What is a LAN?

LAN stands for Local Area Network. It is a network that is installed on 2 or more computers, and allows these computers to talk directly with each other. It is kind of like the internet, but on a much smaller scale. The internet allows us to connect with computers all along the globe, while a LAN is limited to a small area, such as a home or office.

LANs are used by businesses as well as personal users to upgrade the capacity for information transfer, as well as share utilities such as a printer or an internet connection. Through a LAN you can also directly connect computers together in order to play in multi player computer games, such as Half-Life or WarCraft III.

When the computers are connected together, there are two primary types of connections. The first of these is a client/server network. What this means is that one computer is the server, which hosts the majority of the information and directs all information. If you have 5 computers on a client/server network, any computer must first talk to the server in order to talk with any of the other client computers.

This is contrasted by the peer-to-peer network, where all computers are seen as equal in the connection, and any computer can talk directly to any other computer. If your network only has two or three computers, the difference between these two network types is minimal.

A LAN requires two components: a hardware and a software component. The hardware is the actual physical connection that allows your computers to communicate with each other. The software component involves the proper configuring of the two systems so that they are in sync with each other once the physical connection is made.

Options for Connecting Your LAN

When it comes to the actual hardware involved in setting up a LAN in your home, there are many different options available for you. They are:

• An Ethernet Connection (Computers are directly connected either through an ethernet hub or using crossover ethernet cable)
• Power line Networking (Computers talk to each other through power lines)
• Phone line Networking (Computers talk to each other through phone lines)
• Wi-Fi (Wireless Networking)

Each of these options are very different, and require very different hardware in order to install. However, once the hardware installation is done, the configuring of the computer’s software to talk to each other is the same process no matter what kind of connection you have.

Installing a LAN Using an Ethernet Connection

If your computers are in relatively close proximity to each other, either in the same room or in a place where wires will not have to run very far, an ethernet connection may be your best choice for connecting your LAN.

Ethernet and especially Fast Ethernet connections have higher transfer rates than most of the other connection types. (Fast Ethernet can transfer information at a speed of 100 Mb/s!). However, unless the computers are in close proximity it might be awkward or even impossible connect computers together over an ethernet without hardwiring cables into the walls.

An ethernet connection is the most direct networking connection option. Generally a single wire is used to connect one computer to the other. This is called a crossover ethernet cable.

An ethernet cable is actually 5 separate wires that are entwined with each other. At both ends of the cables are jacks where these wires connect into a port, similar to a phone jack. (An ethernet jack is also approximately the same size as a phone jack).

When the wires come out of the cable in the same order they entered the cable, then this is a straight ethernet cable. If the end wires are in opposite order from the beginning wires (or crossed over), then we have a crossover ethernet cable. In order for a direct cable ethernet connection to work, you must have a crossover ethernet cable.

Connecting the computers is simple with a crossover ethernet cable. Firstly you must make sure that there are ethernet ports on both computers. Many computers these days come with an ethernet port as standard. To check, look at the back of your computer. The ethernet port looks just like a phone jack for a modem line, but has an emblem beside it with three computers connected to each other.

If you do not already have ethernet ports on your computers, you will have to install them. Ethernet ports are cheap, and cost about $25. Most ethernet ports connect to a PCI slot inside your machine.

If you have three or more computers in the same room you want to connect, you will need an ethernet hub. This is a little box that allows you to connect straight ethernet cables to it from each computer. This will direct all information over the LAN.

Power Line Networking

If you have computers spread across the house, then power line networking is a cheap and easy way to connect your computers. Rather than having a direct wire connection between each computer, computers are connected to a special power adapter in your power outlet, and data is then transferred between computers via the power lines already existing in your home.

There are two main competitors in the power line networking field. One is Intelogis, which offers its Passport technology to connect computers together. The other is Intellon, whose technology is called Power Packet.

The two cost about the same, and are about the same quality although Power Packet is somewhat faster than Passport. Passport products generally connect to your computer through the parallel port (the same place your printer is hooked up), while Power Packet products connect either through USB or Ethernet ports.

Deciding which of these two solutions to use is entirely up to you. The cost is generally between $60 and $80 for either one to connect two computers. (Cost increases if you wish to connect more than two computers via this method).

Installation is simple. You must install the software that allows the computer to recognize the new connections onto your computer, then simply plug in the cables into either your parallel port or your USB port. These cables then plug into a special power adapter that is plugged into your power outlet. Once cables have been connected on both computers, you are able to set up your LAN.

Power line networking also allows for the connection of a printer through the power lines. This is particularly useful with Intelogis’s product, as it can be difficult to hook up your printer if you only have one parallel port on each machine.

Phone Line Networking

Phone line networking is similar to power line networking in that it uses already existing wiring in your home to connect computers together. Rather than using power lines, however, it uses phone lines.

In order to connect your computers to a wall-jack, you must either have a special phone networking card installed in your computer (a regular modem jack won’t work) or have a phone line adapter that will allow you to plug in the phone wire into another port. Most phone networking products use cards that must be installed into the machine (making phone networking more difficult that power line networking).

Once you have your card installed or your adapter ready, you need merely plug in all computers into the nearest phone jack, and they will then be able to be configured for your LAN. (Note that if you have two or more lines in your home, the computers must all be connected to the same phone line).

Wi-Fi Networking

The newest technology in the networking field is wireless networking, or Wi-Fi. With Wi-Fi, you require no cords, cables or lines at all. Computers talk to each other via radio signals.

Computers cannot talk directly to each other via a Wi-Fi network; however, they must have a router in between them. This is a small box that you plug in at some location, and is generally also where you plug in your DSL or cable internet connection if you want to share internet between computers.

The router has a range of about 100 feet, which should cover most every area in your house. The signal sent by the router is not affected by floors, ceilings, walls, doors, etc., so you do not need direct line of sight between computers and the router.

Once you have your router installed, you must have your wireless adapters installed into your computers. These adapters generally plug into either a USB or ethernet port. Once router and adapters are in place, you are ready to set up your LAN on your computers.

Configuring Your LAN

Once the actual hardware connections are in place, the next step in installing your LAN is configuring your computers to talk to each other. We will discuss how to do this process in Windows.

To begin, you must open your Control Panel. Once in the Control Panel, you want to go to Networking Options (Or Network and Internet Connections). Click on the Set up or change Home or Office Network, and this will open up a wizard that allows you to configure your new LAN.

When you go to configure your LAN, you must make sure that all computers you are attempting to connect are on, and that if you are going to share an internet connection that this connection is active.

The wizard will then automatically check your network both for computers on the network and for the shared internet connection. You will have to choose a host computer from which the internet connection is to be shared (the computer that the internet connection is plugged into). The host computer should be the computer that you first configure for the LAN.

After that, the wizard will direct you through any other processes that might be required. This is very rapid and straightforward. Afterwards you must log onto the other computers and configure the LAN there as well.

Once you have finished the configurations, you are ready to start using your LAN!