Home networking: Together we'll be stronger
Home networking: Together we'll be stronger
Market researcher ACNielsen has found that only 6 percent of
urban dwellers in Indonesia have a computer at home. However, as
the economy recovers, and IT penetration levels increase, the
percentage will certainly rise.
Not only that, the number of homes with more than one computer
will also rise.
And why not? Each of the children may want their own PC, and
so do Mom and Dad. There may be a PC in every bedroom, in the
living room and in the study, where Dad runs his SOHO.
But, does each of these PCs have to stand in isolation? Does
each of them have to have its own modem, scanner and color
printer? That would not be a cost-efficient proposition, would
it?
Besides, networked home PCs will enable family members to
share files easily and play multiplayer games such as the network
version of Life and Monopoly.
And there is also the idea of a "smart home", a house or
apartment building that has been built from the ground up with a
home-computer network in mind.
Networks
A number of hardware vendors, including 3Com, Intel, Netgear
and Diamond Multimedia have recognized the trend that a family
may have several PCs that they would like to see connected.
For fast interconnection, nothing beats the industry-standard
Ethernet network. It offers up to 100 Mbps connection, which is
fast enough for video transfer.
All you need is an Ethernet network interface card (NIC) for
every PC, and a hub to connect all of them together. The downside
is that you may have to do a lot of hacking and drilling to run
the cable from one room to another.
Options
If you cannot stand the ugly sight of cables running along the
walls and door frames, there are some other solutions. In March
1998, a number of vendors, including 3Com, Apple, Diamond
Multimedia and IBM formed the Home Radio Frequency Working Group.
The group has passed a standard called Shared Wireless Access
Protocol (SWAP).
Today, products such as AirConnect from 3Com, HomeFree
Wireless Network from Diamond Multimedia and Symphony from
Proxim, let you connect all the PCs in the home without any
cable. All you have to do is install the card, plug in the
antennae and run the setup software.
If you have a phone jack in every room, you actually have a
home network infrastructure already in place. A Home Phoneline
Network Alliance (HomePNA) has been formed to work on a standard
for utilizing the existing phone wiring system to connect one PC
to another.
The network uses higher frequency ranges than the phone
system, so that you can still use the phone for making calls,
sending faxes or connecting via a modem.
The speed is still limited, but sufficient for most home
applications.
Products in this category include Intel's AnyPoint and Diamond
Multimedia's HomeFree PhoneLine.
Even the electrical wiring can be used as infrastructure for
your home network. Passport Plug-In Network from Intelogis, for
instance, will connect all the PCs in the house through the
electrical wires inside the walls.
Home networking is still a fast-growing technology. Speed is
constantly improving, and prices are gradually falling, too.
No matter what solution you choose, having all the PCs and
notebooks in the house connected to a network will save you a lot
of money because you will only need one Internet access, one
color printer and, perhaps, one scanner for every member of the
family.