Home Office Network

Wireless Home Network Basics

Wireless Home Network Basics attempts to be a guide to setting up a basic Wireless LAN at home plus some security to keep it in place…

This guide is meant for the intermediate computer user who may not understand may of the terms associated with the field, but has a solid, basic understanding of computer use and terms.

Introduction

A wireless network (Also wireless LAN or WLAN) is a computer network operating by certain frequencies of radio waves. When installed correctly, no difference from a normal wired network should be obvious (Other then the obvious lack of cables).

These are generally used in a home environment for two main reasons: To share printers between them and to share an Internet connection. Normally, networks are created by hooking computers together with network cables. Wireless networks use various frequency radio waves to do this.

  Common reasons for using a wireless network (in preference to a wired one)

* The most obvious and commonly advertized difference in a wireless network is the lack of network cabling.
o This is especially usefull if the network is a new one being planned and/or where the lengths of cabling would be ridiculously long.
* If the devices on the network are moveable or move frequently, the lack of a network cable may be useful.

  Downsides

* Current standards of wireless networks have bandwidths (Speeds) lower then wired networks. This may be improved in future standards. Note, however, that common home network usage (Viewing webpages, Emailing, printing, etc) will rarely use the maximum bandwidth of any network.
* If improperly or poorly set up, anyone within receiving range can do anything on your network without you knowing.
* Since radio waves are an electromagnetic emission, they decrease in strength over distance. If you have a widely scattered network, those on at the very edge of the signal’s range may experience very poor speed and reliability. This can be remedied.

  Standards

Far more noteworthily then for nonwired networks, the type or standard of wireless networks is vitally important. If two different standards are used, the network’s speed will be adversely impacted at best.

Different network standards

Currently there are two dominant standards for wireless connectivity:

* 802.11b (Frequently referred to as “b”) was the original standard of wireless networking. It supports speeds of up to 11mbps.
* 802.11g (Frequently referred to as “g”) is the newer and current standard for wireless networking. It supports speeds of up to 54mbps up to 108mbps.

Note that the letters are never capitalized, even when alone (EG. “I bought a g network card, but only have a b router”, not “I bought a G network card, but only have a B router”).

Non-standard “extentions” exist which will give speeds in the 108 to 125 mbps. These will usually only work with other devices from the same brand, that is if you buy an enhanced performance router from manufacturer X, it will not work at 108mbps high speeds with enhanced performance Y or Z cards. However, a device marked as being compatible with 802.11b or g will be able to work with all others similarly marked: any proprietary extensions shouldn’t effect basic functionality (That is, the aforementioned “enhanced” devices should all communicate with each other with either b or g).

Because of both the speed difference, its more recent appearance, and other technical reasons, 802.11g is recommended for any new installations.

If, however, you have both b and g equipment, 802.11g is “backwards compatible”. This means that an 802.11g device can see and connect to an 802.11b device or network. The downside is that it does so by acting like a “b” device, including the 11mbps speed.

This can lead to trouble if a small minority of devices are B type in a G network. Take the following scenario:

A network with a G router, and two G network cards in computers. When a machine with a B card is brought in and connected, the router will sense this and (Unless set up to not do this) downgrade itself to B class to talk to this newcomer. The two others on the network will also have to follow suit if they are to talk to the router (Which they have to to remain on the network). In effect, the B device has “dragged down” the rest of the network.

“N”

Currently the organization that publishes and designs these standards, w:IEEE, is in the process of coming up with another new one: 802.11n. This is still in development, but is public and the most recent versions are complete enough that they can be used. Manufacturers have been producing “draft-N” devices to take advantage of this.

  Security standards

There are three formal standards for securing a wireless network from unwanted access and use:

* Wireless equivalent privacy/WEP — Notoriously insecure, AVOID
* Wi-Fi Protected Access/WPA — Newer and much safer
* IEEE 802.11i-2004/WPA2/WPA2-PSK — The latest and preferred

All equipment will state on the packaging which standard(s) it supports. Most modern equipment will support all three. As noted above, equipment supporting only WEP should be avoided as that standard has been fatally compromized and can be defeated with minimal effort by an attacker.

More so then with connectivity standards, the security standard (and password) used must be constant throughout the network. See the “Security” section for more information.

  Components

Wireless networks require hardware, and to a lesser degree, software.

  Hardware

At a minimum, the following are needed:

* A router — This typically connects to a high-speed internet connection and manages the network’s communication with the Internet. If you’re dealing with a network not connected to the Internet (Rare), a switch or hub may be used. If you’re only connecting two computers to each other (An “Ad Hoc” network), only adapters are needed.
* Adapters for each machine on the network — These will be expansion cards for desktop computer and PCMCIA cards for laptops.

If you have a large area to cover, separate antennas and/or access points may be needed.

  Software

All computers on the network need to have an operating system version (Windows, Mac OS, Linux, etc) that can deal with wireless networking.

* All Windowses from 98 on have some degree of ability in this field. 98, ME and 2000 require additional software and drivers. XP with the latest updates from Microsoft will work automatically with many network cards, Vista will work natively.
* Mac OS 9 has some wireless networking ability, 10 will work natively.
* Most recent Linux kernels have builtin wireless networking capability.

  Notes

Most wireless routers also have 4 Ethernet (Hardwired, conventional networking) ports on them. If you have a machine that you don’t or can’t put on the new network, consider locating it and the router close together so it can get on the network by a cable.

Both adapters, routers and other ancillary parts can range in price from 20 USD up to several hundred. A good advice is to go with a well known brand, the currently dominant three are D-link, Linksys and Netgear.

  Hardware setup

Assuming a basic router-and-clients setup, the following hardware will be needed:

1. At least one router
2. A wireless adapter for each machine that doesn’t already have one (Some laptops have built in antennas)
3. A cable and adapter for each machine that will be wired into the network
4. Depending on the layout of your house and devices, you may need some repeaters. The following section will explain this.

  Location of equipment

Most likely your router will have to connect to your modem (If you don’t have an Internet connection, you can disregard this). If this is in a central location for your planned uses, then you will likely not need anything beyond the router and adapters. If you’re installing the modem and are planning to have wireless networking, consider installing it in a central location.

If not, you can run more wiring in your house to get it to the router, or accept a weaker signal in the parts of the house farther from the router. If this is an issue, you may want to invest in a repeater that can bring your wireless signal to the far corners of your house.

As discussed previously, wireless signal strength is of significant importance. Some points of information about signals and permiability:

* Wireless signals can pass through drywall relatively easily, but if it must pass through a significant number of walls the signal will degrade rapidly.
* Wireless signals do not travel well through cinderblock walls.
* Wireless signals can be disrupted by ducts of an climate control system.
* Water can greatly distort wireless signals. Take into account aquariums, sinks, and water pipes. Remember, the human body is 66% water, so locations with a high density of people can distort wireless signals. This also includes rain or humidity, so consider bath/shower rooms or other regularly wet areas.

If you want coverage outdoors (which can be very nice during good weather with a laptop!), consider locating the router or a repeater near a window facing the direction you want to cover. An upper floor can be an excellent place for a router or signal propigator for coverage around the outside of the building, and possibly inside as well.

  Wiring up the router

Most residential routers are fairly simple to set up and have standarized markings. The usual setup is this:

1. Plug the Ethernet (data) cable from your cable or DSL modem into the “WAN” port (If your modem has USB and Ethernet ports, use the Ethernet port and don’t connect anything to the USB port).
2. Plug any computers you wish to hard-wire to your router to one of the “LAN” ports. If every computer is to connect wirelessly, skip this step.
3. If possible, disconnect the antenna, or shield it from transmission.
4. Shut off/unplug your modem for about 15 seconds
5. Restore power to your modem
6. Plug in your router

After a few seconds (At most), the router should start up with the default settings. Leave the antenna disconnected/blocked until you’ve had a chance to change the wireless security settings, as router defaults are notoriously insecure.

  Software Setup

The vast majority of residential routers are configured by a “web-based interface” (A webpage).

To access this webpage, a special address is used. This is normally detailed in the users manual or “quick start guide”. The username and password to be used are also listed. If a “quick start wizard” comes up, you can follow it through or dismiss it. The rest of this guide assumes that it didn’t appear or was dismissed.

Once logged in to the router, the first steps should be to strengthen the security. See below…

Expansion cards should be installed with the computer turned off. PCMCIA cards for laptops can be inserted at any time. If the operating system doesn’t automatically detect and set up the new networking hardware, try using the disc that came with it.

  Security

Security is of the utmost importance for many reasons. You might be sanctioned or disconnected by your ISP if someone else perpetrates a Terms of service-violation while mooching off your connection. Worse, you might get hit with legal action for the same reason. If your Internet connection rate is determined by your level of use, you could easily end up paying a significant amount for it. As the operator of your end of a connection, you are responsible for preventing its illegal or proscribed (mis)use and excercising due diligence. Finally, if you share files or devices, unwanted users could access them.

Security is of increasing importance in higher density locations where someone’s increasingly likely to pick up on your signals.

As mentioned above, routers’ default settings are notoriously insecure. Almost every router and installation can be well secured with three steps:

  Update the router’s firmware

The firmware is sortof like the router’s operating system (Windows, Mac OS, etc.) and, like every other operating system, it receives security updates. These and other revisions to the router’s software are called “firmware updates” and can be found on the manufacturer’s website. Since these both improve security (usually) and frequently reset all changes to the router configuration, they should be applied first.

Enable decent encryption

Most routers will default to having no encryption, or using WEP. Both are EXTREMELY insecure and should be changed immediately. If you have good equipment, there should be an option to change to WPA or WPA2. If you can, select WPA2, if not WPA. If only WEP is available (Or there’s no encryption option!), your router is so insecure is should be returned for a refund or replaced with a better one. WEP is little better than nothing, as the FBI showed, it can be defeated in a few minutes with ease.

WPA and WPA2 depend on a “passphrase” (Password). Like any other, its strength depends almost solely on its complexity. Good WPA passphrases should be long compared to other passwords, and extremely confusing. The more nonsensical your passphrase, the better. For example,

f7S9^jeiF9ratt4-esttM8,25.4nZ8s

is more secure than the passphrase

fff4526—-354

which is better then

4352354frewch

which is better then

sdfnvuihgwkjsgdf

which is better then

toaster

etc.

For more information on choosing good passwords, visit Password Policy.

Finally, remember you will only need to enter this once (When you set up your network and computers), so you can make it really strong and write it down rather then try and remember it. Just make sure you don’t lose the paper, but keep it safe somewhere.

Change the network name

Routers will usually default to giving networks a certain name. Linksys defaults to “linksys”, Netgear “NETGEAR” and D-link “default”. An unchanged network name is a dead giveaway the network is unconfigured or minimally configured. Since most such networks have no security to them, they are immediate targets for attackers.

Also, if your in an area with many networks, alot will have the same default as yours. If you don’t change it, you might end up connecting to someone else’s network without intending to or realizing it.

The new name should be something recognizable, for your sakes, as well as anyone else you may invite to use it.

Change the configuration password

Finally, you should change the password to access the routers web configuration to something other than the default. Entire web sites exist with nothing but default passwords (See, for example, this Google search for “default router passwords”. If a person made use of these unnoticed, they could disable all security measures and otherwise ruing the network.

Change other miscellaneous settings

Also, most routers have an option to anyone who knows the router’s configuration password (See above) to view and change the router (and network) settings. Unless you have a need to regularly configure your router when not on your network, this should ALWAYS be disabled.

Home Wireless Network Basics and FAQ

WikiBooks

Router DMZ Setting:

A router normally blocks incoming Internet traffic from getting on your network, unless the traffic is in response to one of your computers within your Home network LAN, that is : router will let incoming traffic go though which is a response to a computer that initiated this connection, like when you surf a web page from your computer within LAN,

the web server will response to this by sending back traffic to this computer. But if this traffic is initiated from outside of your network, router will normally stop it.

But some times you may want some terrific initiated from outside your network to pass through your router to reach a computer with in your LAN. For example, you want to run some kind servers, like, you want to set an FTP server on your computer, and some one can download some file from your computer within your LAN. Maybe you want to put a Web server, so people from outside can visit your web site.

 You can achieve this using port forwarding from your router, (or just open some port for incoming traffic , like open port 80 for web server). you can also send incoming traffic to one computer on your network by establishing a “Default DMZ Server”. (”Demilitarized Zone”.) This avoids you having to figure out what ports an Internet application wants — by throwing all ports open for that computer. For example, you want to expose your computer with an private IP address: 192.168.0.34 to outside world, you can set DMZ to this IP. In this way, all incoming traffic will be able to reach this computer.

But a computer with DMZ loses firewall protection, and is exposed to exploits from the Internet. If compromised, your own computer can attack the rest your network. Instead of DMZ, use port forwarding.
However, Some times, the DMZ server feature is helpful:

*When you have a problem connecting to an Internet service. Setting up a DMZ will determine whether a closed port is responsible for the problem.

*With some online games and videoconferencing applications that are incompatible with NAT.

Home Network Router Comfiguration

Wireless-G USB Network Adapter with Wi-Fi Finder
All-in-One USB Network Adapter and Wi-Fi Finder

The Linksys Wireless-G USB Adapter with Wi-Fi Finder is a handy, pocket-sized device that combines an easy-to-use wireless network scanner with a USB-connected Wireless-G network adapter. Now you can scan for available wireless connectivity before turning on your computer. If the scanner does find a network, just plug it into your PC and get connected.

Wireless Home Network (Wi-Fi Devices)

PC to PC Data Transfer Device: (A Home Network Tool)

From time to time, we need to transfer Data from PC to PC. For example, you may want to transfer data from your old computer to a new computer. You may want to back up some data etc.

There are many ways to transfer data between PCs. (Within your home or office network)

(1) Use a USB flash drivers: You need to connect it to source computer, copy the files to USB flash Drivers, then connect it to target computer, and copy the file from USB flash to target computer. When you transfer big files, you need big capacity USB flash drivers, otherwise, you need to repeat this jobs many times.

(2)Use a USB external hard disk, You still need to connect it to source computer, copy file to external hard disk, then connect it to target computer and copy to target computers.

(3) If your computers are within same LAN (Home network), you can share the files of source computer, then copy these files to target computer.

and more….

Here is a PC to PC Data Transfer Device (Tornado) which made PC to PC file transfer very easy : ( With this device , my grandma can transfer data from PC to PC easily)

“PC to PC Data Transfer Device

Once connected to each PC, The Tornadoâ„¢ automatically displays the entire contents of each PC enabling the user to quickly drag-n-drop their files and file folders from one machine to the other. Operating at USB 2.0 speeds, The Tornadoâ„¢ moves files 600 % faster than standard flash memory-based storage media. The Tornadoâ„¢ is pocket-sized and has retractable cables allowing it to be easily carried anywhere.

Transfer Files between Any Windows® PCs

Built-in application (no software to install)

Backup your data at speeds up to 25Mb/Sec

Easiest way to migrate to a new computer

The easy to use graphical user interface autoloads by simply plugging the device into the USB port of each computer. The flashing LED light on the top of the device lights up to let you know that you’re connected. The entire contents of each PC are clearly displayed on the screens of BOTH COMPUTERS. Then you simply drag-n-drop files or entire directories from one machine to the other. It’s bi-directional so it doesn’t matter which machine you use to transfer the data. Just The Tornadoâ„¢!”

Home office network devices

Computer Network Basics

A computer network is an interconnection of a group of computers. Networks may be classified by what is called the network layer at which they operate according to basic reference models considered as standards in the industry such as the four-layer Internet Protocol Suite model. While the seven-layer Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model is better known in academia, the majority of networks use the Internet Protocol Suite (IP) as their network model.

Personal area network (PAN)

personal area network (PAN) is a computer network used for communication among computer devices (including telephones and personal digital assistants) close to one person. The devices may or may not belong to the person in question. The reach of a PAN is typically a few meters. PANs can be used for communication among the personal devices themselves (intrapersonal communication), or for connecting to a higher level network and the Internet (an uplink).

Personal area networks may be wired with computer buses such as USB and FireWire. A wireless personal area network (WPAN) can also be made possible with network technologies such as IrDA, Bluetooth, UWB, and ZigBee.

Local Area Network (LAN)

A local area network (LAN) is a computer network covering a small geographic area, like a home, office, or group of buildings e.g. a school. The defining characteristics of LANs, in contrast to Wide Area Networks (WANs), include their much higher data transfer rates, smaller geographic range, and lack of a need for leased telecommunication lines.

Ethernet over unshielded twisted pair cabling, and Wi-Fi are the two most common technologies currently, but ARCNET, Token Ring and many others have been used in the past.

Campus Area Network ( CAN)

A campus area network (CAN) is a computer network made up of an interconnection of local area networks (LANs) within a limited geographical area. It can be considered one form of a metropolitan area network, specific to an academic setting.

In the case of a university campus-based campus area network, the network is likely to link a variety of campus buildings including; academic departments, the university library and student residence halls. A campus area network is larger than a local area network but smaller than a wide area network, in some cases (WAN)

Metropolitan Area Network ( MAN)

Metropolitan area networks, or MANs, are large computer networks usually spanning a city. They typically use wireless infrastructure or Optical fiber connections to link their sites.

Wide Area Network ( WAN)

Wide Area Network (WAN) is a computer network that covers a broad area (i.e., any network whose communications links cross metropolitan, regional, or national boundaries ). Or, less formally, a network that uses routers and public communications links . Contrast with personal area networks (PANs), local area networks (LANs), campus area networks (CANs), or metropolitan area networks (MANs) which are usually limited to a room, building, campus or specific metropolitan area (e.g., a city) respectively. The largest and most well-known example of a WAN is the Internet.

Global Area Network (GAN)

Global area networks (GAN) specifications are in development by several groups, and there is no common definition. In general, however, a GAN is a model for supporting mobile communications across an arbitrary number of wireless LANs, satellite coverage areas, etc. The key challenge in mobile communications is “handing off” the user communications from one local coverage area to the next. In IEEE Project 802, this involves a succession of terrestrial Wireless local area networks (WLAN) [3]. INMARSAT has defined a satellite-based Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN).

Internetwork

Two or more networks or network segments connected using devices that operate at layer 3 (the ‘network’ layer) of the OSI Basic Reference Model, such as a router. Any interconnection among or between public, private, commercial, industrial, or governmental networks may also be defined as an internetwork.

In modern practice, the interconnected networks use the Internet Protocol. There are at least three variants of internetwork, depending on who administers and who participates in them:

* Intranet
* Extranet
* “The” Internet

Intranets and extranets may or may not have connections to the Internet. If connected to the Internet, the intranet or extranet is normally protected from being accessed from the Internet without proper authorization. The Internet itself is not considered to be a part of the intranet or extranet, although the Internet may serve as a portal for access to portions of an extranet.

Intranet

An intranet is a set of interconnected networks, using the Internet Protocol and uses IP-based tools such as web browsers, that is under the control of a single administrative entity. That administrative entity closes the intranet to the rest of the world, and allows only specific users. Most commonly, an intranet is the internal network of a company or other enterprise.

Extranet

An extranet is a network or internetwork that is limited in scope to a single organization or entity but which also has limited connections to the networks of one or more other usually, but not necessarily, trusted organizations or entities (e.g. a company’s customers may be given access to some part of its intranet creating in this way an extranet, while at the same time the customers may not be considered ‘trusted’ from a security standpoint). Technically, an extranet may also be categorized as a CAN, MAN, WAN, or other type of network, although, by definition, an extranet cannot consist of a single LAN; it must have at least one connection with an external network.

Internet

A specific internetwork , consisting of a worldwide interconnection of governmental, academic, public, and private networks based upon the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) developed by ARPA of the U.S. Department of Defense – also home to the World Wide Web (WWW) and referred to as the ‘Internet’ with a capital ‘I’ to distinguish it from other generic internetworks.

Participants in the Internet, or their service providers, use IP Addresses obtained from address registries that control assignments. Service providers and large enterprises also exchange information on the reachability of their address ranges through the BGP Border Gateway Protocol.

Basic Network Hardware Components

All networks are made up of basic hardware building blocks to interconnect network nodes, such as Network Interface Cards (NICs), Bridges, Hubs, Switches, and Routers. In addition, some method of connecting these building blocks is required, usually in the form of galvanic cable (most commonly Category 5 cable). Less common are microwave links (as in IEEE 802.11) or optical cable (”optical fiber”).

Network Interface Cards (NIC)

A network card, network adapter or NIC (network interface card) is a piece of computer hardware designed to allow computers to communicate over a computer network. It provides physical access to a networking medium and often provides a low-level addressing system through the use of MAC addresses. It allows users to connect to each other either by using cables or wirelessly.

Repeaters

A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it at a higher level or higher power, or onto the other side of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover longer distances without degradation.

Because repeaters work with the actual physical signal, and do not attempt to interpret the data being transmitted, they operate on the Physical layer, the first layer of the OSI model.

Hubs

A hub contains multiple ports. When a packet arrives at one port, it is copied to all the ports of the hub. When the packets are copied, the destination address in the frame does not change to a broadcast address. It does this in a rudimentary way, it simply copies the data to all of the Nodes connected to the hub. [4]

Bridges

A network bridge connects multiple network segments at the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model. Bridges do not promiscuously copy traffic to all ports, as hubs do. but learns which MAC addresses are reachable through specific ports. Once the bridge associates a port and an address, it will send traffic for that address only to that port. Bridges do send broadcasts to all ports except the one on which the broadcast was received.

Bridges learn the association of ports and addresses by examining the source address of frames that it sees on various ports. Once a frame arrives through a port, its source address is stored and the bridge assumes that MAC address is associated with that port. The first time that a previously unknown destination address is seen, the bridge will forward the frame to all ports other than the one on which the frame arrived.

Bridges come in three basic types:

1. Local bridges: Directly connect local area networks (LANs)
2. Remote bridges: Can be used to create a wide area network (WAN) link between LANs. Remote bridges, where the connecting link is slower than the end networks, largely have been replaced by routers.
3. Wireless bridges: Can be used to join LANs or connect remote stations to LANs

Switches

Network switch

Switches are a marketing term that encompasses routers and bridges, as well as devices that may distribute traffic on load or by application content (e.g., a Web URL identifier). Switches may operate at one or more OSI layers, including physical, data link, network, or transport (i.e., end-to-end). A device that operates simultaneously at more than one of these layers is called a multilayer switch.

Overemphasizing the ill-defined term “switch” often leads to confusion when first trying to understand networking. Many experienced network designers and operators recommend starting with the logic of devices dealing with only one protocol level, not all of which are covered by OSI. Multilayer device selection is an advanced topic that may lead to selecting particular implementations, but multilayer switching is simply not a real-world design concept.

Routers

Routers are the networking device that forward data packets along networks by using headers and forwarding tables to determine the best path to forward the packets. Routers work at the network layer of the TCP/IP model or layer 3 of the OSI model. Routers also provide interconnectivity between like and unlike media (RFC 1812) This is accomplished by examining the Header of a data packet, and making a decision on the next hop to which it should be sent (RFC 1812) They use preconfigured static routes, status of their hardware interfaces, and routing protocols to select the best route between any two subnets. A router is connected to at least two networks, commonly two LANs or WANs or a LAN and its ISP’s network. Some DSL and cable modems, for home use, have been integrated with routers to allow multiple home computers to access the Internet.

Computer Network Basics /Guide /Help 

Check TCP Port Status (Open or Closed)

Some times we need to check the TCP port status of a remote computer or network device/equipment.
for example, to see if a remote web server (port 80) is open, to see a remote H.323 VOIP gateway signalling port 1720 is open for you.
Here is a simple way to check the TCP port.
Telnet is a useful network command /tool which is built in with Windows 2000/XP/Vista

To check the TCP port status :
(1)Come to Command Prompt mode of your computer.
(2) Type: Telnet remote IP address or domain name Port number and hit enter. note: between IP address and port number, you need a space.
for exmple to check Yahoo.com’s web server :
telnet www.yaho.com 80
for exmple to check a remote voip gateway port 1720 status :
telnet xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx 1720
If the port is open, the screen will be cleared immediately and only the cursor is blinking on the screen.
if port is closed, it will show ” Connecting To www.yahoo.com” ,then show you ” Could not open a connection to host on port, Connect failed”

TCP Port Status (Hoe Network TCP Port numbers)

USB over IP   (Network-enabled USB hub)

*  Network-enabled USB hub
* Access and monitor USB peripheral devices over TCP/IP network
* Works with existing POS or other application software
* Live video feed with Watchport®/V

AnywhereUSB is a network-enabled USB hub. It is the first remote networking solution to utilize RealPort® USB, Digi’s patented USB Over IP® technology, making it easy to connect USB devices anywhere on a wired or wireless LAN, while eliminating the need for locally-attached host PCs.

AnywhereUSB/5 provides five USB ports, which deliver the same Plug and Play user experience as onboard USB ports. Software drivers are loaded onto a host PC or server, enabling remote devices to communicate with the host, without changing existing application software. Peripheral devices can be centrally managed and monitored from a remote server or PC via an IP address.

USB Home Network Devices

Wi-Fi and 802.11
802.11 and Wi-Fi are often used interchangeably.

|Protocol |Frequency |Throughput (Typ)|Data Rate (Max) |Range ( Indoor)|
Legacy //2.4 GHz //0.9 Mbit/s //2 Mbit/s //~20 Meters
802.11a //5 GHz //23 Mbit/s //54 Mbit/s // ~35 Meters
802.11b // 2.4 GHz //4.3 Mbit/s //11 Mbit/s //~38 Meters
802.11g //2.4 GHz //19 Mbit/s //54 Mbit/s // ~38 Meters
802.11n //2.4 GHz/5 GHz //74 Mbit/s //248 Mbit/s// ~70 Meters
802.11y //3.7 GHz //23 Mbit/s// 54 Mbit/s// ~50 Meters

Wi-fi and 802.11 (Home Wireless Network)

ZyXEL Introduces Dual Band Wireless Router: P-335U

* Dual Band Wireless Access
The P-335U provides high speed 802.11g and 802.11a wireless connection. In addition to 802.11g, the P-335U supports the 802.11a band to provide high speed and transmission quality to bandwidth sensitive applications (such as video/audio streaming).

*Media Bandwidth Management
With  exclusive Media Bandwidth Management v2 (MBM v2), the P-335U provides the most comprehensive way to smartly manage your limited bandwidth for multimedia applications.

*Firewall Security

*Sharing Internet Connectivity and Printing Resource
And a built-in USB print server allows you to share a printer on the network without leaving a host PC on. With four auto-sensing, switched LAN ports and Network Address Translation (NAT) routing, as many as home LAN users can access one broadband connection and share printing resource at the same time.
More…

Wireless router for home network

Full list of default Router Admin Passwords and Default Router IP Addresses:

Different routers have deferent manufacturer default settings, including default router IP address, default admin (administrator) password.

Some times, we need to reset the router to factory default setting and configuration, here is a full list of default Router Admin Passwords and Default Router IP Addresses.

Router Configuration and settings