Home Networking and the Internet
Published: July 30, 2001
By Joe Davies, Microsoft Technical Writer
Editor's note: Windows XP contains built-in support for home networking and Joe Davies, a program manager on the Windows Networking and Communications team in the Windows XP and Windows Server product group, explains how to bypass the technical details of network configuration and cut right to the Internet.
As more homes are outfitted with multiple computers, it's natural to want to connect them to share data, share access to peripherals such as printers, or play multi-player games. After you have connectivity among the computers in your home, you'll want to explore the possibility of having all the computers on your home network access the Internet simultaneously. In both cases, you want to be spared the complex technical details of computer networking and its configuration for Internet access.
Fortunately, Windows XP provides built-in support for networking connectivity and for safely connecting one or multiple computers on your home network to the Internet. For home network connectivity and connectivity to the Internet, configuration is either automatic or just a few clicks away.
Your Home Network
Before you can provide connectivity between all the computers in your home and the Internet, the computers of your home network must be either directly or indirectly connected to each other. To connect home office computers together, each computer must have a network adapter or device that connects the computer to the network.
Network adapter choices include the following:
Home network adapters using a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) slot of your computer.
PCMCIA or PC Card network adapters installed in PC Card slots commonly found on laptop or notebook computers.
USB network adapters connected to either a USB port typically found on the back of a computer or a USB port on a USB hub.
An important consideration here is the physical installation of the adapter. With PCI adapters, for example, you must open the computer and insert the adapter in an empty PCI slot. USB attached network adapters may be a better solution when simplicity is a requirement. Laptop computers will likely use PCMCIA or PC Card adapters.
To simplify the configuration of network adapters in your home computers, Windows XP support Plug and Play identification and auto-configuration of many modern network adapters. All you have to do is install the network adapter. Windows XP will detect the adapter, configure it, and place an icon for it in your Network Connections folder.
Networking Technologies
You must also choose a type of networking technology, sometimes referred to as the LAN media, which enables your computers to send information to each other. The most common networking technologies used for home networking include:
Ethernet
Used in organization networks, Ethernet is widely known, supported, and understood. Ethernet equipment consists of an Ethernet adapter and either coaxial cable (for 10Base2) to serially connect each computer together, or twisted pair cable (for 10BaseT or 100BaseT) to connect each computer to a hub. A hub is required when you are using twisted pair cabling and connecting more than two 10BaseT or 100BaseT computers together.
Typical Ethernet adapter for home use can operate at speeds of 10 megabits per second (Mbps) or 100 Mbps. To get 100 Mbps, you must use 100 Mbps Ethernet adapters, Category 5 twisted pair cabling, and connect to 100 Mbps port on an Ethernet hub.
Phoneline
Used mostly in home networks, phoneline uses telephone wiring as its medium for communication and operates at speeds up to 10 Mbps. Phoneline equipment consists of a phoneline adapter installed in each computer and standard telephone cables connected to standard phone jacks.
Wireless
Used in both organization and home networks, wireless technology uses radio signals to communicate so there is no cabling required. Wireless solutions are gaining popularity and becoming more affordable. There are many wireless products, however, wireless networks based on the IEEE 802.11 standard are becoming the preferred solution. Organization or large business wireless networks are more likely to be using IEEE 802.11. If your home network is also based on IEEE 802.11, you can use the same network adapter to access both work and home networks. IEEE 802.11b can operate at a speed of 11 Mbps. Wireless equipment consists of a wireless adapter installed in each computer.
Mixing Media
While it is ideal to have a single networking technology for all the computers on your home network, it might not be possible due to a mixture of computer types, cabling options, and other factors. When you have more than one media present, you have more than one link or LAN segment that must be bridged together by a common computer that has both types of adapters installed.
For example, if you have three computers connected to an Ethernet hub and two computers connected via phoneline, you have two LAN segments(an Ethernet LAN segment and a phoneline LAN segment. To connect the computers on both LAN segments together, use a computer running Windows XP that has both types of adapters installed and the Windows XP Network Bridge. The Network Bridge transparently connects the two LAN segments together as if they were the same LAN segment.
The following figure shows a home network with three LAN segments. (In the figure, the acronym ICS stands for Internet connection sharing, the acronym ICF stands for Internet Connection Firewall, and the acronym HPNA stands for home phoneline network adaptor.) Two computers running Windows XP and the Network Bridge are used to bridge the three LAN segments together.
To configure the Windows XP Network Bridge:
1. | Click Start, click Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections, and then click Network Connections. |
2. | Select two or more LAN connections that you want to bridge. |
3. | Right-click one of the connections. |
4. | Click Bridge Connections. |
The three LAN segments are now interconnected.
Connecting Your Home Network to the Internet
In contrast to the many ways that organizations and large businesses connect to the Internet, the small or home office typically connects to the Internet in the following ways:
| • | Using individual Internet connections for each computer One way to connect each individual computer to the Internet is to install an analog modem in each computer and have each computer make its own dial-up connection to the Internet. The disadvantage to this method is that the number of computers that can access the Internet is equal to the number of separate phone lines in your home. If you have only one phone line, only one computer can access the Internet at a time. Typical external DSL or cable modem devices have an Ethernet port that you can use to connect it to an Ethernet hub. If you also connect your home network computers to the same hub, then each computer can send and receive information directly to and from the Internet. |
| • | Using a residential gateway A residential gateway is a hardware device that connects the home network to the Internet. The residential gateway provides translation services and allows you to share a digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable modem Internet connection with all of the computers in your home network. The residential gateway sits between your DSL or cable modem and home network. Alternately, the DSL or cable modem might be integrated into the residential gateway. The disadvantage of using a residential gateway is the additional cost of the residential gateway hardware. |
| • | Using a host computer A host computer is a computer that is connected to both the Internet and the home network. The host computer acts as a gateway, providing connectivity between Internet and home network hosts, and a firewall, providing protection from Internet attacks for the host computer and home network computers. |
Using Windows XP to Connect Your Home Network to the Internet
The following figure shows an example of using a host computer running Windows XP when your home network is using a single Ethernet LAN segment.
The host computer uses the following features of Windows XP:
| • | Internet connection sharing (ICS) enabled on the Internet connection. With ICS, the Internet connection is shared with all the other computers on the home network. The host computer acts as a router, forwarding traffic between home network and Internet hosts. Additionally, ICS protects home network computers by discarding all traffic from the Internet that was not requested by a home network computer. This prevents Internet attacks against home network computers. |
To enable ICS on the host computer:
1. | Open the Network Connections folder. |
2. | Right-click the connection to the Internet you want to share, and then click Properties. |
3. | Click the Advanced tab |
4. | Select the Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection check box under Internet Connection Sharing. |
5. | Click OK. |
| • | Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) enabled on the Internet interface. Although ICS protects home network computers from Internet attacks, it does not protect the host computer. By enabling ICF on the Internet interface, ICF discards any traffic from the Internet that was not requested by the host computer. This protects the host computer from Internet attacks. |
To enable ICF on the host computer:
1. | Open the Network Connections folder. |
2. | Right-click the Internet connection you want to protect, and then click Properties. |
3. | Click the Advanced tab. |
4. | Select the Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet check box under Internet Connection Firewall. |
5. | Click OK. |
The advantages of using Windows XP on a host computer are:
| • | Sharing one Internet connection with all the computers on your network can reduce the cost of connecting to the Internet and allows all the computers on your home network to be online at the same time. |
| • | The host computer appears to the Internet as the only computer on the Internet, hiding the computers in your home network. |
| • | The host computer with ICS and ICF enabled provides a single point of security for your host computer and home network computers. Computers running earlier versions of Windows are protected without the need for additional firewalls. |
| • | If your home network has different types of LAN media, you can use the Network Bridge feature of Windows XP to transparently bridge the separate LAN segments. |
| • | You can utilize Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) in your home. UPnP lets you can control your Internet connection from any computer running Windows XP, Windows Millennium Edition (ME), Windows 98 Second Edition, or Windows 98 in your home network. |
| • | Enabling ICF effectively disables file and print sharing on the Internet connection of the host computer. Therefore, private files stored on the host computer cannot be seen from the Internet. However, you can still use file and print sharing on your home network without additional configuration. |
| • | An additional device such as a residential gateway is not needed. You can use an existing computer on your home network to act as the host computer. |
If you are not required to use a residential gateway by your Internet service provider, connecting your home network to the Internet using a host computer running Windows XP with ICS and ICF enabled provides protection from Internet attacks and full connectivity between your home network computers.
Joe Davies is a program manager and technical writer for the Windows Networking and Communications team in the Windows XP and Windows Server product group. He wrote the routing, remote access, virtual private network, and TCP/IP topics for Windows 2000 Server online Help and the Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit Core Networking Guide and Internetworking Guide. He is co-author of Microsoft Windows 2000 TCP/IP Protocols and Services Technical Reference, a Microsoft Press title, and author of numerous Microsoft white papers on Windows 2000 Server networking technologies and components.
