Sketch your own Network Setup
What you need to set a network when Computers are in same and different rooms
- How many computers do you have?
- Where are they located—are they in the same room or different rooms?
- Are any of your computers laptops?
- Do any of your computers have network adapters installed? If so, what are their types (Ethernet, HPNA, or wireless)?
Apply your answers to the following examples of home network layouts and configurations. These suggest how to use the different hardware choices available and can guide you in deciding which hardware you need to buy.
In this example, you have a couple of computers in the same room, computers in your children's rooms, a laptop, and perhaps one other computer in the kitchen. One of the two computers located in the same room is running Windows XP and has an external DSL or cable modem attached to an Ethernet network adapter.This computer is the ICS host. The other computer in this room also has an Ethernet network adapter. For these two computers, purchase:
- One Ethernet network adapter for the ICS host computer (in addition to the Ethernet adapter this computer already contains).
- One Ethernet network hub.
- RJ-45 network cables to connect each computer to the hub.
- External USB HPNA network adapters for each computer.
- One HPNA network adapter for the ICS host computer.
- Wireless network adapters for each computer, including the ICS host.
- One wireless network adapter for the ICS host computer, unless it already contains one.
What you need to set a Network when Computers are in different rooms
- How many computers do you have?
- Where are they located—are they in the same room or different rooms?
- Are any of your computers laptops?
- Do any of your computers have network adapters installed? If so, what are their types (Ethernet, HPNA, or wireless)?
Apply your answers to the following examples of home network layouts and configurations. These suggest how to use the different hardware choices available and can guide you in deciding which hardware you need to buy.
Computers are in the different room
In this network example, you've recently purchased your new Windows XP computer and set it up in your home office. You have moved your older computer into your child's room. The new computer—which is the ICS host—has an Ethernet network adapter attached to an external DSL or cable modem.
If there are phone jacks located near each computer, purchase:
- One external USB HPNA network adapter for each computer.
Home phoneline network adapter (HPNA) kits are available that make it easy to network one or two computers together. You simply plug the network adapter into the USB port on the computer and into the phone jack. The computers are then networked together.
As in the previous setup example, another solution is to purchase wireless network adapters for both computers. Simply plug an adapter into the USB port on each, and the two computers can communicate using radio signals.
What you need to set a network when computers are in same room
- How many computers do you have?
- Where are they located—are they in the same room or different rooms?
- Are any of your computers laptops?
- Do any of your computers have network adapters installed? If so, what are their types (Ethernet, HPNA, or wireless)?
Apply your answers to the following examples of home network layouts and configurations. These suggest how to use the different hardware choices available and can guide you in deciding which hardware you need to buy.
Computers are in the same room
You have a home office and all of your computers are in the same room. In this example setup, the most cost-effective network technology is Ethernet. If none of the computers has an Ethernet network adapter, purchase:
- One USB Ethernet network adapter for each computer.
- One Ethernet network hub with enough ports for connecting each computer.
- RJ-45 network cables for each computer.
Another solution is to buy wireless network adapters for each computer. An added advantage of using wireless adapters, besides eliminating the need for physical wires, is that you can easily add other wireless-equipped computers—such as laptops—later.
It is common in either setup to connect the ICS host computer to the Internet via an external DSL or cable modem attached to an Ethernet network adapter. Should you do this, you must purchase a second Ethernet or wireless network adapter for the host computer. The second adapter is necessary so the computer can communicate with the other computers on the network.
In next article we will disuse about setting a network when computers are in different rooms.
stay in touch..........
Network Types and their Advantages n Disadvantages
While there are several different network types, this article explains the three most popular types for home networks:
Ethernet: the current standard technology and the one used by most businesses; links computers via special cable and a device called a hub. HPNA (home phoneline network adapter): links computers via existing household telephone wiring. Wireless: links computers without wiring, by using radio signals.
The following table lists other properties, advantages and disadvantages of each network type:
Ethernet | HPNA | Wireless | |
Hardware needed in addition to network adapter | Ethernet RJ-45 cables and a network hub. | Telephone cables and phone jacks | May need an access point, a piece of hardware that acts as a central transmitter of radio signals between computers. Using an access point allows networking between any two computers on the system and expands the area radio signals are sent. |
Advantages | Currently the fastest, most reliable, least costly network technology. Most DSL and cable modems use Ethernet connections. | Easy installation; computers simply plug into ordinary phone jacks. | Mobile; you can move your laptop or desktop computer from room to room while remaining connected to the network. |
Disadvantages | Requires cables linking computers or Ethernet wiring (similar to phone wiring) installed in walls. | Requires a phone jack near each computer. | All networked computers must be within a specified distance to communicate with each other. Currently, wireless networks lack some of the capability of networks using physical connections. The cost of an access point is an additional expense to setting up the system. |
What is windows Registry and why to defragment it
What is Windows Registry? The Registry is very much like hard disk drives. Programs on your computer access the Registry thousands of times per second. That means that the Registry, just like disk drives, gets bloated and fragmented with time.
Do You Know the Facts? Most of you already know that a fragmented registry slows down computer speed (same as hard disks). But few are aware that the registry is fully kept in the memory when your PC is running. Memory on your PC is much smaller than disk space and the more bloated the Registry becomes, the less space there is for other programs to run. Knowing that, it should not come as a surprise to you that Windows Vista or XP runs noticeably slower after a few months of work.
Download FREE Auslogics Registry Defrag to defragment and compact the Windows Registry in less than a minute. The program will scan through the registry to remove slack spaces, reducing the registry size and ultimately the amount of RAM the registry takes up, and improving your computer performance.
Source: Auslogic
What is a Network adapter-Explained
All computers on a network require a hardware device called a network adapter. The easiest and fastest network adapters to install are external; that is, they connect to a computer via the USB port(USB port is an external bus that supports Plug and Play installation. Using USB, you can connect and disconnect devices without shutting down or restarting your computer. You can use a single USB port to connect up to 127 peripheral devices, including speakers, telephones, CD-ROM drives, joysticks, tape drives, keyboards, scanners, and cameras. A USB port is usually located on the back of your computer near the serial port or parallel port.)on the outside of the machine.
Internal network adapters must be installed inside the computer, requiring you to open or remove the computer housing. It is recommended that a qualified technician install an internal network adapter.
Common Network terms and Their definitions
Cable modem: A modem that connects a computer to a cable TV service that delivers Internet access.
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line): A technology that greatly increases the capacity of ordinary telephone wires to carry digital information.
Hub: A hardware device that connects network components at a central location and transfers data between all of them.
RJ-45 cable (Registered Jack-45): Eight-wire telephone cable used for linking computers to a local area network (LAN).
Defragmentation and Why Defragment your Disks
Defragmentation Explained:
Fragmentation is caused by creating and deleting files and folders, installing new software, and downloading files from the Internet. Computers do not necessarily save an entire file or folder in a single space on a disk; they're saved in the first available space. After a large portion of a disk has been used, most of the subsequent files and folders are saved in pieces across the volume.
When you delete files or folders, the empty spaces left behind are filled in randomly as you store new ones. This is how fragmentation occurs. The more fragmented the volume is, the slower the computer's file input and output performance will be.
Defragmentation is the process of rewriting non-contiguous parts of a file to contiguous sectors on a disk for the purpose of increasing data access and retrieval speeds. Because FAT and NTFS disks can deteriorate and become badly fragmented over time, defragmentation is vital for optimal system performance.
In June 1999 the ABR Corporation of Irvine, California, performed a fragmentation analysis and found that, out of 100 corporate offices that were not using a defragmenter, 50 percent of the respondents had server files with 2,000 to 10,000 fragments. In all cases the results were the same: Servers and workstations experienced a significant degradation in performance.
Why Defragment Disks?
Hard disks are by far the slowest component in your computer. CPU and memory work much faster than hard disks because they do not have moving parts. Therefore fragmented disks often become a bottleneck of the system performance.
Besides causing slowdowns, fragmentation makes the disk drive heads move too much when reading files which leads to freeze-ups and system crashes. It is important to keep your disks defragmented and optimized as much as possible.
Source: Auslogic
A possible reason for Internet connection sharing not working in Windows
Although Windows XP and your network make sharing an Internet connection possible, your Internet service provider (ISP) may forbid two or more people sharing the same Internet account simultaneously. Check with your ISP for rules or restrictions it might have for home networks.