High-speed Internet connections are becoming more common. I have mentioned Road Runner from Time Warner Cable a lot recently, and now Atlantic Telephone in the Shallotte area of the county is offering DSL.
Now that you have a high speed Internet connection, you probably want to share it with more than one computer in the house. Its fairly easy to do, and an added benefit is that you can share other things, such as files and your printer. You can also set up a home network even if you just have a dial-up connection, but you would have to install additional software.
The first thing you need is a "network". A network is composed of two things - the wires between your computers, and the adapters that plug into your computers that connect to those wires. The name for this kind of network is an Ethernet network. Note that Ethernet is NOT Internet - Ethernet refers to the wires and hardware that make up the connection; the Internet is the service or the global network.
The wires are called CAT-5 (Category 5). Electricians can install them, or you can purchase pre-made cable assemblies with the proper connectors (RJ-45) on them. At the center of each Ethernet network is a device called a "hub". Hubs can have 4 to 24 connections and come in various speeds. For home use, a cheap 4-port hub at the 10 megabit speed is sufficient, especially since even 10 megabits per second is faster than the DSL or Road Runner connection itself.
An alternative to wires is using wireless Ethernet - also called 802.11b. This works quite well, but is much more costly - adapters for your PC can cost over $100, where you can get a standard Network Interface Card (NIC) for a wired network for under $20. The hub is also much more expensive. But what you get for your money is the ability to move around at will - if you have a laptop computer you could stay on the Internet from any room in your house (or out on the deck).
You will need a NIC in each computer. Your cable or DSL service probably installed one in your first PC - you need only get one for each additional PC if they don't already have them. Many PCs and laptops made today have Ethernet adapters built in.
Once you have assembled the wires and configured your PC, you can now share files and your printer among the PCs in your house. But, you can't yet share your Internet connection. This is somewhat complex, but the simple answer is that the Internet service provider doesn't want you to! You have two options: a) pay the service provider an additional fee for each computer on the network. You would then plug their cable or DSL modem into the hub along with all the other PCs.
Alternative (b) is to instead purchase what is called a cable or DSL router. This device interfaces between your network and the Internet connection, and allows 32 or more PCs to share the same connection. You do not have to notify the service provider that you are doing this. You should check for yourself, but I believe both companies in this area permit these devices. The router replaces the hub, as it has a built-in 4-port switch (a switch is a faster kind of hub). You would then connect all the PCs in the house to the router. The router will also provide an enhanced level of security - see my previous column.
Configuring your software may be a bit more difficult. But using either of the above techniques, the setup for each PC would be the same as it is for the first PC that the service provider configured - they should supply you with all needed information.
This is a quick introduction, but perhaps enough to get you started. Happy networking!
(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport / Oak Island area. You can visit his website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail him at bsc@bobseidel.com.)