Overview
- A fun and easy resource for the more than fifteen million Americans who live in a household with multiple PCs and want to reap the benefits of sharing files, printers, and a single Internet connection
- Walks the reader through all the basics of home networking, from analyzing today's wired and wireless options and planning the network to installation, security, and maintenance
- Contains a new chapter on wireless networking and updated information on networking with Windows XP
- Explains how even computer beginners can set up an affordable, easy-to-use home network
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewIf your household has somehow acquired more than one computer, you’re not alone. By one estimate, more than 15 million households own multiple computers. By 2005, it’ll be 28 million -- and 83 percent of them will have a home network.
Like folks tell their kids, though: Who cares what everyone else is doing? If they jumped off a roof, would you? But, in this case, 23.5 million Americans can’t be wrong. Whether you want to play networked games, share an expensive broadband Internet connection, or stop walking floppy disks around the house whenever you need to print, home networks are the solution. And once you’ve built yours, you’ll find more and more uses for it.
Setting up a home network is easier than it used to be, for lots of reasons. Here are three: Windows XP, Wi-Fi wireless networking, and Home Networking for Dummies, Second Edition, by Kathy Ivens.
Ivens, who’s senior contributing editor for Windows & .NET Magazine, has written more than 70 books -- many, like this one, focused on helping non-techie folks make sense of advanced technology.
She starts with the answers to the questions folks ask first. What do you need to get started? Which versions of Windows? Which hardware? Wired or wireless? Buy a kit, or individual components?
If you decide to network the “traditional” way -- with wired Ethernet -- Ivens then walks you through the process. If necessary, you’ll install a network card inside your PC (or plug one into your notebook). You’ll load software drivers. Next, you’ll plan your cabling and the location of your hub -- considering issues you probably haven’t thought about.
Ivens then shows how to run cable throughout your house without creating unnecessary havoc -- and how to make sure your network works right when you’re done. (Don’t bend cable at a sharp angle. And “when in doubt, staple like a madman.”)
Thankfully, you now have alternatives to drilling holes throughout your house. The Second Edition includes a full chapter on two new techniques: networking via your existing telephone wiring or electrical wiring. It also contains thorough coverage of the latest wireless networking options.
Once you’ve set up the network itself, Ivens shows how to make it work for you. You’ll walk through setting up file sharing and browsing across your network, printing from upstairs on the downstairs printer, keeping your kids out of the family finances, and, of course, sharing your web connection. (This edition contains lots of new coverage of cable/DSL modems, and a full chapter on routers.) By the way, Ivens covers of all recent versions of Windows. If you have Windows XP, great. If not, no problem.
As you’d hope, there’s a full chapter on securing your network (every bit as important as you imagine, but not as difficult). Ivens also tells you how to protect your network against blackouts, power surges, and lightning strikes (especially relevant in the wake of the massive power outage of August 2003).
Our favorite chapter explores ten cool home network uses you might not have thought of (keeping a family shopping list, setting up a message center, sharing a digital camera, etc.). Fun, and very doable. Bill Camarda
Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks for Dummies, Second Edition.