CyberBabble
Site-Seeing on the Internet

A Network Is Not A House 
& A House Is Not A Home

Duff MacDonald
Mirror contributing writer

   18 years ago, when Scott McNealy of Sun said “The Network is the Computer,” he was mind blowingly prescient.
   Borrowing from Burt Bacharach, networking the computers in your house won’t turn it into a home, but it can make your computing experience a bit warmer and fuzzier (check out A House is Not a Homepage, studentweb.tulane.edu/~mark/bacharach.html). 
   Examining the brave new world of home networking in the last couple of columns, we’ve explored quick and easy ways to connect two computers together, basic concepts of networking, the thrill of sharing files, peripherals and even Internet connections, and, most significant, Ethernet. To catch up, you can access the Mirror archives online (www.smmirror.com). 
   Whether you want to link up a couple of computers with an Ethernet switch or share your cable or DSL Internet access, you’ve got several companies to choose from. For additional help, these Web sites offer networking primers — ThreeMacs (www.threemacs.com), the World of Windows Networking (www.wown.com), and homePCnetwork (www.homepcnetwork.com). 
   You may decide to go with a company because it offers multi-platform support or a better price. Linksys (www.linksys.com) was first to the market with what has truly become the cornerstone of the home network — the combination cable/DSL router, 10/100 Ethernet switch, and firewall. This product, now offered by others as well, combines in one unit what heretofore was only available as separate and more expensive items. Linksys has 3 models with 1, 4, or 8 ports. If you already have a switch, the 1 port router may be fine for you as you’ll “uplink” the broadband ISP signal to your switch and plug your computers and Ethernet capable printers to the switch to create your network. But for most people, I’d recommend getting as many ports as you can, so you’re covered in case you get additional computers in the future. 
   Linksys’ routers and switches will work with Mac, Windows, or Linux computers, but they only provide instructions and phone support for Windows. The Linksys router is upgradable via a “firmware” download. For instance, when PacBell was forced to divest a portion of its DSL services and simultaneously had a major increase in their customer base, it changed its DSL service to PPPoE to “handle” the deluge. Linksys came up with firmware, which added that capability to their router, thus saving people from having to buy new units. The firmware is only “officially” available for Windows, but it now has links for Macs. If you’re planning a multi-platform network, unless you’re a hide-bound techie and comfortable with translating Windows TCP/IP settings to other OS’s, you may want another company’s products. However, I’ve had nothing but good experiences with their hardware. 
   Asante (www.asante.com) has been in the networking biz for quite some time and makes and supports products for Linux, Mac, and Windows. Asante’s cable/DSL router comes in 3 different versions; all with a 4 port 10/100 Ethernet switch and firewall. One model adds a 56k backup modem and the other a parallel printer port, which acts as a print server for Windows 95/98/NT. All 3 models are also upgraded via firmware downloads. If you have the money and additional computers you could also connect the router to one of their Gigabit (1000 Base) Ethernet switches to increase the speed your computers communicate with each other and yes, they make Gigabit NIC’s for Mac, Win, and Linux too. 
   Farallon (www.farallon.com) another networking old timer, makes what it calls a “broadband gateway,” which is essentially a one port router that needs to be connected to a switch if you’re going to create a network. It will work with Mac and Win 95/98/NT/2000. 
   Macsense (www.macsense.com) makes a cable/DSL router, with built-in 10/100 switch, and firewall in two versions. Both will work in Mac, Unix/Linux, and Windows environments. The second model features a built-in mounting bracket for Apple’s wireless Airport networking hub. The routers are firmware upgradable and have received high marks from Macworld and MacAddict magazines, in spite of their dismal Web site. 
   A lot of people did not foresee the importance of the Net to the home user, let alone know that people would want to network the computers in their house. A trip to any computer store will reveal that the shelves in the network aisle are groaning with an explosion of networking devices for the home user. We’ve covered the major equipment needs to create your home network, next week we’ll fine tune and cover software. 
   Email CyberBabble: duffmacdonald@yahoo.com.