In the past, most people had just a single computer in their home and nothing else. Access to the Internet was based on dial-up modems which were connected directly with a serial cable on the home computer. No Local Area Network was needed. With the advancement of technology and the acceptance of modern high speed broadband connectivity at homes, necessitates that home appliances should be networked to facilitate online access and to also communicate and share information between them.

What I mean when I say home appliances is home computers, next generation game consoles, printers, scanners, network attached storage, etc. All those appliances need to share information between them over a Local Area Network, but also need to have high-speed access to the Internet. To achieve that, you will need to set-up a home network. With a home network you basically build a LAN, either wired or wireless, over which networked devices communicate between them inside the home, and also share a common internet connection.

The heart of a home network is a broadband router. This is usually an integrated wired-wireless device which enables you to build a home LAN using either Ethernet Network cables or a Wi-Fi wireless connection. This router shares the internet connection with your devices.

Once you have your network in place, you have limitless opportunities to attach whatever you need to your network. Things such as laptops, desktops, gaming consoles, servers, print servers, etc After you finally connect all your devices to your router, you can do whatever you like to share data between them.




By: Alex Smith