Introduction

For this guide we will go over what a home network is. I will list some common types of networks you may find in your home, as well as some uncommon types. We will go over some terminology that you may or may not know. This guide will also describe the basic components of a network and how they relate to home networking. There will be a short discussion on the different types of internet access and there differences. I will also go over some network hardware and software, that are in most peoples homes that they never think of.

You will find a table of contents under the fast facts. To the right of that in the side bar there is a glossary of all the terms discussed on this page.

To the left is the most common home network that you will find in a home. As you can see in this picture of network diagram. Lets go over the network diagram. At the top the internet is symbolized by the cloud. This connects to the DSL/Cable modem. Most people today buy a modem or get one from there ISP. This then connects to the hart of the home network the wireless router, also called a WiFi router. This is almost always purchased by the home owner. From here you connect the computers to the router ether by network cable or via WiFi. The computer to the right is connected by network cable as shown by the solid line. A network cable is a cable that looks like a phone cable, but is thicker. The cable also has eight pins on end of the connector. One or two usually comes with your router. The other two computers are connected via WiFi as shown.

Lets go over some the home networking components.

ISP is short for internet service provider. An ISP gives your home network access to the internet for a fee. ISP connections include dialup, and broadband. Broadband is a term for fast internet connection. Cable internet, DSL, FIOS, Satellite, Cell Phone, and WiFi can all be considered broadband service. The most widely available broadband in the US is form the Cable company.

Modems are devices that allows connection to the your ISP. A modem must be of the same type as your ISP. Just think of this device as a bridge between your home network and the ISP's network. You need this device because the cables that come into your home from the ISP are different from the cables used in normal networking. Sometimes this device is integrated into the home router, but not normality.

A Router by definition connects two or more different networks together. In this case your ISP's network to your home network. Today most home routers have a built in switch and a WiFi access point. Sometimes the internet modem is also built in, but this is not as common. A new trend in home routes is to having them come with USB ports. With these USB ports, a external hard drive and/or printer can be attached to the router. If the router supports it connecting a hard drive will give you a NAS or file server and connecting a printer gives you a file server. I will go more into this later. All you need to know here is that these two features will allow you to save files to a central location that can be accessed form any computer on your network, and the ability to print from a central printer.

A switch is a device that directs traffic the network. The switch is the device that sends network traffic from device to device on the network. An example of this is when you what to print, but the printer is attached to another computer, or if you want to send a file from one computer to another one. This content is now integrated into most routers used for home. You can still buy a stand alone switch. You would do this to add more ports (connections) to your home network.