Home Networking: How You Can Provide Tech Support for Your Family and Still Keep Your Day Job

Slide 1:Home Networking: How You Can Provide Tech Support for Your Family and Still Keep Your Day Job

presented by: David Strom David Strom, Inc. (516) 944-3407 david@strom.com

Slide 2:Summary

My own home experience Wiring choices Internet access technologies Advantages and disadvantages of each Skills, costs required to implement See Byte article here: www.byte.com/features/1999/04/0419homenetwork.html

Slide 3:My Current Home LAN

Standard Ethernet RJ45 wiring, cheap hub, two Win98 PCs Cablevision Optimum Online since January, two hour install, multiple outages. Overall bandwidth ~10x ISDN SonicWall firewall with NAT

Slide 4:How I Got There

Needed a friend to terminate, test and make cables Drilled holes through the floors Spent lots of time debugging wire plant, protocols Not bullet-proof: power outages can ruin network configuration

Slide 5:Issues

Understanding what to do with which Windows OS version isn�t obvious Care to not share your PC with your neighbors Do you really need a home firewall? Understand your applications needs of family members before doing anything

Slide 6:The Real Issue

You are on call 24x7 for your family LAN, whether you like it or not

Slide 7:Goals

Easy to support Reliable Resilient to well-meaning but ignorant family members� efforts Upgradable as you add more PCs Minimize home disruptions to phone and power

Slide 8:Other Suggestions

Remember phone service is a mission-critical family application, so mess with it at your peril Do your installation when the family is out of the home Maybe hire your neighbor�s teen to do the job

Slide 9:Motivations for Home LANs

Shared Internet Access Play DVD movies on larger TV screens Multiuser games

Slide 10:Questions to Answer Before Installing a Home LAN

Are you brave and talented enough to open up the PC and install a network card and its drivers? Are your PCs located near existing (and working) phone or cable TV jacks? Do you have the carpentry skills and spousal design approval to run wires and drill holes around your house?

Slide 11:Home Wiring Choices

No, No, No: Powerline Yes, No, No: Wireless No, Yes, No: HomePNA (single shared phone pair) or Peracom (cable TV coax) Yes, No, Yes: Standard Ethernet (two dedicated pairs)

Slide 12:Powerline

Least reliable of the four technologies Quirky installation Slowest overall network throughput When it works it is wonderful Typical vendor: Intelogis

Slide 13:Wireless

Can be the most expensive Good for support roaming laptops Typical vendors: Aironet, Proxim, Diamond, WebGear

Slide 14:HomePNA

Lots of choices now on the market But quirky install on older PCI PCs Understanding which phone lines are shared isn�t obvious in all homes Still need Ethernet card for cable access Typical vendors can be found at homepna.com or homepna.org

Slide 15:Standard Ethernet

Widest number of choices of equipment Need cable fabrication expertise Great if you have access to a basement or attic to run the wires

Slide 16:Internet Connection choices

Cable DSL ISDN Dial-up

Slide 17:Cable Advantages

One phone-call install Know nothing about routers Wiring is already in the home

Slide 18:Cable Disadvantages

Reliability and reputation low: single supplier per area No relationships with business users Need firewall and/or security improvements As popularity grows, bandwidth drops (2-20 x ISDN connection) Some MSOs don�t support LANs

Slide 19:DSL Advantages

Not sharing your connection Competition in many urban areas Cost competitive with T-1 service

Slide 20:DSL Disadvantages

Multiple truck rolls Customer is caught among ISP, iLEC and CLEC Limited number of routers supported Confusing choices of speeds and technologies Distance limits for some suburban users

Slide 21:ISDN Advantages

Widest deployment Largest choice of routers and access technologies (apart from dial-up) Best understood of the four technologies

Slide 22:ISDN Disadvantages

Still dealing with the phone company Bonding two data channels still a black art Can get pricey if you use it lots

Slide 23:Dial-up Advantages

Cheap Easiest of the four to implement Lots of access equipment choices (Ramp, 3Com, etc.)

Slide 24:Dial-up Disadvantages

Slow Not for more than two-three concurrent connections Some ISPs don�t allow shared dial connections

Slide 25:Skills Required

Router, network management Wire plant installation and management Protocol wrangling Good conflict management skills (and we aren�t taking about IRQ conflicts only!)

Slide 26:Conclusions

Technologies still improving, but no clear choices Home wire plant anything but predictable No single vendor solution Speed isn�t the issue: reliability and installation ease is far from a done deal You�ll need to be part electrician, part plumber, and part therapist