My Connected Home: An Ecosystem of Certified, Smart, Vista-Compatible Hardware
Published: October 4, 2007
Prior to the release of the Windows Vista operating system, the process for getting wireless routers, computers, and peripheral devices to work together was not particularly user-friendly. The average user did not find it easy to configure and connect devices, all with different proprietary interfaces, if they could get everything to work at all. There was no way to be certain, in advance, that the peripheral or device you wanted to buy was compatible with your Windows operating system.
New technologies in Windows Vista and an expanded certification program for device manufacturers have changed all that, and the user experience has consequently improved dramatically.
Computers and laptops preinstalled with the Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate operating systems are more powerful than ever before. Peripheral devices are digitally activated and are discoverable and configurable over a network. And the best news is that you don't need to call the neighborhood geek or pay someone to set it up and have it running quickly. Windows Vista brings everything together with a series of new technologies that offer a consistent user interface and ease of setup and use.
The core of your Vista hardware ecosystem will be a computer certified for the Windows Vista Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate experience as a backbone for the new technologies. In my home, my network includes the following Windows Vista Ultimate computers that serve my varied computing needs.
| • | A Certified for Windows Vista home theater Media Center computer from Velocity Micro that uses two digital cable tuners with two CableCARDs to provide a high-definition TV experience that I extend to two other rooms with two Xbox 360s. You can read about the fun I’m having with this great system in one of my blogs. |
| • | An Acer Ferrari 5000 laptop. The Ferrari 5000 is happily running Windows Vista Ultimate x64. It's a real workhorse—powerful, fast, and it handles all my digital imaging and editing needs. I'm using it to write this article. |
| • | An HP Pavilion Tx1000 Entertainment Notebook PC. This is the computer I take with me around town and on short trips. It does everything I need while I am on the go. Read more about my experience with this convertible notebook. |
These three computers comprise the working backbone of my home network.
Build a Safe and Secure Vista Home Network with Ease
For the best Windows Vista experience, replace your old router with a new wireless router that has earned the Vista logo. This will let you quickly set up and enjoy your home network instead of struggling with connectivity problems. New routers with the Vista logo support enhanced configuration options using Wi-Fi Simple Config, one of the two methods required for Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) certification and Windows Connect Now (WCN) technology.
What do these official-sounding terms mean to someone who cares more about ease of use than technology scrabble? They indicate that network setup has become standardized and easier for someone without any networking knowledge to accomplish. It also forces Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) or later wireless security, which keeps you safer from theft of service and intrusion than earlier generations of wireless security technology.
Setting up your home network is logical and simple. I have a D-Link DIR-655 draft 802.11n wireless router, labeled with the a Works with Windows Vista logo, that supports new technologies in addition to UPnP™, Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD), and other Windows Rally technology components.
Figure 1: With the D-Link DIR-655 Xtreme N Gigabit router, network setup is easy and quick using Wi-Fi Simple Config and the PIN number printed on the bottom of the router
Setting up everything with my Windows Vista Ultimate desktop computer was a breeze:
1. | I connected the WAN cable to my broadband modem, and then connected a cable to my Windows Vista Ultimate desktop computer. I plugged in my new wireless router and reset my broadband modem. |
2. | I wrote down the 8-digit personal identification number (PIN) printed on the bottom of the router (this might be a 4-digit code, depending on your hardware). |
3. | I turned on the Windows Vista desktop. |
4. | I clicked Start, and then I clicked Network. |
5. | I clicked the new router icon that displayed. |
6. | I followed the wizard and entered the PIN number, and then selected security settings. |
7. | I plugged in a USB flash key when prompted (and then plugged this key into my other laptops and devices). |
Everything connected and is properly secured. It is as easy as it looks. Setting up this device with Wi-Fi Simple Config makes it easy for even a novice to configure strong wireless security. Among the people at work to whom I've recommended the D-Link DIR-655 router are my manager and his manager. Neither has ever had to call me for help (and my job is still secure).
In addition to being novice-friendly in the extreme, the D-Link DIR-655 router is probably the best residential gateway I've seen, and, of course, offers all the bells and whistles a geek like me expects. For more information on Wi-Fi Protected Setup, see this fairly non-geeky Wi-Fi Planet article.
D-Link is a Microsoft Partner. You can buy the DIR-655 at Circuit City.
Stream Digital Images Wirelessly over the Network to a Digital Picture Frame
In January 2007, I kept returning to the Microsoft booth at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to see the i-mate™ Momento wireless digital picture frame. I saw the demo and had to have one. I was lucky enough to score an early, preproduction 7-inch unit. I am even more impressed now that I've been using it in my own environment with my own digital images. (You can now purchase these from Amazon.com. There are two models, a 7-inch and a 10.2-inch, both certified for Windows Vista.)
Figure 2: A Momento 70 wireless picture frame displays a customizable slide show stored and shared on a Windows Vista Ultimate computer over a wireless network
I've been connecting devices to my home network for years, but until now, it's been necessary to navigate proprietary administrative Web pages and have more than a little networking knowledge to even get to the point where I can use my devices.
To setup the Momento wireless digital picture frame on my wireless network, all I had to do was take the USB flash key with the settings that I created when I first set up my router and plug it into the USB port on the device, and then acknowledge prompts with the device's remote control. It took less than 30 seconds.
Not only does this Certified for Windows Vista device stream my digital images from a desktop on my home network, but an add-on service (you can take advantage of a 90-day free trial) lets me stream content from my friends who e-mail their digital images to a special Web site. After I "accept" their submissions, these images stream wirelessly from the Web site and display on my Momento wireless frame.
I've written more about my Momento experiences in one of my blogs.
Impress Friends with Windows SideShow Gadgets Displayed Remotely
The Momento wireless digital frame is head and shoulders above anything else I've ever seen. Not only does it take advantage of the new networking technologies in Windows Vista, it also natively supports Windows media sharing and Windows SideShow, a new Windows Vista feature. Using Windows SideShow you can display information stored on a Windows Vista computer on a remote device such as the Momento frame or Media Center remote (or you can display it locally on a secondary display).
Just imagine stock quotes, weather, RSS feeds from your favorite blog, news headlines, new e-mail notifications, and more displaying along the bottom of the frame as it plays a slide show of your favorite images. If you have a Momento frame, just visit the Windows Live Gallery and download a gadget or two. Gadgets are configured from a Windows Vista Control Panel applet.
Figure 3: The Windows SideShow applet in Control Panel lets me select content from the Internet that is streamed to the Momento frame through my Windows Vista desktop.
View and Access Computers and Devices
Now that I've got my home network set up just the way I want it, whenever I want to view or access another computer or my Momento frame, all I have to do is click Start, and then click Network.
Figure 4: The network window in Vista gives a graphical view of my network components with icons that truly represent the computer or device.
Many devices and peripherals work with Windows Vista and carry the Vista logo (and more are showing up every day), but I don't have room in this article to cover them in depth. Since I started using Windows Vista, I've been having more fun with technology than ever before. To start learning about Certified for Windows Vista products, I recommend the Microsoft Look for the Logo Web site.
If you have a question about hardware compatibility and want to discuss it with other users and Microsoft MVPs, please visit the Windows Vista Community Hardware & Devices Newsgroup. See you there!
 | Barb Bowman enjoys sharing her own experiences and insights into today's leading edge technologies. She is a product development manager for Comcast High-Speed Internet, but her views here are strictly personal.
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