Home Networking

Home networks are creating the modern day offices at home for individuals who prefer to stay at home while working. For domestic usage the home networks found no uses as most people could afford only one computer. However there are families that find one computer is not enough for them to do everything. People read emails; many women set up home based business, their children might want the computer for school work.

With the increase in usage of computer by all the members of a family, the need for more than one computer is evident. When there is more than one computer in a house it doesn’t make sense to have individual internet connections for each computer and it is not cost effective solution. Now they can set up networks within their house and use common resources for all computers by connecting them together.

When it comes to networking a few computers at home there are many options available for establishing the kind of network you would prefer. Before establishing a network topology the working knowledge of the topology is a must. If you have two or more computers in your house then you can allow the computers to communicate with each other and share the network.

Home Networking Features

The list of things that computers can share in a network is things like

• Files and documents; you can create a common folder to store all the files and create access controls. This helps to save place on the hard disk of that computer and you can have files at your access anytime you want.

• You can have a shared internet connection and all the computers can share a single internet connection for browsing.

• When a network is established resources like printers and fax machines can be shared by installing the software for access on all the computers.

• Even television, stereos and games can be shared similarly on a network.

• Other resources like CD burners can be shared on the network.

• Hardware’s and software’s can be shared on a network and space can be saved on individual computers. If one computer with the larger hard disk is used as a dump the remaining computers need not have large hard disks and share all the resources from that dump on the main computer.

For home based business in which more than one person is working a home based network is the best bet because it benefits the business and saves a lot of time for the business owners. For setting up a home based network a simple topology like bus topology will do. The investment to set up a home based network is also low and all it needs is network operating system and cables.

For setting up the home based network the computers need not be in proximity or nest to each other. It is possible to set up a network even if the computers are located on different levels of the house. There are different types of networks to suit individual needs.

Home Networking Types

Cable network: Computers are connected physically using cables and a server is configured to handle the network of computers. In this kind of network the types of cable you could use may differ and the network topology usually followed is the bus topology.

Wireless networks: In wireless networks no cables are used and the data transfer takes place using wireless cards. There are receivers installed for data transfer on the computers.

Home Networking Conclusion

Home networks need very less maintenance and they work well in any circumstance. Since the networks are within the house and work through LAN less security options are required.