Choosing a Network and Cabling System


For a simple home or small office network, there are three main choices for the type of network connection you'll use:

  • 10/100BASE-T (Fast Ethernet) over high-quality CAT-5 UTP wiring

  • Phoneline or Powerline networking

  • 802.11g Wireless networking

I described how these systems work in Chapter 15, "Overview of Windows XP Networking." The 100Mbps wired option is the fastest option, but for the average small office or home network, all three options will provide perfectly adequate performance. In the next sections, I'll go over the pros and cons of each type.

TIP

If your network is small and/or temporary, you can run network cables along walls and desks. Otherwise, you probably should keep them out of the way and protect them from accidental damage by installing them in the walls of your home or office. As you survey your site and plan your network, consider how the network cabling is to be routed.


If you can't or aren't allowed to drill through your location's walls, see "Can't Drill Through Walls or Ceilings" in the "Troubleshooting" section at the end of this chapter.



10/100BASE-T Ethernet

10/100BASE-T Ethernet networks use unshielded twisted-pair cabling, commonly called UTP, twisted-pair, or phone wire. This last name is a little dangerous because I'm not talking about the thin, flat, ribbon-like cable used to connect a phone to a wall jack, nor is it likely that phone wires installed in the 1930s will work either. The "10/100" part of the name means that the equipment can run at 100Mbps, but can automatically slow down to 10Mbps if it's connected to older 10BASE-T equipment.

These networks require that you use cable and connectors designated "CAT-5" or better. You can buy premade network cables in lengths from 3 to 50 feet, or you can buy bulk cable and attach the connectors yourself. I'll discuss this more in the "Installing Network Wiring" section later in this chapter.

To learn more about UTP wiring, p. 519.


A cable is run from each computer to a hub, which is a small connecting box that routes the signals between each computer. You'll need to get a hub that has at least as many ports (sockets) as you have computers, plus a spare or two. 10/100BASE-T hubs cost roughly $5 to 10 per port. A typical setup is shown in Figure 16.1.

Figure 16.1. A 10/100BASE-T network connects each computer to a hub with UTP cabling. It sounds sophisticated, but remember, you can buy this stuff at just about any office supply store.


TIP

Multiple hubs can be connected together if your network grows beyond the capacity of your first hub. You can just add on rather than replace your original equipment.


TIP

If you have DSL or cable broadband Internet service, see Chapter 19, "Connecting Your LAN to the Internet," for some advice about hardware connection sharing devices before making any decisions about your network. Some connection sharing routers device have a built-in hub, sparing you the expense of buying a separate one.


10/100BASE-T network interface cards (NICs) are available for as little as $5 each (if you catch a sale) and are made by companies such as Intel, 3COM, NetGear, Farallon, SMC, Kingston, D-Link, Linksys, Boca, and Cnet. Most "nameless" cheap-o cards are based on one of a handful of standard chipsets, so they'll usually work even if they're not listed in the Windows Catalog at www.windowsmarketplace.com or the Windows 2000 Hardware Compatibility List at www.microsoft.com/hcl.

NOTE

Adapters come in four styles: external adapters that you connect with a USB cable, thin credit-card sized PCMCIA (PC Card) adapters for laptops, and internal PCI cards for desktop computers. If your computer is so old that it has only ISA slots, you'll need to get a 10BASE-T ISA adapter.


And again, if you want to use existing in-wall wiring for your network, you should be sure it's at least CAT-5 certified.

When you're shopping for a hub, you might see devices called switches. Switches are hubs on steroids. Whereas a hub is a simple repeater that forwards received data to every device on the LAN, a switch can route data between several pairs of computers simultaneously, if all are transmitting at once. Switches used to be more expensive than hubs, but the circuitry inside is now mass produced and cheap enough that there is no longer a price difference. Get the switch type if you can.

TIP

Even if you're not going to set up a shared broadband Internet connection, I recommend that instead of a hub you buy an Internet connection sharing router to use as your network's hub, just to get the DHCP service it provides (more on that later in the chapter). On sale, these routers cost no more than a plain hub. And in fact, as I write this, today's newspaper has an ad for a router for $20 with a $20 mail-in rebate.


Overall, 10/100BASE-T networking is as inexpensive as it getshooking up three computers should set you back under $75. It's easy to set up, and it's very reliable. On the down side, though, you do have to run those wires around, and any connectors and wall data jacks used have to be CAT-5 certified as well. If you use in-wall wiring, the work should be done by someone with professional-level skills.

1000Mbps Ethernet (Gigabit Ethernet)

Ultra-high speed Gigabit Ethernet networking is probably overkill for most home and small office networks, but it's making an appearance in the corporate world and in some fields such as medical imaging and digital movie production. The cost is so low now that some new PCs and Macs now come with 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet adapters as standard equipment.

If you want to use Gigabit Ethernet, you'll have to use CAT-5E or CAT-6 certified connectors and cabling. You should use only commercially manufactured patch cables or professionally installed wiring. If you want, you can use a 10/100/1000Mbs hub or switch to connect your computers, so that not all of your computers need to use the more expensive cabling and adapters.

NOTE

Most cable/DSL-sharing routers have 10/100Mbps switching hubs built in. Your Gigabit adapters will run at only 100Mbps if plugged into such a device. If you want a full-speed Gigabit network with a shared broadband connection, plug your computers into a 10/100/1000MBps (Gigabit) switch using CAT-6 cables, then connect the switch's "cascade" port to your Cable/DSL sharing router.


Phoneline and Powerline Networking

HomePNA (Home Phoneline Networking Association) devices send network data by transmitting radio signals over your existing telephone wiring, using a network adapter that plugs into a telephone jack (see Figure 16.2). These devices don't interfere at all with the normal operation of your telephones; the extra signal just hitchhikes along the wires.

Figure 16.2. Phoneline networking uses existing household telephone wiring to carry a radio frequency signal between networked computers.


TIP

If you use Phoneline networking, be certain to get only HPNA 2.0 compatible adapters, or better. This will ensure that your equipment will operate at at least 10Mbps, and will work with other manufacturers' products. Don't get any device that connects through your computer's parallel port: It's too slow!


Phoneline networking is intended primarily for home use. The products are relatively inexpensiveabout $70 per computerand don't require you to string cables around the house. However, they have some disadvantages:

  • All of your adapters must be plugged into the same telephone line. So, the same extension must be present at a phone outlet near each of your computers. If you have to call in a wiring contractor to add a phone extension, you haven't saved much over a wired network.

  • "Access Point" devices, used to link a standard wired-networked computer to your phoneline network, are relatively rare.

Without a hardware access point it's difficult to use a hardware Internet connection sharing device, or to add standard wired computers to your network. However, Windows XP can manage it in software, if necessary. I'll discuss this later in this chapter under "Bridging Two Network Types with Windows XP."

HomePlug (HomePlug Powerline Alliance) adapters work in a similar fashion, sending signals through your electrical wiring, and are plugged into a wall socket. These also provide 10MBps performance, and are somewhat more flexible than the phone line system, as you don't have to worry about having a phone jack near your computers, just a nearby electrical outlet.

In addition, you can get HomePlug devices called "bridges" for about $60, which are specifically designed to link a wired network to the powerline networkthe Linksys Powerline EtherFast 10/100 Bridge is an example. This means you can easily add a shared Internet connection router or mix in wired computers. Figure 16.3 shows how this would look in a typical home network.

Figure 16.3. Typical Powerline networking setup, showing HomePlug adapters and bridges.


802.11g Wireless Networking

One way to build a network without hubs, cables, connectors, drills, swearing, tools, or outside contractors is to go wireless. Blocks of radio frequencies in the 2.4GHz (802.11b) and 5GHz (802.11a) bands are reserved for close-range data communications, and standardized products from cordless telephones to computer networks are now available to take advantage of this. Prices have fallen to the point that wireless connectivity is now competitive with wired networks, even before the installation cost savings are factored in.

Today's high-speed 802.11g equipment operates at up to 54Mbps and is compatible with older 802.11b (11MBps) equipment. Some manufacturers offer Wireless-G equipment that operates at up to 108Mbps. This is great, but you should know that you'll get the speed boost only if you buy all of your equipment from the same manufacturer (and even then, you have to read the packaging carefully to see if the double-speed function will work with the particular parts you're buying). You may also read about 802.11a equipment. "Wireless A" is used mainly in corporate environments, and is much more expensive than the more modern "Wireless G" equipment that I am recommending.

Wireless networking products typically

  • Give actual throughput of about half the advertised speed

  • Can transmit data about 100' indoors and up to 300' outdoors

  • Are available for both desktop and laptop computers, in PCI, PCMCIA (PC Card), or USB formats

  • Cost between $25 and $70 per adapter

  • Can be bridged to a wired LAN through an optional device called an Access Point, router, bridge, or base unit, costing $40 and up. (That's not a typo: $40, if you catch a good sale)

  • Doesn't work well between floors of a multistory building.

TIP

Whether or not going to set up a shared Internet connection, you'll save time and money by using a Wireless Internet connection sharing router as your network's access point. A router includes a DHCP server (more on that later) that simplifies setting up your network.


Figure 16.4 shows a typical family of wireless products: a wireless access point (Ethernet bridge), a wireless router that can also share a DSL or able Internet connection, an internal wireless network adapter for desktop computers, and a PCMCIA adapter for laptops.

Figure 16.4. Typical wireless networking equipment. Clockwise from upper left: Access Point, Router with Internet Connection Sharing capability, PCI adapter, PCMCIA adapter. (Photo used by permission of D-Link.)


IEEE-1394 (FireWire) Networking

In addition to the three primary networking options I described in the preceding sections, if all you have to do is copy a few files on one-time basis, there is one other option for "quick and dirty" networking: IEEE-1394. IEEE-1394 is a very high-speed connection technology used primarily to connect portable hard disks and video cameras to computers. This technology is also called FireWire by Apple, and i.LINK by Sony. By any name, it's fastup to 400Mbps. If two or more of your computers are outfitted with IEEE-1394 (FireWire) ports, you can simply attach your computers together with 1394 cables and forgo the use of network adapters entirely, as Windows XP supports IEEE-1394 for networking use. Since the cables can't be made very long, you'd probably only use this as a temporary arrangement to copy files between two computers.

With 1394, you don't have to worry about hubs and you can connect your computers together in any fashion as long as each computer is connected to at least one other, and as long as there's only one cable connecting any two given computers. Figure 16.5 shows a typical 1394 wiring setup. Connecting computers to computers rather than accessories requires the use of special cables with six pins on each end, called "6-6" cables.

Figure 16.5. Computers networked with IEEE-1394 (FireWire) can be connected in any convenient way. The maximum cable length of 15 feet limits the usefulness of 1394 for networking, however, and the price of the cables could bring tears to your eyes.


If you want to add computers without IEEE-1394 adapters to this sort of network, you'll have to have one computer with both a 1394 port and a standard network adapter. Use the Bridging feature, described later in this chapter, to connect the two network types.

IEEE-1394 is fast and convenient. However, the computers have to be within 15 feet (4.5 meters) of each other, as this is the maximum permitted length of IEEE-1394 cables. And the price of those cablesouch! I found 15 foot 6-6 cables online at buy.com for $15, but at the local CompUSA, I had to pay $25 for a three foot cable! Adding an IEEE-1394 adapter to a computer can cost you an additional $60 or more. With these limitations and prices, I wouldn't buy this stuff just to build a network, or to connect more than two or three computers.

If your computer does have an IEEE-1394 adapter, you'll find an icon for it in the Network Connections page, which we'll discuss later in the chapter. Wherever I mention using an icon for a network adapter, you can use the 1394 Connection icon.

Mixed Networking

If you are updating an existing network or are connecting two separate types of networks, you should consider several things.

If you have some existing 10Mbps-only devices and want to add new 100Mbps devices without upgrading the old, you can buy a new dual-speed (10/100) hub, which connects to each computer at the maximum speed it permits. But should be wary of some so-called Autosensing 10/100Mbps Hubs, which purport to let you connect both 10 and 100Mbps devices. Some of these hubs force the entire network to run at 10Mbps if any one device runs this lower speed. Read the specifications carefully. You want a hub that's labeled either "N-way autosensing" or "switching."

TIP

To speed up a 10Mbps network, instead of replacing all the wiring and network cards in all your computers, upgrade just the network card in your file server to a 100Mbps device. Get a 10/100 switching hub to connect the server to the workstations and use a CAT5 cable to connect the server to the new hub. This effectively gives every computer its own full 10Mbps channel to the file server at a minimal cost.


Finally, if you want to mix standard Ethernet, wireless, and/or IEEE-1394 devices on your network, you can use the Bridge feature built into Windows XP, or you'll need one of the bridges or access points I mentioned in the previous section. I'll discuss bridging in the section "Bridging Two Network Types with Windows XP," later in this chapter.

Printing and Faxing

Shared printers simply need to be connected to their host Windows XP computers with a standard USB or parallel printer cable. If the printer needs to be farther than 10 feet away from a computer, you have three choices:

  1. Get a really long cable, and take your chances. The electrical signal for printers is not supposed to be stretched more then 10 feet, but I've gotten away with 25 feet in the past. Buy a high-quality shielded cable. You may get data errors (bad printed characters) with this approach.

  2. Use a network-capable printer. You can buy special network printer modules for some printers, or you can buy special third-party "print server" modules, which connect to the printer port and to a network cable. Network supply catalogs list a myriad of these devices. Some of the newer DSL/cable sharing routers and wireless access points have a print server built in. These are great for small offices.

  3. Use a printer-extender device. These devices turn the high-speed parallel data signal into a serial data connection somewhat as a modem does. I don't like these as they result in very slow printing.

If your network includes Windows 95, 98, NT 3 or 4, or Windows 3.1 computers, take the time to collect the CDs or floppy disks containing the printer drivers for all of the operating systems you use, for each of your printers. Windows XP Professional lets you load in the printer drivers for the older operating systems and lets these computers automatically download the proper printer driver when they use the shared printer. We'll cover this slick feature in Chapter 17, "Using a Windows XP Network."

Providing Internet Connectivity

You'll probably want to have Internet access on your LAN. It's far less expensive, and far safer security-wise to have one connection to the Net for the entire LAN than to let each user fend for himself or herself.

Windows XP has a built-in Internet Connection Sharing feature that lets a single computer use a dial-up, cable, or DSL modem and make the connection on behalf of any user or users on your LAN. You can also use an inexpensive hardware device called a router to make the connection. I strongly prefer the hardware devices over Windows Internet Connection Sharing. This topic is important enough that it gets its own chapter. I recommend that you read Chapter 19, "Connecting Your LAN to the Internet," before you buy any equipment.

You also must be sure to study Chapter 21, "Network Security," to build in proper safeguards against hacking and abuse. This is especially important with full-time cable/DSL connections.

Providing Remote Access

You also can provide connectivity in to your network from the outside world, either through the Internet or via modem. This connectivity lets you get at your LAN resources from home or out in the field, with full assurance that your network is safe from outside attacks. Chapter 18, "Windows Unplugged: Remote and Mobile Networking," covers remote access.

If you need to get to your network from outside and you aren't planning to have a permanent direct Internet connection, you might want to plan for the installation of a telephone line near one of your Windows XP computers so that you can set up a dedicated modem line for incoming access.



Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows XP Professional (3rd Edition)
ISBN: 0789732807
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 450

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