Home Networking: The Missing Manual

Home Networking Software

Good news: the software that lets your computers hop onto a network is already part of your operating system! You don't need any other complicated software, just maybe a little program called a driver, which is a piece of code that comes with your networking hardware and lets it talk to your computer's operating system.

POWER USERS' CLINIC: Catching the Universal Serial Bus

Many people think that popping off the top of the computer case and installing a network card inside the machine is the only way to get a computer on the Internet. But if the thought of poking around your PC's innards makes you queasy, there's another way to make the connection: the Universal Serial Bus, otherwise known as the USB.

USB jacks have been standard on PC and Macintosh hardware since the late 1990s. Not only can they connect everything from scanners and printers to external hard drives and force-feedback gaming joysticks, they can also hook you to the network without forcing you to take apart your computer.

As mentioned on Section 1.1, a USB network adapter is all you need. You just pop the adapter into one of your available USB ports, install the software that comes with it, and insert an Ethernet cable into the other end of the adapter.

In a pinch, you can even link a couple PCs together and make a mini-network by stringing a special USB cable called a USB-to-USB adapter or a USB bridge. This can be helpful if you don't have a network set up yet but want to copy three gigabytes of digital photos from one computer to the another.

USB is available in two versions, USB 1.1 and the newer USB 2.0, which is much faster, and especially useful when you hook things like iPods to your computer, because you can quickly copy over 20 gigabytes of music files. Most new computers these days have the USB 2.0 ports, but all USB connections use the same flat, rectangular connector, so you can still use a slower USB 1.1 device in a USB 2.0 port.

Hundreds of devices use a USB connection, and products for USB wireless networking are also available. If the world of USB (and everything you can plug into it) intrigues you, check out the official USB home page at www.usb.org for info on how to do cool stuff with what's available now, and also what's coming up next.

As far as networks are concerned, all operating systems are created equal. Your network can play host to computers running just about any operating system out there—Windows, Macintosh, Linux, DOS, you name it. But like the pigs in Animal Farm, some operating systems are more equal than others.

Sleek and modern, Windows XP and Mac OS X are particularly good for home networkers, because they're both designed to run multiple accounts and they're compatible with all WiFi equipment. (The term "accounts" here has nothing to do with banking; computer systems like Windows XP and Mac OS X allow each person using the machine to create his own user account with a separate name, password, settings, and files, for both security and aesthetic reasons. Chapters 5 and 6 tell you everything you need to know about accounts.) If your computers are running older versions of Windows or the Mac OS, you can still, of course, join the network party, but you'll have a little more setup work to do. Throughout this book, you'll find specific tips and instructions relevant to all flavors of Windows and the Mac OS.

POWER USERS' CLINIC: Hardcore Hardware: Firewalls and VPNs

Every network needs a router, network adapters, and cabling or wireless signals. But some people need extra protection for their network—either to keep the bad guys out or to provide secure access back to the network's goodies from on the road. A firewall lets you batten down the virtual hatches by keeping unwanted Internet fiends off your home network and from tippy-toeing through the personal data on your PC.

If you travel frequently and want to tap into your network back home, consider a Virtual Private Network, also known as a VPN. The VPN wraps all the incoming and outgoing network traffic within an encrypted container, sort of like those pneumatic tubes that safely carry your paycheck and deposit slip to the teller at the bank's drive-up window.

Firewall

If you live in a townhouse or condominium, you probably have a fortified wall called a firewall between you and your neighbor to prevent the spread of fire. Corporate networks use hardware and software of the same name designed to prevent hackers (the fire) from gaining access to the corporate network (the townhouse) via the Internet (the hacker's evil townhouse next door).

With the increasing use of residential high-speed Internet connections, home computers are becoming a favorite target for hackers. Even worse, with the "always on" nature of broadband connections, your unprotected computers and your network are at risk even when you're not using the Internet.

By virtue of the fact that they come between your home network and the Internet, most basic routers help protect your network from outsiders. However, some advanced routers include full firewall capability. While a standard router simply forwards appropriate information to and from the Internet, one with a firewall is like a big burly bouncer, keeping intruders out of your personal club. Rather than just forwarding information, the firewall actually verifies that the information being passed on is safe for consumption. A firewall-enabled router won't forward any information from the Internet that you don't specifically request.

Routers with built-in firewalls will be clearly labeled, so keep an eye out if you think you'll want this extra security for your home network.

VPN router

If you're setting up a small network at your business and want to enable folks outside the office, such as traveling sales people or telecommuters, to access your network's resources (like the company sales calendar, personal email, or other files), you may want to consider setting up a VPN.

A VPN provides a secure "tunnel" into your network so that your data can travel without being spied on by little weasel eyes along the way.

Many routers come with VPN capability, which is useful for two reasons. First, it lets you allow designated colleagues to securely connect to your network. Second, you can generally configure the VPN-equipped router to permanently connect to a remote network, which means all of the computers on your own home network can seamlessly use the stuff over there on that far-away network.

Note

If you're an all-Microsoft house (using Windows XP, Windows 98, Windows ME, or Windows 2000), you'll find Windows specifics in Chapter 5. Mac mavens will be interested in Chapter 6. And if you've got computers running a mix of Windows and Mac OS X, Chapter 7 walks you through this sort of cross-platform setup.

But before you dash off to Computer Cathedral to buy your network's goods, you first need to decide whether you need a network that's wired, wireless, or both. That's what the rest of this chapter will help you figure out.

UP TO SPEED: A Bit about Bits

A bit isn't a huge amount of food; it's a unit of measure that gauges a network's speed. Specifically, it represents the amount of information transmitted each second over a network. Engineers rate networks and modems by the amount of data they can transfer per second and use the abbreviations Mbps and Kbps, which stand for "megabits per second" and "kilobits per second," respectively. 1,024 kilobits equals one megabit, if you're keeping score at home.

A bit itself is a small chunk of data, eight of which add up to a byte. But while amounts of data are measured in megabytes, data-transfer speeds (like the time it takes to copy a 10-megabyte file from one computer to another over a network) are measured in megabits.

You may not care about data-transfer speeds until you have to sit there and wait for some monster file to download. To give you an idea of the importance of data speeds, consider the average time it takes to transfer a 10-megabyte file (about the size of two songs) over the Internet using an old 56 Kbps dial-up modem versus a 1.5 Mbps DSL line. While the dial-up modem takes 23 minutes and 8 seconds to transfer the file, the high-speed DSL modem takes a mere 50 seconds to complete the transfer.