How is your home computer network set up?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I have three laptops and a desktop at home. They are all connected through a wireless router with wireless- G, even though one of the laptops can handle wireless-N.

They all have Firefox 4 with Foxmarks, which synchs all the bookmarks.

The video files are all on the desktop which the laptops can access through the wireless network.

The picture files present somewhat of a problem. My mother hasn’t figured out the computer filing system, and downloads pictures from her camera on two different computers. I haven’t figured out how to synch them across all the computers yet.

Documents get saved on USB sticks, and music files on mp3 players. I haven’t looked for a way to synch them across all our computers.

We back up the important files manually, once in a while, with an external hard drive that we also use to play movies on one of our HDTVs.

How is your network set up?

2

I have two desktops, a laptop, a TiVo and a QNAP NAS all connected to an 8-port GigE router, which is uplinked to a Verizon FIOS thingy. I hate hate hate wireless and won’t use it, though I do have an acess-point set up for my iPhone and Nook and so guests can use their wireless devices.

I keep my MP3 and photo collections and other large media on the NAS which is set up with RAID5 for a nice bit of redundancy, and I use Amazon S3 for backups.

3

Desktop and laptop are connected to a 4-port ethernet router. I don’t like wireless. When we need it, the PS3 or 360 get a network cable snaffled from one of the boxes and jammed into them. I really need some more cable so I don’t have to keep unplugging my laptop to use them.

4

Basement computer is for important stuff. It gets backed up from time to time.

Laptop is for day to day surfing. Nothing of any importance is on it. In fact, I don’t even have a resident antivirus program running on it. I’ve had it for about a year and just recently I decided to run malwarebytes and Adaware to see if my common sense surfing was working and it came up totally clean.

As for the network. I have a 4 port wireless router in my basement. My basement computer is wired, my laptop is wireless. there’s a wire going to my bedroom Tivo and another wire going to my living room TiVo.

Recently I redid all the entertainment stuff in my living room. Now my TV, Blu-ray, receiver and TiVo are all wired. Instead of running a wire to each from the basement, I put a switch in the cabinet and run a wire from each device to the switch and one wire from the switch to the basement.

Also, I’ve always found it easier to manage all these devices to turn off DHCP and manually assign them each their own IP address. With TiVo’s rebooting after software downloads, and other devices turning off at night, it’s easier for them to have an IP address assigned to them then to request a new one each time they come on line. When I do that I inevitably have the same IP address on multiple devices from time to time and that’s always a pain to deal with.

5

The two desktops are plugged into the router, and the laptop and my sister’s phone use Wifi. And file sharing is enabled on all the “My Documents” folders.

And I used to keep DHCP off, but it’s a pain in the neck and pointless since everything that can use an IP can also use the computer name. It only has to be resolved once per session, anyways. I just don’t see a need to set up static IPs.

6

WARNING: Our setup may send real IT folk into an apoplectic fit. You have been warned. If you have advice on simplifying or improving throughput, * please *let me know!

To start, we have two broadband connections (cable and DSL). When both services are up, the DSL has our phone (Vonage VOIP) and an ostensibly headless XP box. The DSL is there mainly to act as a backup in case cable goes down and we need to keep working (we run an editorial/graphic design business out of our home). We have the phone on it so large downloads/uploads don’t interfere with call quality.

Both Internet connections run through a pair of A/B switch boxes. One input box takes in the router and the DSL connection as inputs. It’s output is the phone. The other box takes the cable connection and the DSL as inputs and outputs to the router. This setup lets us seamlessly switch between incoming broadband connections as needed. That is, it normally keeps the computers/house on the faster cable connection and just the phone on the DSL. But we can put everything on the cable or DSL as needed with a simple switch.

Our router (Linksys 310N) has our three main office computers, the print server, and a D-link Gigabit switch attached. The switch connects a couple less-used computers and the fax/scanner machine. It also runs down a couple floors to the basement where it connects to another switch.

The basement switch connects to two NAS devices, our primary work file server and our backup NAS (both are in the basement, but at opposite ends); to a Roku streaming box and a Mac mini in the exercise area, (we have a 47” television in front of the treadmill and this lets us watch Netflix, Hulu, etc.); it runs up to the kitchen to the wall-mounted HP Touchsmart; to the parlour to connect to a laptop music station (how that is set up is a different thread, but it primarily drives music and minimal surfing); and finally up to the den where it connects to a hub.

The den hub has a PC (this is where we store personal things like music, video, and pictures on a HomeGroup) and the Blu-Ray player. It used to have more (e.g., a Roku box), but that was overtaken when I built the PC. It has a couple spare cables to plug in machines if we don’t want to connect wirelessly.

I’m sure I’m forgetting a few peripherals, but that’s the main setup—two broad band connections in, down to the basement, then up to the first floor. We use the DHCP server, but several machines have static IPs based on their MAC address.

7

I have the DSL line going straight into the DSL modem/router/802.11G hub/4 port 100base-T switch, and then my computer and Xbox 360 are connected via cat-5 to the switch.

My wife’s laptop and iPhone connect via the 802.11G wireless, and so does the Wii, when it’s set up. I could set up my TV to connect via the wireless, but so far, I haven’t really been bothered, since I’d rather do my internet stuff on my computer than on my TV.

8

Similar here, except cable rather than DSL. XP and Ubuntu desktops and a Brother MFC via cat-5; two laptops, Wii and my phone via 11G. I had my blu-ray player connected briefly via 11G, but it’s not NetFlix-capable so I dropped it. The MFC has a fixed address, everything else is DHCP.

9

I have one desktop and a netbook and my iphone. The latter 2 are wireless on my system.

My bf has an awesome set up - and lives a mile away. We joke about figuring out a way to wirelessly connect me to his system so we can stream items from his house to mine because wherever we are the thing we want to watch is at the other place.

10

Basic DSL fed into a phone company-issued wireless-G router with no security (no other houses nearby.)

It feeds my desktop wired and my laptops, Tivo, Roku, iPods, and a PS3 wirelessly. I have software on my desktop computer to stream audio, photos, and videos to my PS3. I tried Tversity but it was sort of clunky. I’m now using PS3 Media Server. Really though I find it’s often simpler to just copy the files to a USB drive and plug it into my PS3.

11

I have the company supplied wireless DSL Router. I’ve got four different Apple desktops plus the XBox and a Blu-Ray connected to it via CAT5 and a couple of switches. The Wii, Apple TV, my daughter’s MacBook Pro and another Blu-Ray connect wirelessly along with the kid’s other gaming devices, iPod Touches and iPhones.

Only one of the computers gets a regular backup via Time Machine on a directly connected external drive. One of these days I’m going to have to look into some kind of NAS.

12

Is this better than just using the built in Firefox Sync? I don’t have my bookmarks synced between my desktop and laptop, but now that I’m actually using my laptop more than before, I’m looking into it. I just don’t want a situation where one computer’s bookmarks “overrides” the others. Which is to say, I don’t want computer A to be the “main” one and B syncs to it and loses all it’s bookmarks, I just want them to merge so A now has A’s and B’s and vice versa.

To actually answer the question, cable internet into a Cisco wireless-N router. Everything in the house (my desktop and laptop, roommate’s laptops and tablet, both our smart phones, and the X-Box and PS3) are all connected to it…though usually not all at once.

Of course, since not everything connected is capable of N, it therefore is essentially just a G router.

13

I never used FireFox Sync, so I don’t know.

Foxmarks lets you choose if you want one computer’s bookmarks to override the others. The way I have it set up is that once I make changes on any one of my computers, those changes are then synched across all the other computers.

14

Let’s start with, we have a very long house, with the DSL coming in one end of the house, and computer use all over the place. In addition, it’s a split level house, so we have lots of level changes too.

DSL modem to router 1 -
Router one is connected to by wire to our 2 main use computers.
The computer in the basement, which houses music and photos and gets backed up, and the Wii are connected via wireless router 1, which requires that any machines that get access must be identified at the router (I forget what this is called)

Wireless router 2
For some reason, our netbook won’t play well with the security setup on router 1, so router 2 is a standard “input the password at the PC” set up. The netbook (browsing on the sofa) and any guests use this one.

Netflix for the TV uses network over electrical line.

15

I had my wired with Cat5 when it was built. Everything runs to a central wiring hub in my utility room where my router and cable modem are. My wifi is usually turned off unless I have company. I also have wired routers in my kitchen/library and my closet/office. I also have a network connection in my home theater for streaming.

16

My wife and I share a cable modem. Her desktop is connected directly to it. I use a laptop as my main computer. It can connect wirelessly, but ten years ago, before wireless, I paid to have the wire run to my main laptop and, while I don’t have to use, it seems to work slightly better to have it plugged in. Otherwise, I occasionally get dropped from my email which comes to a Linux computer at my office. In my office at work (I am retired, but get office space) I have a desktop. I also have a small travel computer (ASUS). I keep my three machines synched using Dropbox, which I recommend. It is free for up to something like 2GB, which is more than enough for me.

17

Oh, I forgot: I have a $20 wireless router hooked up to a free DSL modem and get about 3mbps. I don’t see the need for anything faster without a screen that can handle 1080p content. (720p streams just fine.)

18

Almost 20 posts in, and it looks like I’m the first here to be using Homeplug powerline networking.

6-meg DSL service goes to a hub to feed two PCs, a printer and a Homeplug device. At the other “end” of the Homeplug link is another PC and printer, and the fun stuff - Apple TV, Dish Network DVR, Blue-Ray player and Wii.

Homeplug AV (The AV designation means it’s able to handle high streaming rates) is not exactly cheap, but it’s a hell of a lot easier than drilling holes in brick walls and then trying to run cables around the outside of a house without looking tatty and/or putting them in PVC conduit to protect against lawn mowers and weed whackers.

No wireless anywhere. There’s enough open Wi-Fi from neighbors’ houses that guests can almost always find a signal.

19

WiMax into the house. Connected by a 10BaseT jumper to a typical LinkSys router. 2 laptops connect to that via 802.11g. Even though I’m in IT / dev this is plenty good enough for our home needs.

20

Cable internet comes in to my wireless gigabit router.

1 Desktop wired, gigabit connection to said router.
1 Home theater PC wired, gigabit connection to said router.
2 iPads connect wirelessly to the network.

Have a 4 TB RAID enclosure hooked up to main desktop PC via USB3 to which all PC’s and tablets have access to where everything get’s backed up on. Have a cloud backup service that in addition, backs up important pictures and documents to the cloud.