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SetUpHomeNetwork

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How To Set Up a Home Network

Introduction

If you have more than one computer in your home, it is quickly discovered what a hassle it is to be shoved aside when someone else needs the printer, which happens to be attached to your PC. You're also probably tired of running up and down the stairs to transfer files using floppy disks. And no one likes fighting over the only computer with Internet access.

There are many more benefits to having a home network, where would you rather answer important e-mail in your home office, hunched over your desk, or in the living room, with your feet up? Better yet, how about out on the veranda?

Over the past few years, a variety of home networking packages have appeared, which are relatively easy to use. You can use your home's existing wiring or in some cases, no wires at all. [3]

Forewarned is Forearmed

Knowledge of what is available on the market, the pros-and-cons of each device and network plan will help you plan for a more practical solution that will better fit your needs, for instance:

• Files, directories and documents can be shared from any computer on the network without leaving your chair. A file server can also be set up which means a PC could be allocated as a common file server (all working files stored on one computer), meaning everyone can have their own private space on that PC (without anyone being able to access the files without granted permission).
  • All files are stored in a centralized location making automatic backup easier
  • The Make available off-line or synchronize feature available with most operating systems can be utilized to allow mobile computers to work off-site and when attached back to the home network again, all files that had been changed including new ones created while away, will be automatically updated on the print server ready for automatic backup that night.
• Printers can be shared from any of the networked computers, however if there are lots of printing, the computer attached to the shared printer will becomes unusable while printing. This will impact on the person using the print server as a workstation. If this is the case a print server is probably the better way to share your printer. If only a few documents each day are printed then attaching a printed, turning a PC into a print server could be the better way to share your printing needs
• If you a ready for a printer upgrade, then look for a printer that has built-in networking features which could even include WiFi which lets it connect directly to your router or Wi-Fi access point without the use of a print server or computer attached to a computer.
• If your printer lacks a networking facilities (WiFi or Ethernet) and you're in the market for a new router, consider getting one that has a USB printer port and inbuilt print server, such as Apple's AirPort Extreme Base Station. Printers can be shared by a wireless print server for around $100.00 - $180.00 AUSD which means printing is always available and not dependant on whether a PC connected to the printer and is turned on.
• Multifunctional devices (i.e. printer, fax, scanner) can be shared by using a specially designed print servers such as Belkin's Wireless-G Print Server or D-Link's AirPlus G Wireless USB Print Server that lets you plug in one or more printers and then connect. If you have a multifunction printer, look for D-Link's RangeBooster G Multifunction Print Server or Linksys's Wireless-G Print Server with Multifunction Printer Support, either of which allows shared scanning and printing with many popular all-in-one printers. [1]

Be Prepared

• Ethernet Cards otherwise known as Network Interface Cards (NIC's)-- Make sure each computer has a NIC so that they can talk
• Choose Router WiFi according to the network you have decided to build -- Something to consider when purchasing a router is they have ports, which directly relates to how many nodes (Computers, Network Printers etc) can be installed without having to purchase a switch.
• Cable is very important to consider. Questions such as:
  • Can you have the cable run or run it yourself without impacting on ascetics too much
  • Would it be a better choice to look at using Wireless (WiFi)-- Remember that faster speeds can be achieved through using cable. The default speed at this point in time is 100MB/s however 1000MB/s and 10 Gig/s are available for special circumstances (usually related to servers) WiFi can achieve up to 108MB/s however perfect conditions need to be met to achieve this. Distance and interference such as walls will impact on your performance.
• Have your OS installation CDs handy for each PC to be networked and make sure there network drivers and Network Interface Cards are installed. (depending on whether you have decided to go WiFi or Ethernet cable)
• Choose a name for your network (also referred to as a workgroup). Something descriptive is usually best, such as your family name or the name of your small business. Wireless networks will also need another name a network identification code or Service Set Identifier (SSID) beside the workgroup name. On that note it is a better security practice not to stick to the default names already given but choose your own, which makes it more difficult for hackers or your next door neighbour access your network wirelessly.
• Decide on unique descriptive name for each computer such as office, kids, laptop and so forth.

Plan your Topology

What is topology? Wikipedia says "is the study of the arrangement or mapping of the elements (links, nodes, etc.) of a network, especially the physical (real) and logical (virtual) interconnections between nodes". [2] Exactly where are your cables going to go and how are they going to connect? How many ports on your hub? Do you need a switch added to give you the ability to install extra nodes? How much cable do I need? How many patch panels/cables connectors do you need. You may choose to pre-install a RJ-45 wall jacks in every bedroom, den, and living room in your home, which eventually lead to a central hub, so all you have to do is plug the computer in the wall jack, and plug the hub into the wall jack near it that corresponds with the wall jack the computer is plugged into.

If you have decided to use WiFi how far away are the laptops, printers away from you Wireless Access Point (WAP). The rule of thumb is make sure the distance is no further than the device can transmit and receive. How do you determine this? Over design rather than under design i.e. if you have a two story house, the safest bet would be to place one WAP on each floor if a laptop is going to be used on both floors. There are more scientific ways to achieve this with network scanners and so forth see Wireless Networks however the price of an extra WAP is going to be better than finding out later and having to spend much more on running extra cabling wall jacks and so-on.

Generic Schematic Layout

Figure 1 covers a generic network, many changes can be made according to router IP address, decision to go wirless or composite (WiFi & Wired). Where to purchase a print server, run the printer wirelessly or connected to a PC will all depend on what suits your circumstances best. The most important thing to do is to plan right down to the equipment need before doing anything. It is our hope the diagram will help you to see some possibilities available.

Choose Your Equipment

Make sure that you have the equipment you need. As you're looking for products in stores or on the Internet, you might notice that you can choose equipment that supports three different wireless networking technologies: 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g. 802.11g, offers excellent performance and is compatible with almost everything however, having said that, this technology is changing rapidly so get the fastest just make sure your receivers are compatible and other WiFi equipment are all compatible.

Connect The Router/Wireless

Shopping list

• Broadband Internet connection
• Router or(Wireless Router)
  The router converts the signals coming across your Internet connection into a wireless broadcast, sort of like a cordless phone base station. Be sure to get a wireless router, and not a wireless access point.
• A wireless network adapter, PC with wireless support or NIC depending on your network plan
  WiFi network adapters wirelessly connect your computer to your wireless router. If you have a newer computer you may already have wireless capabilities built in. If this is the case, then you will not need a wireless network adapter. If you need to purchase an adapter for a desktop computer, buy a USB wireless network adapter. If you have a laptop, buy a PC card-based network adapter. Make sure that you have one adapter for every computer on your network.
• Cables Patch panels connectors
  Make sure you have estimated the correct amount of cable, patch panels to cater for your immediate needs and those of the future. Don't forget technology is growing at a rapid rate and very shortly, your TV/s will need a connection to the net and also smart phones and houses will become more popular. So make sure you cater for future growth.

Ready to Go

Configure The Router

• Using the network cable that came with your wireless router, you should connect your computer to one of the open network ports on your router (any port that isn't labeled Internet, WAN, or WLAN). If you need to, turn your computer on. It should automatically connect to your router. If this does not happen you will need to establish whether your computer is talking to the router which is out of the scope of this document. Once you have them talking:
• Open your browser and type in the address to configure your router, this will be found in your manual or CD/DVD which came with the router. The manual will have your password and username. Do not forget or leave lying around make sure you document these as well as other important items and keep them together for future reference otherwise it might cost you money to have someone come around and fault find you router. If all goes well, you should be greeted with a web page interface to your router.
• If you have chosen a wireless router
  • Your wireless network name, known as the SSID. This name identifies your network. You should choose something unique that none of your neighbors will be using as already covered.
  • Wireless encryption (WEP) or Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), which help protect your wireless network. For most routers, you will provide a passphrase that your router uses to generate several keys. Make sure your passphrase is unique and long for security purposes
  • Your administrative password, which controls your wireless network. Just like any other password, should not be a word that you can find in the dictionary, and it should be a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. Be sure you can remember this password, because you'll need it if you ever have to change your router's settings.

By right, only a few settings will need to be changed and this is done by ringing your ISP up or reading their correspondance to input key bits of information needed to connect to the internet. The product are made to plug straight in out of the box with just a few amounts of input. Some ISP's send the router preconfigured which means all you need to do is plug it in. Once you have your network up and running there are a few areas relating to security you need to consider which will be covered below

WiFi Security

Security Tips for Home Wi-Fi Networks

1. Change your router's access name and password.
2. Don't let users piggyback onto your Wi-Fi net -- turn off peer-to-peer connections.
3. Stop broadcasting your router's network ID.
4. Approve all wireless network users in advance.
5. Turn on wireless data encryption.
6. Periodically check router logs for rogue users.
7. Use a strong firewall -- The NAT router is a hardware firewall so there is no need to install a software firewall
8. Password-protect your computers and files.
9. Put your wireless network on its own subnet -- This suggestion is optional and is more suited to a corporate environment
10. Turn on the MAC addressing filter in your wireless router. Most Wi-Fi gateways let you restrict access to known MAC (Media Access Control) addresses. Each network device (such as a computer, Wi-Fi card, or printer) has a unique MAC address, and by allowing access only to pre-defined MAC addresses you reduce the risk of accidental or rogue clients connecting with or perusing your network resources. This takes the closed network concept a step further -- This is optional and more suited to a corporate environment especially if you are using WPA or WPA2.

Change your router's name and password

This is always the first line of defense. It's easy for attackers to find out what the default name and password are for various manufacturers. Many also default to using the standard 192.168.1 or 2 subnet internally and give the router itself the IP address of 192.168.1.1 or 192.16.2.1. You should make sure you rename the router, assign a strong password for accessing the router configuration software, and consider changing the IP addressing to a difficult-to-guess internal subnet like 192.168.12.1 or 192.168.83.1 (you can use any number from 1 to 254 in the third position in most cases).

Ad-Hoc

Enable infrastructure mode only on all access points and clients on the network. Disable the "ad-hoc" mode, which lets clients set up peer-to-peer networks and could allow rogue users to connect to your network through a legitimate wireless client.

Disable SSID broadcast

The SSID (Service Set Identifier) is essentially the network name for the wireless portion. A wireless access point (AP) or router in open network mode will periodically broadcast a beacon signal (usually about 10 times each second) which announces to the world that the network is live and ready to go. The beacon also includes data such as the signal strength and functional capabilities of the AP as well as the SSID. With broadcasting off, wireless clients must first know the SSID before they can connect.

For home networks, this broadcast information is not necessary. You can simply type in the SSID in your wireless client's setup dialog once, and it will be remembered in future connections. Experienced hackers can still find such "closed" networks, but at least you will not be openly inviting them. And neighbors or passersby will not see or accidentally connect to your network.

Enable WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) or WPA2 encryption.

Sound foolproof? Not quite. Even if your SSID isn't broadcast and you restrict access to known MAC addresses, your wireless network may still be detected and compromised. Hackers can capture the wireless data packets as they travel from your access point to your wireless client or vice versa. The captured packets may reveal both the SSID and the MAC addresses of client devices communicating with the network. Once a MAC address is known a malicious user can "spoof" the MAC address of the attacking system to make a computer look like it's one of the accepted systems and allow it to connect. So you should still take additional precautions. Encryption is the next step in the wireless security ladder. WEP (wireless equivalency protocol) is the original Wi-Fi encryption scheme, and comes in several flavors -- 40-, 64-, and 128-bit. However, its underlying algorithm is flawed and subject to relatively easy cracking. Without going into the gory technical details, it can be broken in minutes. If you want to test your WEP connection to see how easy it is to capture packets and decode the key, you can use a tool like AirSnort. The longer 128-bit encryption keys require transmitting more data, but don't offer significantly better protection than 40- or 64-bit encryption, and significantly reduce wireless performance.

While WEP is better than nothing, it will only keep out the neighbors and opportunistic hackers. For true protection, you need WPA or WPA2.

WPA builds on WEP encryption by scrambling the key and integrity-checking it to ensure it hasn't been tampered with. Additionally, it allows authentication using public key infrastructure (PKI) encryption. But the strongest wireless encryption standard is WPA2 (based on the 802.11i security standard). WPA2 is similar to WPA, with the added security of the strong AES or TKIP encryption protocols required by some businesses and government agencies. WPA2 is also the preferred encryption method for the emerging 802.11n standard, and provides the best performance.

Note that WPA and WPA2 require that ALL devices on the wireless net be set to them -- clients, the wireless router or access point, and any other relays or access points in between. If you have some older adapter cards that only support WEP, do upgrade them. (But first check with your manufacturer -- there may be firmware updates for WPA.)

Change Passkey Regularly

No matter which encryption type you use, change your passkey regularly. It takes recording a certain amount of traffic to give crackers enough data to decode a key. Also, passwords do get written down and can fall into the wrong hands.

See Also

Wireless Networks - Wikitec

References

1. ^ Liberate Your Printer - Retrieved on 28 October 2007
2. ^ Topology - Retrieved on 28 October 2007
3. ^ How to Set Up Your Home Network - Retrieved on 29 October 2007

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