Designing a Home NetworkBy Tabby Booth

Network Components•Motorola Cable Modem •Wireless 4 port Linksys Router•Compaq Desktop Computer – NIC card•HP Laptop Computer – Built-in Wi-Fi•Toshiba Laptop Computer – Built-in Wi-Fi•Windows XP•Windows Vista•Windows 7

Linksys 4 Port Wireless Router•The Router routes information

to the computers that are connected on the network.

• It controls the security of the information that is routed to the connecting computers.

•Our router supports wireless connections, DHCP routing, and allows our computers to get to the internet.

Motorola Cable Modem•Our Cable Modem is

provided through Cable TV of East Alabama.

•This modem takes the Wide Area Network (WAN) and feeds it to the Local Area Network (LAN).

Compaq Desktop•Our desktop is supported

by Windows XP Home Edition.

• This computer is connected to the router by a CAT 5 cable in one of the four ports.

• A NIC card is built into the motherboard, which enables the computer to receive an IP address.

HP Laptop Computer•This computer is

supported by Windows 7. • It has a built-in wireless

card to enable it to connect to the network.

•The wireless security is set-up so that it must have a WEP Key ( Wired Equivalency Protocol

Toshiba Laptop Computer•This computer is supported

by Windows Vista Home Edition.

• It also has a built-in wireless card to enable it to connect to the network.

•The wireless security is set-up so that it must have a WEP Key ( Wired Equivalency Protocol).

Network Layout

LANLinksys Router

WANCable Modem

Wired by a CAT 5

Compaq Desktop

Computer

Wired by a CAT 5

-------------------------

-------------------------

HP Laptop Toshiba Laptop

Wireless with WEP Security

Setup Screen

* We do not use the host or domain name because we do not have a domain.* LAN IP ADDRESS – Allows us to connect to the router.* Wireless settings – This is where a security key was entered which keeps others from using our network. * WAN Connection Type – This is how we receive our IP address from our Internet Service Provider.

Status Screen

*It shows the LAN IP address and the WAN IP address. * The LAN tells us what the our Local Area Network IP address is.The WAN is the IP address given by our Internet Service Provider.*If there is not an IP address under the WAN, then you are not getting a connection from your Internet Service Provider.

DHCP Screen

*This screen shows us the starting IP address for the

computers that are connected to the

network.

* It shows the number of IP

address that will be issued by the

router, which in our network, is 5.

The Network is Set-up:

How I created a shared folder:

•Right –click on the folder that you want to share within the network.

•Select ‘Properties’.

•Select the 2nd tab, named “Sharing”.

* Check the box that says, “Share this folder on the Network”.

* The folder name can be changed at this step.

*If you check, ‘Allow network users to change my files’, anyone on the network has access to change the document.

*Once you click OK, the folder and anything in the folder will be shared among members of the network.

In other networks, there are many more steps to setting up and monitoring a network.

Our Home Network is basic because we mainly use it for surfing the internet. Therefore , the security that we have set-up is enough for our usage.