01/13/08

Nolan's Home Network

Here's a picture of our home network. We use Insight (cable) Broadband 15.0 service, formerly called Insight Broadband Plus (15mbps/1.5mbps). We also switched from Verizon PSTN service to Packet 8 VoIP service. Unlimited local and long distance calls in the US and Canada, E911 compliant, and we ported our local Verizon telephone number to our VoIP service.

To use your "traditional" telephones with VoIP service: I removed Verizon's wire pairs from the demarc on the side of the house. I then ran my own wire pair from the demarc to the provided Packet 8 Broadband Phone Adapter / Gateway. You'll need a crimp tool and RJ11 connector to connect your wire pair to the BPA. Now every phone jack in my house is connected via IP.

Our home network is made up of several components:

Insight Broadband (15mbps/1.5mbps)
RCA Cable Modem
D-Link DGL-4100 Broadband Gigabit Gaming Router 4-port 10/100/1000 Mbps Switch
D-Link DGS-2208 8-port 10/100/1000 Mbps Desktop Switch
D-Link DWL AG 700 Access Point (802.11a/b/g)
D-Link WUA-1340, 802.11g wireless USB adapter
D-Link DNS-120 Network Storage Adapter (2 ech USB 2.0 ports & 1ech 10/100 mbps)
Western Digital 250 GB USB 2.0 / Firewire Hard Drive
Western Digital 500 GB My Book USB 2.0 Hard Drive
Wireless NIC's from Cisco (a/g), HP (integrated a/g), Toshiba (integrated g), PS3 (integrated 10/100/1000 & 802.11g)
Packet 8 BGP-510 Broadband Phone Adapter (connected to switch port and house wiring)
HP 3210 networked printer
Netgear WGR101 Wireless Travel Router (802.11g)
For more information on the networking components, click on the images below.

Currently unused items:

Resources

I've added links to a few home networking sites. If you have a network or plan to build a network, these sites can be a great time saver and help demystify the process.

Do-It-Yourself Home Networking
- Home networks and Internet sharing explained
How Home Networking Works
- Fully illustrated tutorial that looks at all the different methods you can use to create a home network.
Home Network Security
- This site gives home users an overview of the security risks and countermeasures associated with Internet connectivity.
D-Link Emulators
- As you can tell by my list of personal equipment, I've grown to prefer D-Link home networking equipment. Not only do their products perform very well in my environment (not counting the new DIR-130, it was defective out of the box), they also offer emulators for many of their products so you can kick the tires of the GUI prior to buying.

This site was last updated 01/13/08