Apple p44-49 User Manual

How to set up a computer network
in your house, and whether a media
PC will add to the fun

JANUARY 2006 WHICH?

44

HOME NETWORKS

HOME
NETWORKS

The first thing you need to set up your network
is a wireless (WiFi) adaptor. The best type for you
depends on whether you’re connecting a laptop
or a standard computer.

FOR LAPTOP COMPUTERS

If you’ve bought a laptop computer in the last
couple of years or so, it probably has WiFi built
in. For example, all laptops which bear the
Centrino logo are WiFi compatible.

If not, you can buy a card that slides into one
of the card ports on your laptop. They’re called
PC cards (or sometimes CardBus or PCMIA
cards) and cost around £30.

FOR DESKTOP COMPUTERS

You can buy wireless-adaptor cards for your
standard PC but we don’t recommend them:
they’re a hassle to fit and line up for a good
reception. You often have to move the receiver
around a bit until you’ve found a good position –
awkward if it’s inside a hulking great PC.

The more convenient alternative is an external
receiver (around £30) that plugs into your
computer’s USB port. Most come with an
extension lead and cradle so you can place it on
top of your computer’s case or display to get a
better signal. (You can plug the USB adaptors
into a laptop but it’s obviously less convenient
to lug them around everywhere.)

Buy an
adaptor

1

Once you have a couple of computers with
adaptors, one can broadcast the internet to the
other. A PC in your study, say, could send data
to a laptop in the kitchen.

The problem with this is that the computer
with the internet connection has to be left on.
To solve this problem, buy a router which plugs
directly into your internet modem (see p46 for
Best Buys). The router sends the internet signal
to various computers at the same time.

YOUR OLD INTERNET MODEM

Most people have a USB modem that plugs
straight into your PC. You can’t connect this to
your router, so you’ll have to buy a new modem
for about £40 – ask for an Ethernet modem.

If you’re upgrading to broadband and wireless
at the same time, you can buy a modem that has
a built-in wireless router for around £60.
Neither of our Best Buys has a built-in modem.

Buy a
router

2

Store video on
your PC – play it
on your TV

T

here’s nowhere the

richest man in the
world would rather be
than your living room.

Microsoft boss Bill
Gates is betting that
computers will move
out of the study – and
that they’ll expand to
gobble up your music
collection and hi-fi,
your DVDs, even your
family photo album.

And queuing up
behind him are his
rivals from every other
home computer
company.

The computing
industry wants to send
music, video and the
internet all over your
house – especially the
rooms where you spend
lots of time lounging
around – through home
networks.

These networks are
particularly well suited
to media PCs, which
store TV, music and
photos. It’s an exciting
development but you
need to know what to
buy and what to expect.

WHICH? JANUARY 2006

45

HOME NETWORKS

NEED TO

KNOW

A home network
connects computers
to other computers
and to the internet.
It can also send
music and video to
a hi-fi or TV.

Wireless networks
are particularly
handy. You can
wander to the shed
with a laptop, say,
and stay connected
to the internet.

To set up a
wireless network,
you need adaptors,
known as WiFi, for
your computers
(unless they have
built-in WiFi). You
can buy a router
to connect them
wirelessly to your
internet modem.
And if you want to
send music or video,
you need a special
box that plugs into
your hi-fi or TV.

If you like, you
can also add a
media PC. These
tend to have built-in
wireless links and
they can receive and
record TV.

WIRELESS LINKS

A good wireless
link will be quick
enough to send
music and keep up
with a broadband
connection – even if
you’re a couple of
rooms away.

If you want to
send video, a
wireless connection
will be just about
watchable in the
same room.
At greater
distances, you
need a type of
cable called an
Ethernet cable.

<

Where you put your router is obviously limited
by where you have telephone or cable
connections for the internet. But the other
consideration is what gets in the way. Some
types of wall and floor are harder for wireless
signals to pass through than others; brick walls
get in the way much more than plasterboard.

Wireless signals pass easily through wood.
If you’ve got wooden floors you’ll probably get
better reception up and down rather than side to
side. If the house has three floors, put the router
on the second floor for the widest reception.

If the signal doesn’t reach as far as you’d like,
buy a ranger booster (or ‘booster station’) for
around £60 – choose the same brand as your
router to make sure they’ll work well together.

And remember that if you want to send video
through your network, you’ll get a much better
picture with a cable. You connect this from your
computer, through the router, to other devices.

Find the best place
for your router

3

The problem with wireless links is that people
can potentially piggyback on your internet
connection or snoop on your online activities.

However, there are a few steps you can take

to make your network more secure.

REDUCE THE POWER

The most basic way to protect yourself is to
make sure that the signal strength of your
wireless base station is no higher than it needs
to be. You adjust the signal strength using
computer software that comes with the router.

This requires a bit of experimentation. If you
can turn the power down and still get a decent
signal throughout the house, it’s worth doing.

It will make it harder for people to spy on you
and lessen the chances that your wireless
network will interfere with your neighbours’.

PASSWORDS AND SETTINGS

There are a couple of passwords and settings to
go through. The software settings are rather
difficult to find for some routers but it’s pretty
straightforward once you’ve got them on screen.

First, change the name of your network,
which people need to know before they can
use it. You do this by changing the ‘service set
identification’ setting in your software.

Then change the password. In your settings,
this will be described as the ‘WiFi protected
access’. It’s often pre-set as the manufacturer’s
name, which is easy for a hacker to guess.

You can also control which computers your
router will agree to talk to. To do this, change the
‘media access control’ settings. Turn all your
computers on and they should all appear in the
settings; then select only your own computers
and deselect others that pop up.

Make the
network secure

4

Send music
wirelessly

Connect to the
internet wirelessly