NETWORKING
We offer networking (wired and wireless) creation and support in the Mid Sussex area of England, UK. If you are not even sure which type of network you require, then read the following paragraphs before getting in touch. It may help you decide!
Networks and networking devices can be simple, or have a bewildering array of options and settings. It all depends on what you want the network to do and what is connected to it.
WIRED NETWORKS
Networks can be as simple as several machines connected to a hub* or switch* by network cables. We use the word machines, as game machines like the X Box 360, some printers, and certain external hard disk drives can connect to these networks.
WIRELESS NETWORKS
Rather than using a wired hub or switch like above, a wireless access point can connect wireless capable machines together. The different speeds available can often be mixed, as long as they are of the 802.11* standard.
INTERNET SHARING
Internet sharing allows several machines to access the world wide web simultaneously through one internet connection. With some of todays broadband speeds, you don’t even notice it it shared.
There are two main ways of Internet Sharing.
1) A computer connects to the internet, then shares it’s connection to a network
2) A device called a router connects to the internet and the connection is shared from there.
Option 1) relies on a computer that uses a modem to connect to the internet, and without that being switched on, nothing else on the network has an internet connection. This is often a less expensive way, but is often less flexible and more prone to attacks from the internet.
Option 2) has a device called a router connected to the internet, so any computer or networked device, has an internet connection whenever they are turned on. Quality routers also have hardware firewall systems built in. Firewalls act as a safety barrier between the internet and your network. A wireless router (a router with built-in wireless access point) can send your internet connection throughout your home, without a mess of wires, and makes laptop computers a joy to use. Provided they are set up with good security, you need not worry about people ‘hacking’ into your network.
Other equipment can also share out an internet connection, but they are essentially more advanced versions of the router. These include Storage Gateways. These are a router with a networked hard drive, and usually USB sockets to allow the connection of other hard drives or printers to the network. This allows files and printing services to be shared as well as the internet, without a particular computer having to be turned on.