Local Area Network Useful Information
Home Networks and Buying a New Home
Having a home offers those who have technology needs the opportunity to consider installation of network components during the design and construction phase of the home. Many new homes now offer basic connectivity as an option. The Internet has become a ubiquitous feature of our lifestyle in just the last decade. Unless the home you are buying was built in recent times, it is likely that you are pretty much left to your own design when it comes to networking all of your home computers.
You will need to determine the connectivity options to your home. Your choices are either DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) or Cable modem; Be careful here, the Internet connectivity options of a home network are often not known during the selling and purchasing of many homes. This decision about connectivity options has a great deal to do with what facilities are available for Internet access in the area around the home. Usually, the further the home is located from a large populated area, the fewer choices there are for Internet access. There are some service levels that are more desirable than others, but lets take a look at some of the options:
(1) Dial-Up - About $9.95 - $24.95 per month. Up to 53,333 bps without any software acceleration. For this service, you need to have two phone lines available so that voice calls and calls placed to the Internet provider can be done at the same time. This option should be used if you are only a casual user of the Internet and you do not need the ability to listen to online music, download large files, work from home or browse sites with extensive graphics. This is the lowest cost, most feature lacking service, but it will work fine for the casual user. This is still the most prevalent form of connection to the Internet.
(2) ISDN - $55 - $125.00 per month depending on availability and features. 128 Kbps capability. The Integrated Digital Services Network offering never really took off in the United States as it did in Europe for the average home consumer. This technology is used by business mainly for backup facilities when larger network pipes are not functional for whatever reason. The service does allow for the use of voice and data on the same connection facility to the Internet. This service is usable for both the casual and intermediate home user as well small businesses and people who work at home.
(3) Satellite Internet - Price varies according to carrier. 400 Kbps capability. This can be a complicated setup and the problems with the service can be caused by weather, animals, and obstruction of the line of sight view of the southern sky. The technology also employs a modem line to send commands to the Internet and receive the answers from the satellite dish. This service is suitable for the remote user who is far from traditional service offerings of a local exchange carrier (LEC) or cablemodem service provider.
(4) Cable Modem - $50.00/month depending on speed and other features. 3 - 10 Mbps capability. This service is becoming widely available as cable modem service providers spring up all over the country. Usually the provider is already servicing the area with cable television. Using a protocol know as DOCSIS, the cable modem provider is able to use the same cable to provide both video and digital services to the home subscriber. The speed varies according to the number of people using the system at any given time, but for the most part, this is a very reliable and fast method of connecting to the Internet.
(5) Digital Subscriber Line - $25/month depending on speed and other features. 768Kbps - 6 Mbps capability. The DSL service providers using line sharing technology as well to be able to provide voice and digital data over the same physical media entering the house. The distance limitiations on this technology are about $18,000 feet or just under three miles form the channel office of the local exchange carrier. The closer you are to the channel office, the better the speed. This service is well suited for businesses and consumers who have high speed access needs or work from home.
(6) Wi-Fi Internet - $40.00/month depending on speed and other features. 768Kbps - 3 Mbps capability. The wireless Internet option is now being considered in more households as WISPs (Wireless Internet Service Providers) spring up all over the country. With this option you simply install the provider gear on your roof top and run a single cable into the home's Ethernet network or single PC and you have Internet connectivity without any wires at all. This service is becoming popular in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. The price is attractive, the speed is impressive and the features are getting better for security, usability and flexibility. This service offering is great for the experienced Internet user or home telecommuter.
Once you have connected to the Internet Service Provider and passed through the providers equipment, whether it is a modem or other device you will then have an Ethernet connection. You will need to distribute that connection to the other computers in your home.Do you want a connection to every room in the house?. Do you have or are you planning to have children or are you going to have more children? Will each person in the house need access to a computer that will need services from your home network? Do you want multiple points of connectivity to outside Intermet services from multiple rooms in the house? Will you be working from home? Depending on the number of people in your household and the number of computers that you now have or may eventually have, it is important to plan ahead. Have you thought about prewiring the home, or are you going to go completely wireless from the point of the connection to the Internet?
Multiple computer homes are very different from the single PC homes of just a few years ago. There is now the same requirements for most homes as a small business faces with its connectivity options. In most of the U.S. families that have reliable Internet technology, the computer has become a central tool. Each person in the household may have his or her own computer, and the adults work from home or need to access their employers network from home, which places the demands of a small workgroup of computers on the local area network components installed in the home. You also need to consider elements such as print and file sharing from within your home network. There will also be shared devices likehome printers, other devices used in your home may also require Internet connectivity. Alot of the newer game consoles and other Internet conencted devices need Internet connectvity and peer-to-peer connectivity for home gaming networks and possibility for management of the home network.
Thinking about these decisions during the buying of a home, new or used, will help you make the right decision when it comes to planning each phase of your network. The home network could be very simple, or it can be very complex. Look at other pages on this site for some ideas. Check our links page for more information on equipment and information sources.