Putting together your network can be an interesting experience given all the different types of hardware out there. Print servers, routers, switches, bridges, cabling, NICs…it’s enough to make a lot of folks very confused. I’ve shopped for networking things several times. The folks who work the stores are not always that knowledgeable (although they like to act like they are). In this chapter, I’ll cover:

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• Designing a wired network
• Designing a wireless network
• The parts you will need

Wired Versus Wireless

Wireless networks are very easy to set up today, however that doesn’t mean that that is always the best way to go. Wireless networks are rarely as fast or as dependable as wired networks. On my network, my primary PC is connected directly to the router via a cable. The connection is very fast. However, using the network wirelessly from another PC or my laptop is nowhere near as fast and sometimes there are problems making the initial connection. Also wireless signals are subject to interruption by microwaves, 2.4 GHz wireless phones and some other common electrical devices. These devices can cause signal degradation or even total blackout from your LAN. Also, your home itself could degrade the network signal. Lots of walls, or even metal in the walls rather than 2x4s (like many newer homes use) can degrade the signal.

Wireless networks are convenient, but the reliability issue is one you definitely need to take into consideration.

Wired networks are cheaper in terms of hardware required. Wired network equipment is typically much cheaper than wireless networking equipment. However, the cabling is what you can blow a lot of money on. If your home or office comes with pre-wired Ethernet cables in the walls, then that saves you a lot of hassle. Otherwise, you’re going to need to purchase a lot of cabling (which can be expensive) and then run it into the walls, through the attic, and around your house. Depending on your location, you may need to pay attention to special requirements on the use of cabling in your walls, too.

Installation aside, wired networks are cheaper and more dependable. They are also more secure. A wireless network is, by nature, accessible via any device within range of the signal. A wired network is only accessible by those devices plugged into it using a cable.

Many wireless routers have the ability to run a wired Ethernet network as well. I generally recommend a router that can go both ways, leaving the option to you.

Ethernet

Ethernet is one of the oldest networking technologies for a LAN. It is therefore tried and true, cheap and fast. Most networking hardware comes ready for Ethernet use, as do most computers. The earliest type of LAN operated at a speed of 10 Mbps (that’s mega bits per second). At first, it worked over a variety of kinds of cabling, making it difficult to set up. However, as standards progressed, a single cabling standard known as 10Base-T arose. Today, all Ethernet networks operate on some variation of 10Base-T (most much faster than the original 10 Mbps).

The original 10Base-T network worked using an unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cable with an 8-pin connector at each end. Unshielded refers to the lack of a protective shielding around the wires. Twisted Pair simply refers to the fact that the cable is comprised of two lengths of copper wire twisted together into a single cable.

In the 90’s, 100Base-T was released. It operated at 100 Mbps and made use of CAT5 cabling. CAT5 (short for Category 5 because this was the fifth version of UTP cabling) cables look like telephone cables, only a little bigger. There is a newer version of CAT5 called CAT5e, as well.

When 100Base-T came out, most people were still using 10Base-T. So as not to alienate all of them, 100Base-T was made backward compatible with 10Base-T. You’ll commonly see “10/100 Ethernet” on hardware and this refers to the fact that it can work on 100 Mbps or 10 Mbps speeds. Almost every network item sold today can work at 100 Mbps. Even 10 Mbps is much faster than a DSL or cable modem, so the speed difference only concerns internal network operations, not the speed at which you can connect to the internet.

Next in the lineup is Gigabit Ethernet, which (as you probably guessed) operates at 10X the speed of 100Base-T. Gigabit Ethernet uses CAT6 cabling rather than CAT5. Again, the speed is only a concern for internet network operations. Gigabit is really only useful if you are moving huge files around (such as in a business setting). For everybody else, 100Base-T is perfectly adequate. If your home network is going to perform large file transfers or multimedia streaming, you may want to consider Gigabit Ethernet for the home.

All devices on an Ethernet network connect together using a switch. The switch is the center of the network and acts as a hub for all devices on the network. All network traffic travels through the switch. Each device has its own cable connecting that device to a port on the switch. Switches come in small 5 port versions (suitable for most home networks) to much larger 20+ port versions (used in office buildings many times). Switches are also used to expand networks, being that they basically act as splitters. So, if you are using all 4 ports on your switch and you decide to add another PC, you can simply purchase another switch, plug it into the first switch and you just got yourself another set of ports you can use. Switches can be “stacked” without any signal degradation, meaning you can extend your network easily by nesting switches.

In order to iron out a potential point of confusion, let me clarify that there is a difference between a switch and a hub. A hub acts simply as a repeater. Any data sent to the hub is repeated to all other ports on the hub. This is not good because it can lead to a lot of unnecessary network traffic. For example, a call to computer A would also be “heard” by computers B, C and D is they are on the same hub. A switch, on the other hand, intelligently analyzes the packets of data it receives and then sends the packet only to that port to which it is intended. Today, hubs are essentially obsolete, but sometimes you will hear the two terms used interchangeably.

Routers have built-in switches, so it is easy to get the idea between a switch and a router mixed up. The difference between them is that a switch simply connects devices on a network whereas a router can also connect the network as a whole to the outside world (the internet or another network). You would not buy a switch to share an internet connection (unless you intend to use a proxy server) – you would buy a router. Likewise, you can use a router as a switch. In fact, you can even “stack” routers to expand your network just as you can with switches. You can usually disable the “router” portion of the router in the settings, making it act just as it if were a switch only.

Wireless Networks

I discussed above the drawbacks of wireless. Those drawbacks aside, wireless is extremely convenient. You do not need to tie down your PC to only where the wires can reach. As long as you are in range of your network, you can access it.

The first thing that can make you go cross-eyed with shopping for wireless products is all the different standards out there. The standards are managed by The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). A group called the Wifi Alliance issued something called the WiFi Seal which means that the product has been approved for backward compatibility. This assures that wireless products from one manufacturer will work with products from another manufacturer. Even though the different wireless standards will work with one another, it is still easy to get confused by the names. Here’s the general breakdown:

Name	Max Speed	Range	Frequency	Performance
802.11b	11 Mbps	Good	2.4 GHz	Good
802.11g	54 Mbps	Good	2.4 GHz	Very Good
802.11a	54 Mbps	OK	5 GHz	Very Good
MIMO (802.11n)	108 Mbps	Very Good	2.4 GHz	Very Good

As I said, all of this stuff is compatible with each other, with one exception. 802.11a operates at a different frequency than the other standards and hence is not compatible with the others.

Each device on your network which is going to connect wirelessly is going to need a wireless network card. These cards come in various forms, including expansion cards for the PC (installs just like a regular card and you’ll see an antenna coming out the back of the computer), a PCM/CIA card for the laptop computers, or external USB adapters. Many notebook computers come with wireless adapters built right into the unit, although most desktop computers do not.

A wireless network can operate in ad hoc mode or infrastructure more. Ad hoc mode means two devices can connect directly with each other wirelessly. Infrastructure mode (as is the case with most LANs) means there is a central device (called an access point) which manages all the wireless traffic. An access point (AP) performs the same basic functions as a switch does for an Ethernet network.

Getting adequate range is the chief concern for any wireless network. Most access points will advertise a range (such as 300 feet), but you will find that these claims rarely hold up in practice. The thing to keep in mind is that it is best to place your access point somewhere centrally in your home. Additionally, just like switches, you can “stack” access points in order to extend your wireless range further than a single access point could reach.

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