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Geek Culture / Setting a Vista powered home media network...

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Josh
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Location: Pompey, Great Britain =D
Posted: 15th Jan 2007 23:19 Edited at: 15th Jan 2007 23:25
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I'm working on a small project with my dad to kit out our house with a home network capable of streaming TV, films, music, photos and more. We have decided to use a Windows Vista powered system after reviewing all the systems available to us.

How though, do we connect all of our 8 computers + other networked devices to our server? Do we need a switch, router or a combination of both? I need somebody to explain what switches and routers are used for.

[EDIT] Is there no way to edit the thread title? lol[/EDIT]


Cheers,
-Josh.

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indi
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Posted: 15th Jan 2007 23:32
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its usually a lot neater to have a wireless router with a wireless connection from the loungeroom PC or MAC when dealing with the computer in the lounge room area, but not as efficient in speed then a dedicated ethernet cable.

spend some time at wikipedia and familiarize yourself with the theory and items in question.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_network

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Router

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_hub

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_network

There is a plethora of websites out there that allow step by step connection of a home network, with pictures as well.

http://compnetworking.about.com/od/homenetworking/Home_Networking_Setting_Up_a_Home_Network.htm

Use google once your familiar with the parts you require.

The easiest solution in most homes is this
[MODEM] to [ROUTER] then [COMP1] and [COMP2] etc Either ethernet or wireless from the router.

More advanced setups could be

[MODEM] to [ROUTER] with [COMP1] [COMP2] then [HUB 16 PORT] then [COMP3] [COMP4][COMP5] [COMP6] etc Either ethernet or wireless from the router.

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Raven
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Posted: 15th Jan 2007 23:34
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WiFi Router is the best option (personally I find Belkin the best), and Vista.

The rest is sorted out by the OS itself when you run the Network Wizard which also now has a One-Click setup option; for those who honestly know nothing about network setup.

If there is a compatible device in the network area, then it will be available to do everything you want. i.e. Vista, Xbox 360, Zune, or Media Center PC.

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indi
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Posted: 15th Jan 2007 23:37
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There is a problem with WIFI however when your watching entertainment, It can have a knack of glitching sometimes if your in a built up area with others who are blanketing the neighborhood and or stealing the bandwidth when sending larger files on some devices.
As long as your aware of the pros and cons at the start.

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Josh
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Posted: 15th Jan 2007 23:42 Edited at: 15th Jan 2007 23:42
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We are in the middle of a home re-build so we are putting in a wired network, wireless is out of the question really as so many people have wireless here.

We want a basic STAR topology network, with all devices connected to a switch/hub. Would a switch be suitable for this?

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indi
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Posted: 15th Jan 2007 23:53
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Ask dad to lay out an ethernet port in every room of your house and I would even move in!

Routers today also act as mini hubs, however they are usually for 4 - 8 computers.
Any more then that it would be advised to buy a separate hub that plugs into your router, allowing for 16 nodes off that one router.

Check out the links above for more verbose info.

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Raven
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Posted: 16th Jan 2007 00:41
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WiFi is fine, provided it is set-up correctly.
For example make sure the main router is set to a given MAC Address, and that you have you're security turned-on and passworded.

Most secure passwords to choose (and this is for anything really not just WiFi) as those which are 16 Alphanumeric combinations including case-sensitive and including atleast 1 symbol character.

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indi
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Posted: 16th Jan 2007 00:48
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Even if Wifi is setup correctly with MAC and WPA, there is still issues to face with a media centre setup.

Other people with wireless settings can hamper your experience, it happens around here when the latest netgear devices flood the whole wifi network when transferring large files.

Who wants a media centre with hiccups while watching the movie?

I prefer a dedicated ethernet without those interruptions for my media centre, however I can have both if required and I have to expose my blue cable in part of the room, without the privilege of being able to hide it in the wall.

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Josh
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Posted: 16th Jan 2007 19:20
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Well atm we don't have any equipment, so do we need a router and a switch?
(We'll have far more ethernet devices than an 8 port hub can support.)


And also what about CAT 5/6/7, which is best and do they all work pretty much the same?

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Josh
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Posted: 16th Jan 2007 19:23
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We'll probably be looking at something like this I expect?

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?dli-dgs-12&P=1

At least 24 ports and 1000Mbps.

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CJD
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Posted: 16th Jan 2007 21:56
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What would peoples recommendations be for someone (i.e. me) who wanted wireless networking in a pre-victorian large house. MIMO?

http://www.cjd.galekus.com
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