people who work in subways and meat lockers.
A wireless network isn’t as secure as a cabled network, either. It’s theoretically possible for some hacker, sitting nearby, armed with “sniffing” software, to intercept the email you’re sending or the Web page you’re downloading. (Except secure Web sites, those marked by a little padlock in your Web browser.)
Still, nothing beats the freedom of wireless networking, particularly if you’re a laptop lover; you can set up shop almost anywhere in the house or in the yard, slumped into any kind of rubbery posture. No matter where you go within your home, you’re online at full speed, without hooking up a single wire.
There are a couple of other network types that are worth looking into. Both are wired networks, but they use the wires you already have.
Instead of going to the trouble of wiring your home with Ethernet cables, you might consider using the wiring that’s already in your house—telephone wiring. That’s the idea behind a kind of networking gear called HomePNA. With this system, you can use the network even when using the modem or talking on the phone, although you can’t make a modem and a voice call simultaneously.
Unfortunately, the average American household has only two or three phone jacks in the entire house, meaning you don’t have much flexibility in positioning your PCs. If you’re trying to avoid the plaster-dust experience of installing additional wiring, consider WiFi or Powerline networking.
Here’s another way to connect your computers without rewiring the building: Use the electrical wiring that’s already in your walls. Unlike phone jacks, electrical outlets are usually available in every room in the house.
If you buy Powerline adapters (also called HomePlug adapters), you get very fast speeds (from 14 up to 100 Mbps), very good range (1,000 feet), and the ultimate in installation simplicity. You just plug the Powerline adapter from your PC’s Ethernet or USB jack into any wall power outlet. Presto—all the PCs are connected.
Powerline adapters are inexpensive (about $40 apiece) and extremely convenient.