With the increasing popularity of broadband Internet, many people have several computers at home, and home LAN is becoming a normal state. Broadband Internet access through local area network can reduce the cost, and there is no need to connect a modem and a separate IP address to each computer. But how to build a home LAN and enjoy broadband internet access?
Network bandwidth representation
Network bandwidth is measured in megabits per second (MBps), which is usually not expressed in Mbps. A byte consists of eight binary bits, and most people are familiar with MBps. At present, most local area networks are Ethernet networks of 10base-T (10Mbps or 1.25MBps) and100base-tx (100mbps or 12.5MBps), which use similar Ethernet networks.
Network cabling
Before setting up a home LAN, you should know some differences between available network cables. It depends on the location of the PC in your home, because it may be necessary to punch holes in the wall to pass through five types of network cables. For people whose homes are not spacious, this may be an arduous task, or even impossible. If you want to avoid the trouble of drilling holes through walls, WLAN is also very convenient, but it should be noted that WLAN is usually not fast enough and the cost is much higher. Another option is to consider the 10Mbps telephone line suite. You can use the existing telephone line to transfer data between computers. You can buy products from companies such as D-Link, Linksys, 3Com and Netgear. People who don't want to use WLAN can choose five kinds of twisted-pair network cables. If you are not familiar with cables, the following is the cable classification explanation given by EIA of Electronic Industry Association. According to the speed and quality of cables, cables can be divided into six categories:
Category I and II cables: the data transmission speed is lower than 10Mbps (ordinary telephone line).
Three types of cables: the data transmission speed reaches 16 Mbps.
Four kinds of cables: data transmission speed up to 20 Mbps.
Category 5 cable: the data transmission speed reaches 100 Mbps.
Five types of cable enhancements: data transmission speed up to 200 Mbps.
Category 6 cable: the data transmission speed is as high as 600 Mbps.
Category 5 cables are common and the cost of connecting to Ethernet is low. If you plan to drill holes in the wall or use Category 5 cables that exceed 50 feet, you should buy thin cables and connect RJ-45 plugs to both ends of the cables yourself. Pay attention, don't forget to connect the RI-45 plug after the cable goes through the wall.
Connect RJ-45 plug
It is not difficult to connect RJ-45 plug with Category 5 cable, but it needs special connection tools, which can be bought at local hardware store or borrowed from friends. When operating, carefully cut off the plastic sheath about 1/4 inches outside the cable to expose eight colored wires inside the cable, and pay attention to the order of putting the cable into RJ-45 connector:
1, white and green
2. Green (surname); green
3. White and orange
4. LAN
5. Prin
6.citrus
7.white and orange
8. brown
Eight color-coded wires should be carefully unfolded, put into RJ-45 jack and pressed with special tools. If possible, RJ-45 tester can be used to verify whether the connection is reliable, so as to avoid future troubles.
Required hardware
First, make sure that each computer is equipped with a network card, 100base-TX or 10base-T network card, regardless of model and size. Note that PCI network cards are generally selected, and the speed of each network card should be the same. 100base-TX network card has a high data transmission rate and is suitable for a large number of data transmission, such as digital movies or other large multimedia files. 100base-T network card and hub are more economical and save money. Of course, you can buy a 100base-Tx network card with the money from the100base-t network card.
To form a LAN, you need to use a hub, a switch or a router with a built-in hub. The hub is only used to connect all computers to the LAN. If you only have two computers and don't plan to increase the number, you can connect them directly by wire. The disadvantage is that it is still difficult for you to enjoy broadband internet access. If you want multiple computers to access broadband Internet, it is a good idea to use a router. You can buy products from well-known network companies such as Netgaer, D-Link and Linksys. Most routers cost just over $65,438+000.
Typical Ethernet uses hubs or switches, and both devices have separate connectors to connect each computer to the LAN. The main difference between hubs and switches is throughput. The hub distributes the throughput among all the ports used, so the throughput of each port used by the 4-port 100base-TX hub is only 25Mbps. Switches are more expensive, but allow each port to run at full speed.
If you want to set up a local area network with only one broadband Internet connection, please make sure that your DSL or cable TV provider provides you with an external modem. Most external modems connect to your computer through a network card. You can set a computer with a modem as a router, but this is not recommended. For example, you plug a phone into a broadband modem and then connect it to a hub/switch/router through an RJ-45 (twisted pair) cable. From then on, any computer of yours can be connected to the Internet.
Set up Windows network
Make sure that every computer you plan to use on the LAN has enough Category 5 cables connected to the hub or router. Now you may have installed the appropriate network card and the corresponding driver. Right-click My Network Places and select Properties to view the currently installed protocols and network cards. To set up the network, you should ensure that the network card you are using has TCP/IP protocol installed. If the Microsoft operating system you are using is Windows98 or higher, and the network setup is very simple, Windows network should have been installed as one of the basic options of the operating system. If you use Windows Me on at least one computer, you can run the Home Networking Wizard, which will guide you through the installation step by step. Remember, you need to set the same group name for every computer in the network. In Windows95/98, you need to enter network properties and ensure that all settings are the default settings. Your ISP may have told you how to set up TCP/IP and how to connect to the Internet. Depending on your ISP, you may have a static IP address or a dynamic IP address. It takes a little longer to set a static IP address. If you want to provide services for Internet users, such as FTP, Web server or any other services, static IP addresses are a good choice. If you assign an IP address, your TCP/IP protocol properties should get an automatically selected IP address. To check whether the hub/router has assigned an IP address to your computer, you can use Windows TP configuration (enter Start Type winipcfg) or through the command line pcconfig (Windows98/me only). At this point, your computer should have been assigned an IP address, such as 192. 168.0.x, where x is unique to every computer on the network. Depending on the router, the number of your IP addresses may vary, but in general, the last number is a computer-definable number. In the example,192.168.0.1is the IP address of the router (listed as the default gateway in winipcfg).
Broadband connection * * *
There are two different but useful ways to enjoy broadband network: NAT (address translation) and Proxy (proxy server). Both methods require TCP/IP protocol support, which allows your computer to communicate with other computers on the Internet/intranet. TCP/IP protocol is automatically installed in Windows98 or later, and it is easy to install in Windows95. For more information, please refer to the Windows Help feature.
The proxy server is another computer between you and the Internet (controlled by your ISP), and all information entering and leaving your computer must go through the proxy server first. Although it doesn't sound good, it's actually good for every subscriber. The proxy server can act as a natural firewall to prevent malicious hackers from breaking into your computer. The proxy server also has the ability to cache frequently visited web pages, and can filter out some content you don't like, such as advertisements and web pages you don't want to browse.
Website translation is generally called NAT, which is easier to use (or set up) than proxy server. Similar to a proxy server, NAT is run by a computer that actually connects the network to the Internet, but the difference is that NAT is based on a router/computer and usually has no ability to filter or cache web pages. NAT or proxy server can be hardware-based or software-based. In our example, a hardware-based NAT router is used. Microsoft provides an example of NAT software solution in Windows98, which is called Internet connection sharing.
Before doing anything, please make sure that you know the DNS server address of your current ISP, your current host name and the information that the router needs to know to connect to the Internet through the ISP. In this example, the selected router is RT3 14(NAT) of Netgear Company, so if your local area network is normal, you can usually make the Internet work normally on your network by plugging in your cable /xDSL modem.
Set up the router
According to the information provided by your ISP, most router settings and basic functions can be found through the instructional HTML interface. After the setup is completed, the router should be able to work normally. Log in through the telnet prompt (with >; Run > type telnet), you can change more advanced settings. Unlike the routers provided by Netgear, D-Link and Linksys, you can provide more advanced options through Web configuration, but I personally prefer telnet.
Installation software
At this time, the only software you need to set up is your browser. You only need to set up the browser to connect through the local area network (whether it is IE, Netscape or other browsers). In addition, don't forget to clear the dial-up connection information if your computer is not going to use dial-up connection to access.
It is beneficial to set up * * * shared drives, printers and files so that users on the network can access other users' drives or printers. Before setting up * * * shared resources, please verify that your network control panel applet is equipped with file and printer sharing. To set up a * * * shared drive, just right-click the file, folder and drive you want to share, and then click * * * Share. It's a good idea to set a password for the resources you want to enjoy through the network, otherwise the network will be risky. Think about the nature of the network (if it is connected to broadband Internet). Hackers may break into your computer and destroy your files. The firewall is not 100% valid.