Need Help Help With Home Network

Klue22

New Member
I need some help setting up my home network
I'm pretty proficient with computers but some things are just beyond me....

i just got high speed Satilite internet after years of dial up and have decided that now is the time for the home network I've always wanted.

here is what i want:

-internet access to all computers, i want this to be achieved by running a cat 6 ethernet line to each room in the house, where they will then each hook into gigabit wireless adapters, this is to give me excellent wireless reception throughout my house, and at the same time have high transfer rates

-a central computer to act as the central server for backing up files from each computer and to route the internet connection through, and as an extra firewall. I also want to have shared folders on this computer as well.

-the ability to print to any printer in the house (I currently have 3, one photo, and 2 color ink jet)

-the ability to store all of my DVD movies on the central computer, where I can then remotely access them from any TV in the house and watch the one of my choosing (I do not own any LCD or plasma TVs, they are all "old school" and only have video in/out, audio in/out, and coax ports on them)

-the ability to transfer files directly from one computers HD to anothers HD without storing them on the central server first.

-the ability for me (the network admin) to access any computer's hard drive from any other computer in the house and to track what people are doing


Advice on any or all of the above would be greatly appreciated, also if anybody has any other ideas for my network, i would love to hear them!:D:)

thx!
 

JonD0H

New Member
Ok ... let's start...

1> You don't need Cat6 cables for fast service, Cat5e will do Gigabit speeds (Cat5 will not).

2> Why go through all the trouble of wiring the house just to attach them all to Wireless AP's?

3> Having multiple AP's can cause more trouble than good. They will conflict with each other. For large buildings it'd be ideal to have one AP and one or more repeaters configured properly so signals don't collide. If this is just for your house, and you're crazy about having a strong signal, just purchase 1 high-end AP (ex: Netgear WG302) and then attach stronger omni-directional antennas to it. Keep in mind, no matter how you do it in the end, strong signals = high radiation. IE: Keep it away from the bedroom.

4>For the server, to set it up as an additional firewall, have it attached between the modem and the router. It'd not good practice to have a firewall work as a file-server. The file server should be kept behind all firewalls/protection - not in the front.

5> Printing to any printer is easy. If it's a network printer, set it up on the network and install drivers to every computer. If it's not a network printer, enable File and Printer sharing on the computer it's attached to, and share the printer.

6> As far as the rest of your requests go, it's all just a matter of setting up File and printer sharing on each computer and choosing what files/folders/drives you want to share on them. That way, you can access them at anytime anywhere.
 

Crypto

New Member
sounds like you need to do what I did. I have my main office PC hosting all of my files, printers, drives etc. and I keep nothing stored locally. You'll need to add a PC behind the TVs with NIC card to access the drives hosting the movies. I use a remote tool called VNC to access all PCs without physically sitting behind them.

maybe this will help
http://www.groovydos.com/Tom/My Network.pdf
 

Klue22

New Member
thx guys for all the input, havent got around to looking up that link you gave me crypto, ill try to check it out tonight...
thx
 
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