How to Set Up a LAN in Your Home

A Guide to Networking Your Computers

The days when you only had one computer in your house are gone for most people. But when you have more than one computer, it's nice to be able to share things between them. What you need is a LAN. LAN stands for "Local Area Network," and it refers to the infrastructure that allows your computers to share data between them. Whether you're too lazy to go upstairs and watch the video on the other computer or you're always fighting over who gets to use AIM, a LAN is the solution for you.

In this guide I will cover the components necessary to set up a LAN, as well as how to install and use them. My primary focus will be setting up a shared high-speed (cable or DSL) Internet connection, but that same network will also let you share files between computers.

Components

The following are items necessary to share your Internet connection (assuming you already have the modem set up):

A router: The router is basically the brain of the whole setup. It keeps track of which computers are hooked up to the network, gives them IP addresses so they can communicate with each other, and serves as the relay point between the computer and the Internet connection. When data goes out to the Internet, the router remembers who it came from and sends the response back to that computer. You plug the router directly into the modem via an ethernet cable, and all other computers are eventually connected in some fashion to the router. If you want to have a wireless network in your home, a wireless router will save you money over a wireless access point connected to a standard router.

Switches: A switch is a smarter version of a splitter. Essentially all it does it let you add additional computers if or when you run out of ports on the router itself. You only need a switch if the ports on the router are not enough. Alternatively you could get a hub, but a switch has the advantage of sending data only to the computer that asked for it, not to every computer, while a hub lowers your bandwidth by sending every computer the information that only one computer asked for. Switches are usually cheaper anyway, since they're more popular.