Home Computer Networking made easy!
With more and more households containing more than 1 PC and the need for each computer in the home to have the ability to connect to the internet, print information, share photos, music and video the home computer network is no longer the play thing of the technophiles.
Fundamentally a home network allows computers to talk to each other, the benefits of a setting up a home network include:
- Share the internet connection – Using a home computer network all PC’s in the home can access the internet via a single connection ... At the same time!! This means you do not need a separate ISP connection for each PC in the home.
- Share Printers, CD Drives and other peripherals – With a home computer network all users are able to print documents to a shared single printer.
- File and Folder can be shared amongst the home users - File & folder sharing gives you the ability to access files stored on another PC on your home computer network, this also gives the ability to backup important files which are contained on 1 computer.
- Multi-player gaming – Most PC based games include an option to play friends and family on your home network.
- Home entertainments – Many new games consoles allow you to view pictures, video and music stored on a PC in a different room over your home network.
There are a few different types of home computer networking available, but essentially the basic components are still the same:
- More than one computer.
- Hardware (Such as Network cards, Router / Modems, Switches/Hubs) used to transport the information between computers.
- A path for the information to travel.
Hopefully the information on the following pages will help guide you in creating and setting up a home computer network.