Home Local Network Computer - Computer - What is it and How to Set it up on Windows? Setting up a local network via a router

A local home network via a WiFi router opens up a wide range of possibilities for users of mobile gadgets and personal computers with the Internet. The user can set up such a network independently, even without deep knowledge in network management.

A Wi-Fi router allows you to organize wireless Internet at home, to which you can connect from several devices at the same time.

Since computers and laptops are no longer luxury items, anyone can buy these devices; many even have several personal gadgets. For ease of use, it is recommended to combine them into a local network (LAN).

A home local network has a lot of functions and allows you to share files, distribute Internet, play online games and much more. It's quite easy to set up.

What is a local network?

Figure 1. Changing adapter settings.

A local network is a group of devices, such as personal computers, laptops, printers, televisions, etc., united through interfaces via a specific data transmission medium (cable, radio channel).

The main benefits that the user receives by installing a local network:

1. Direct file sharing. You can transfer photos, music, movies and other files between computers directly via LAN, without using external storage devices such as flash drives, disks, etc.
2. Access to shared network resources. These include, for example, a printer. If it is connected to a local network, this allows you to print the necessary information on it from any computer on it.
3. Organization of the play area. Video games often have an online mode that allows players to compete.
4. Access to the Internet. Each device located on the home network can access the Internet if it is connected to one of the computers, shared access is allowed and configured.

Figure 2. Create a homegroup.

In a classic local network, the connection between computers is provided using a cable. However, in the age of portable devices and wireless technologies, the use of this connection method is no longer relevant.

Instead, it is proposed to build a home network through a WiFi router; it will be possible to include devices that support WiFi: tablets, smartphones and others.

They will also have access to all the functionality of the local network, for example, file transfer and Internet access, possibly with some restrictions related to the specific use of mobile devices.

What do you need for a home network?

So, the task is to create a network through a router. To organize it, it is necessary to provide the following equipment configuration:

Figure 3. Network location settings.

1. Wi-Fi router with DHCP support. Must be connected to the Internet.
2. Stationary personal computer.
3. Notebook, laptop.
4. Tablet, smartphone.

Before setting up a network through a router, you need to take several steps. First, you need to make sure that the DHCP server is turned on and active on the router. This network protocol is used to automatically assign network parameters (for example, IP address) to nodes connected to the router. Then it’s worth understanding the concept of “working group”. For security reasons, all computers being joined must belong to a single workgroup. This is necessary so that extraneous devices, whose inclusion in the network structure was not intended, are not able to use its resources and penetrate network nodes.

You can configure whether the system belongs to a particular workgroup by following the following path: “Start” - “Control Panel” - “System”.

Figure 4. Opening public access.

In the subsection titled “Computer name, domain, workgroup settings” you need to click the link on the right “Change settings”, then in the window that opens click the “Change” button (Fig. 1).

This window allows you to configure parameters such as computer name, workgroup and others. The workgroup field may initially contain the standard name Workgroup; instead, you can enter your own name, for example, Homenetwork.

In the same window you can specify a unique computer name. Then you need to restart your computer. This operation must be repeated exactly on all computers on the local network. The group name should be the same for everyone, but it is advisable to make the names different.

How to create a homegroup?

You need to create a local home network group - homegroup. You should follow the path: “Start” - “Control Panel” - “Network and Access Management”. The router, with the help of which a home local network is organized, must be connected and connected in advance.

Figure 5. Enabling password protection.

In the subsection of active networks on the right there is a line “Home group”, next to it you need to click on the “Ready to create” link, then on the “Create home group” button (Fig. 2).

It should be noted that if in the network viewing section the local network you are setting up does not have the home status, you can assign it to it by clicking on the “Networks” link (Network 5 in the figure). The network location settings window will open, where you can select one of three types (Fig. 3):

1. Home network. It is designed that all nodes are known and safe, the user knows about all devices and completely trusts their work. Access is practically unlimited.
2. Enterprise network. Optimized for office or corporate local systems.
3. Community network. Designed for use in public places where it is important to maintain the anonymity and security of each node. Computers in such a network are invisible to each other, which provides high protection against unauthorized entry.

Figure 6. Connecting to your home network.

By clicking on the “Create a home group” button, you can select directories and devices that you want to open for public use (Fig. 4).

After applying these parameters, the system will generate a password. This needs to be written down separately (or screenshotted) as it may be required for the WiFi connection.

Otherwise, setting up a local network through the router will not be possible (Fig. 5).

How to connect to your home network?

After completing all the specified actions, the home group is considered created. It is recommended to reboot the device to fully apply the configuration. Since you need to set up a network for several computers, then you should definitely check the ability to connect different computers to the created homegroup. The second computer (for example, a laptop) must be connected to the Wi-Fi point of the router. On it, go to “Network Management”, look for the “Home Group” item, click on the “Join” button (Fig. 6).

Figure 7. Network setup for multiple computers.

After entering the recorded password, we repeat the setup cycle, specify the allowed folders and reboot the device. If the connection cannot be established, you need to disable all third-party firewalls and firewalls. When the connection is made, all network devices should become visible, access to resources and directories should be open.

By default, only a few special shared folders are accessible on your computer. But this is far from the limit of possibilities; it is possible to make almost any directory in the system accessible. To do this, you need to open the folder properties, find the “Access” tab, click on “Advanced settings” and check the box that opens sharing. We apply the parameters, the folder should become visible to other computers (Fig. 7).

Now let’s figure out how to get from your tablet to your computer using WiFi.

You can additionally include tablets and smartphones running Android in the created home network.

The ES Explorer application will help with this. After installing it, you need to connect to Wi-Fi. The program has a LAN tab (this is access to a local network). Once there, you need to click on the “Search” button. The application will find all available computers, and you can now log into each of them and view the contents of open folders.

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Gone are the days when a single home computer was the pride of the owner and the center of leisure for the whole family.

The pace of development of electronics leads to the fact that soon there will not be a single household item that does not have a processor installed, albeit small. And even now in every home there are five or two devices capable of storing, processing and transmitting information. And sooner or later there comes a time when we, tired of running with a flash drive from one device to another, begin to think that it would be nice to connect them with each other.

Of course, ideally it would be to think through the composition of the equipment in advance so that incompatibility problems and unnecessary expenses do not arise. But in practice, it often happens that a host of different devices are already present in your home and you need to somehow connect them together, minimizing effort and costs as much as possible.

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The optimal cost/effectiveness ratio is a wired Ethernet network. Of course, it requires drilling into walls to lay the cable, but it works very reliably and is unrivaled in terms of connection speed, especially if you use ports with a speed of 1 Gb/s. And if all future nodes (that’s what network nodes are called) are equipped with an RJ-45 port and rarely move around the apartment beyond the designated areas, then this will be the best solution. All that is required to create a network is a few tens of meters of twisted pair cable and a simple router or switch.

But we will consider a more complex case, when some devices are constantly moving (netbooks, laptops or tablets - whoever has what), others do not have an Ethernet port, but are equipped with a Wi-Fi module (PDAs or communicators), and others have neither , nor anything else (HD media player or external drive). You can be sure that building a network in any case is not something outstanding and is quite within the capabilities of everyone.

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Types of Wi-Fi networks
Obviously, at home, the only possible universal solution will be a wireless network based on Wi-Fi. First, you need to decide on the basis of which Wi-Fi standard the future network should be designed. At the moment, there are four varieties of them: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n, colloquially called a, b, g, n - after the last letter.

The most common is b, which is also the slowest: the transmission channel speed does not exceed 11 Mb/s (compare with 100 or 1000 Mb/s for Ethernet). Moreover, if for Ethernet the real data transfer speed approaches the channel speed, then for a wireless network it is usually about two times lower (see the article “In the city “n” in this issue).

A and g have higher speeds - up to 54 Mb/s, but a operates at a different frequency - 5 GHz, which is not certified in Russia, unlike b and g, which operate at 2.4 GHz. This speed is sufficient for browsing the Internet and most other applications, so we will choose 802.11g as the basis for our network. As a rule, every device based on the g standard also supports b, which will ensure compatibility with less advanced devices such as PDAs.

If the speed of 20-30 Mb/s (i.e. only about 3 Mb/s) seems insufficient (for example, you plan to transfer large files over the network, such as high-definition movies, etc.), you will have to fork out n - the most modern and expensive standard, allowing you to achieve speeds of as much as 300 Mb/s. There are two versions of it - at 5 and 2.4 GHz, the first of which is also not certified, but is more effective, since it uses the currently almost unused frequency range.

Therefore, the most demanding users can be advised to purchase dual-band devices at their own risk (taking into account the very limited range of the transmitter - about several tens of meters, you can see that the risk is small). But here a compatibility problem may arise, because not all 802.11n devices operate at 5 GHz (this means high-speed mode n, since they still support modes b and g).

Sharing resources
One of the main advantages of the network is the ability to share access to information (for example, movies, music or documents). A similar problem can be solved in several ways. One of them is to share folders on one of the computers using standard operating system tools (for security, you can limit yourself to the “Read Only” mode). This method is quite simple, but requires constant operation of the computer with general data. Similarly, you can make a locally connected printer or MFP publicly available.

Looking ahead, let's say that routers with built-in USB ports provide more convenience. They allow you to connect an external hard drive or printer, making them available to each network node, and even organize a torrent download. It will be able to work completely autonomously and around the clock (it is not customary to turn off the router, and its power consumption is quite insignificant), download files not only from distributions, but also from most popular file hosting services (the latter usually requires installing modified firmware, but this is beyond the scope of this article ).

Wireless routers equipped with USB ports can also provide network access to external storage devices in the form of an FTP server. This method is a little more complicated in settings (they are performed through the router’s web interface), but more universal, does not depend on the computer, however, it forces you to convert the file system of the external hard drive, for example, to EXT.

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Equipment selection
Now let's talk about what equipment we need. To organize a Wi-Fi network, you need a so-called access point: it is responsible for sending data packets from one device to another. But it is only suitable for connecting several devices over the air, so we will use a Wi-Fi router that has such a point inside as the “heart” of our wireless network, as well as a built-in switch for wired devices. It is he who can provide not only the connection of “wired” devices (storage system or desktop computer) along with wireless ones, but also the connection of this entire equipment to the Internet. Without a switch, we would have to keep one of the computers constantly on.

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So, conduct an audit of your computer hardware and choose a router that is suitable for the price with the required set of ports and wireless standard. For example, it can be a budget option with four hundred-megabyte Ethernet ports and an 802.11b/g access point, or a sophisticated one with eight Gigabit Ethernet ports, a dual-band 802.11n access point and three USB 2.0 ports, covering almost any need.

Particular consideration should be given to cases where the connection to the Internet is made not through a local Ethernet network, but via ADSL (an example is the well-known “Stream”), or in a more exotic way (WiMAX, GPRS or some other way). Then this should be taken into account when choosing a router. Stream will require a special router with a built-in ADSL modem, or, if you couldn’t find one or want to save a little money, you can use your existing ADSL modem, connecting the Internet through it, and all other nodes through an additional inexpensive router connected to the modem .

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To work in WiMAX networks (Yota, Comstar and the like), there are special devices that include a WiMAX modem and a Wi-Fi access point. In this case, a router is either not needed at all, or can only be used to connect wired devices; you just need to pay attention to the fact that it can connect to the WAN via Wi-Fi (usually this is not possible using standard firmware). The same applies to a GPRS/EDGE connection (or a more modern version, the so-called 3G) - the easiest way is to purchase a communicator that can share an Internet access channel using the built-in Wi-Fi module.

It is still better to connect all devices with Ethernet ports with wires: files will be transferred more reliably and faster. The rest will use built-in Wi-Fi adapters or must be retrofitted with such adapters. For most laptops, it is easy to purchase and install a built-in PCI Mini / PCIe Mini card, or use an external USB adapter, which also fits some media players and NAS.

For a torrent network drive, an external USB drive or flash drive (64 GB models are already quite affordable) connected to the router (it must have a USB port) is suitable. A flash drive has the advantage that it does not require additional power, unlike the vast majority of USB hard drives (the built-in USB port in the router is very limited in terms of power provided), but it works slower. However, for most applications its speed is sufficient. You can organize a “rocking chair” in a media player or NAS, many of which support download mode, but this is less convenient, since it requires constantly turning on two devices instead of one.

Manual setting
To manually configure a network in each of the devices connected to it, you need to set three parameters - the IP addresses of the device and gateway, and the subnet mask. Everyone probably knows that an IP address is a unique number with which you can transfer data to any node on the network.

There are two versions of the address - v.4 and v.6, consisting of 4 and 6 bytes, respectively. The 6-byte version is not supported by all devices, but it will be the dominant one in the future. For now, the usual 4-byte one will suffice for us.

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Since the IP address is unique, it does not have to be the same between devices on the same network. This is an immutable rule, violation of which is fraught with either a complete failure of the network or permanent problems. Therefore, you will have to use your imagination and come up with four numbers from 0 to 255 for each of the devices. To make this difficult task even easier, there are certain rules.

Data in computer networks is transmitted using so-called packets or sets of bytes, equipped with a header indicating the IP address or addresses of the destination nodes. Obviously, transmitting packets to all billions of computers on the Internet at once would make the work impossible, so the networks are divided into smaller subnets, and IP packets for local computers should not leave the subnet. To simplify the transmission of packets, all nodes on the same network are assigned similar IP addresses: 1, 2 or 3 bytes are the same, the rest are different. The subnet mask will help determine the number of matching bytes. Units are written in the place of matching bits, and zeros are written in place of different bits.

Thus, the class C network mask 255.255.255.0 means that only 1 byte, the last one, can change, that is, there cannot be more than 256 nodes in this network (in fact, only 255, since the address x.x.x.255 is reserved for broadcast packets, delivered immediately to all network nodes). It is unlikely that you will have more devices, so it is advisable not to fantasize and use this particular format. Addresses from 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255 are reserved for addressing nodes in a type C network. Considering that they can also be used in the local network of your Internet provider, and also taking into account the restrictions on the use of broadcast packets, it is reasonable to choose addresses from 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.0.254 or from 192.168.N.0 to 192.168 for home network nodes .N.254, where N is any number from 1 to 254 (but must be the same for all network addresses!), if the first specified range coincides with the provider’s network range. Let's leave the subnet mask as standard: 255.255.255.0.

And the last thing is the gateway address. A gateway is a network node through which all other nodes connect to the Internet. So for us this will be the address of the router (usually 192.168.0.1) or the always-on computer that we decided to use as it. When setting up the router itself as a gateway, we specify it (if it is connected directly to the provider’s network) or the address of the ADSL modem (if it is connected via a modem).

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The story about IP addressing will be incomplete if we do not mention one more, “special” address - 127.0.0.1. It is used to indicate the so-called local host, that is, the same computer from which the packet is sent. If you want to access files on the hard drive of the same computer you are currently working on through a browser, use the address 127.0.0.1, or localhost.

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Automatic setup
Although it's easy to manually configure IP addresses, there are ways to automate this process. The main one is the DHCP server. As a rule, it is already built into most routers. It is enough to activate this option in the settings, and all network nodes that support the DHCP client function will be able to obtain an IP address themselves: you just need to tell them “Obtain an IP address automatically.”

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This can be convenient in some cases: for example, when friends often come to you with their laptops and you don’t want to go into their settings every time. In addition, some devices, such as smartphones and media players, do not allow you to configure the IP address manually and only accept the automatic option.

Although manually entering addresses also has its advantages - the network configuration becomes more predictable, and some programs strive to remember the IP address of a network resource, so after changing it (which can happen at any time in automatic mode) they happily report that “the resource is unavailable "

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Safety
Is it necessary? Many users do not pay due attention to security, which is partly facilitated by the policy of equipment manufacturers: in order to make the initial configuration of devices as easy as possible, all security systems are disabled by default. In wired networks this is acceptable, since to achieve absolute security it is enough to disconnect your home network from the Internet, and then a possible attacker will have the only way to penetrate your network - to get inside the apartment and connect to your router.

Even when connected to the Internet, your internal resources are not visible from the outside: to ensure their visibility, you need to configure the Port forwarding function in the router (as they say, “forward ports”). Then, when accessing a local resource from an external network, the router will redirect the packet to the local network node where the required resource is located (each type of resource has its own port number). Initially, Port forwarding is not configured at all, which allows you to be calm until you decide to become interested in this issue and configure the function yourself.

The situation is completely different with a wireless network. Since radio radiation spreads well even through walls, connecting to it is possible at some distance from your apartment. That is, an attacker living in a neighboring apartment or simply walking into the entrance (and sometimes sitting on a bench near the house) can easily connect to an unprotected (“open”) network. With the use of directional antennas this is possible even at a distance of several kilometers!

And don't say that you have nothing to hide. In the best case, attackers can simply steal your traffic (even if you have unlimited traffic, the speed will still drop), and in the worst case, they can commit some illegal action (say, steal passwords from a bank) by accessing the Internet through your network. And then the security service, having discovered the hack, will track the hacker's IP address, which will lead to - where do you think? - straight to you! And explaining that you have nothing to do with it will be quite problematic.

Therefore, using an open wireless network is not acceptable. There are three ways to protect data: authorization, encryption and packet filtering. Authorization is used to allow access to network resources only to those nodes that know the secret key. Encryption prevents possible interception of transmitted data by an attacker. Finally, packet filtering blocks network access to all but pre-defined users. You might think that authorization and filtering are similar; in fact, this is not so - node packets that have not passed filtering do not even reach the authorization stage.

But encryption and authorization are similar in that they are usually controlled by the same security standard. Modern routers and access points support the following standards: WEP (aka Shared Key), WPA-Personal (sometimes referred to as WPA-PSK), WPA-Enterprise, WPA2-Personal and WPA2-Enterprise. All but the last two are best not used due to insufficient security, and WEP encryption (sometimes controlled by separate settings) also leads to a noticeable drop in transmission speed.

However, there are no other options on the 802.11b network, and the few WPA implementations from different manufacturers are generally incompatible with each other. And if there are such devices in your network, the entire network will work in mode b, with all the ensuing consequences, including snail’s speed.

So it is highly advisable to get rid of legacy devices that do not support 802.11g. In laptops this is usually possible by replacing the built-in Wi-Fi card or using an external USB adapter, but in PDAs... Old PDAs will have to be replaced entirely or not used at all on the network.

Now let's talk about the difference between Personal and Enterprise encryption options. The first of them uses the generation of access keys based on a password, which, of course, should be chosen as long as possible, using letters of different case, numbers and special characters. If you fail to connect one or more devices, you should try entering the key in hexadecimal form, which is provided in almost all devices.

Of the two key encryption options - TKIP and AES - it is recommended to choose the second, more secure one. The combination TKIP+AES option that is sometimes encountered seems redundant and can lead to problems. Enterprise encryption is more secure, but requires a special RADIUS server. Therefore, if you do not have the time and/or desire to set up such a server, it is advisable to limit yourself to the “personal” option, especially since WPA2-Personal provides a quite sufficient level of security - in conversations about hacking wireless networks, WEP or, less often, WPA is usually mentioned and almost never WPA2. The decrease in network performance when using WPA2 encryption is almost invisible.

For those who want to take their security level to the paranoid level, we can recommend enabling filtering by MAC addresses. A MAC address is a unique device identifier, different for each wireless adapter, laptop or PDA. By adding the MAC addresses of your devices to the list, you can be sure that only they will be able to access the network, and activating the hidden network mode (turning off the Broadcast SSID) will not give an attacker even a reason to become interested in it. Additionally, you can activate the firewall (aka firewall) built into the router, leaving only the necessary ports open. In addition to protecting against port scanning, this is good against DoS (denial of service) attacks. You can also enable MAC filtering in the firewall, which will protect against unauthorized access through the wired network segment. Of course, this still won’t protect you from the attention of the mafia or intelligence services, but it will be several orders of magnitude more reliable than the lock on your front door.

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The delights of high speeds
Appetite, as they say, comes with eating. It’s the same in building a network: having assembled and tested “at least some kind of network,” you immediately want “the same one, but faster.” Wide distribution of high-quality films of 30-40 GB each and other entertainment content requires impressive resources not only for storing it, but also for transmission. Therefore, if finances and the availability of available equipment allow, it makes sense to build a network immediately with a reserve for the future, that is, based on 802.11n.

True, expecting from this standard a threefold increase in speed compared to Fast Ethernet would, perhaps, be overly optimistic. As tests show (see the article “In the city of “n” in this issue of the magazine), the maximum that can be expected is to get very close to 100 Mb/s. Well, a fourfold increase in speed (compared to g) is also not bad. This will allow, for example, to transfer a gigabyte file in a couple of minutes or directly watch a Full HD movie from a network drive.

However, if you are just going to open the movie file with a player program, smooth viewing will only be possible if its size does not exceed one DVD disc. Due to possible dips in speed, which is almost inevitable with radio communications, jams may occur on larger files. If you want to watch movies this way, you will have to install a video streaming server, but this is a topic for a separate article.

To achieve even such relatively modest results in speed, you need to spend some time. First - on the selection of equipment. Since we nevertheless chose a router as the main element of the network (we will immediately discard the budget option - using a computer with a Wi-Fi card instead, since we decided to go for a walk), a lot depends on it.

The best choice would be to use a dual-band (2.4/5 GHz) device, since the 5-GHz band, due to its unoccupied nature, provides noticeably better connection stability (even if the average speed does not differ much from 2.4 GHz). This will allow applications that are critical to the quality of communication (such as video players) to be placed on the 5 GHz channel, and 2.4 GHz to be used to work with devices that are incompatible with the higher frequency channel.

If there are no strict requirements for connection stability, you can limit yourself to a single-band 2.4 GHz device (you should not purchase a single-band 5 GHz router - it is incompatible with most client adapters. However, I have never seen such ones). But you should pay attention to the company and model, otherwise there is a risk of disappointment. If you have a fast Internet channel connected via VPN or PPPoE, do not choose a model with a weak processor, as it may not keep up with the speed of the channel.

For laptops, it is preferable to use the built-in card. Of course, a USB adapter is convenient and versatile, but due to its limited size, most dongles have an ineffective antenna, which has a detrimental effect on the quality of communication. The antenna built into the lid of the laptop is unrivaled here. Unfortunately, due to problems with certification in Russia, it can be difficult to purchase a built-in card, but this can be done without any problems abroad - through online stores. A wide variety of such cards allows you to choose an option suitable for price and characteristics for almost any laptop, and sometimes even with free shipping.

As for 802.11g devices, they, of course, will work on the n network in compatibility mode, but if this is not necessary, it is better to disable this mode. Now we’ll tell you in more detail how to configure 802.11n for maximum performance.

802.11n - squeeze out the last one
How to ensure stable network operation at high speed? To better understand all the intricacies of the settings, we’ll tell you a little about what reserves were used to increase the speed in 802.11n.

First, the modulation type was changed from direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), increasing the speed from 54 to 65 Mbps. The “green field” mode made it possible to reduce the size of the introductory packet and thereby reduce the overhead costs of service information. And finally, combining packages (Frame Bursting) made it possible to reduce the required amount. Thus, the speed has increased slightly to 72.2 Mb/s. “Where is the promised 300 Mb/s?” - you ask, and I will answer that the laws of physics are unshakable, and 72 Mb/s is all that can be obtained in one standard communication channel.

A further increase in speed was achieved only by the “brute force method” - the number of possible channels was increased to four (the so-called MIMO, or multi-beam transceiver mode), and the frequency band in each channel was doubled. All this added up to a maximum speed of almost 600 Mb/s. However, there are no devices on the market with such bandwidth yet, since the number of channels in real devices is limited to two. But this leaves the possibility of releasing them in the near future without any problems.

Now let's talk about how to use this magnificence. Often there are very few settings in the driver - only the channel number and frequency band. And it’s the second default parameter that is not configured in the best way: it is set to 20 MHz instead of 40, which gives only half the speed! Of course, this needs to be fixed. It is advisable to choose the channel number experimentally - for the best quality of communication and the absence of interference with other devices. You can use “Auto” - the router will try to select the least loaded channel, and all adapters will adapt to it.

All other options listed earlier must be enabled, otherwise the speed will drop. Unfortunately, the use of “green field” and Frame Bursting leads to packet collisions when there are devices on the network that do not support them (and these are all 802.11g devices). It is also advisable to activate the WMM (Wi-Fi multimedia) mode - this will ensure more stable operation of streaming applications, such as VoIP, through the use of the QoS (Quality of Service) service. Enabling WMM mode in the router may be required for the operation of some adapters, which otherwise will refuse to work at high speed. The WMM No-Acknowledgement checkbox in the settings can add a little more speed, but cause an increase in the number of errors in conditions of strong interference.

In order for all the features of the 802.11n network to function, clients exchange information with each other about what exactly each of them can do. The 802.11d protocol is responsible for this. Without it, the maximum speed will not be achieved, so it must be turned on. But it’s better not to use non-standard “improvers” like Afterburner: not only will they work only on those devices that are supported (and there are very few of them), but they will also only work in 802.11g mode, plus they impose a lot of other restrictions.

And finally - about the physical configuration of the network. “What could be the configuration? - you say. - Arranged the pieces of iron - and forward! But just this moment can significantly affect the quality of radio reception, and therefore the speed and stability of the channel. If in the case of a single antenna, radio waves propagate from it evenly in different directions, then in the case of two antennas (namely, two channels are used in modern n-standard routers), due to interference, the signal level can vary greatly. Try tilting or rotating one of them and see the results.

Setting the transmitter power to maximum (where it is possible to regulate it) is not the best solution. Of course, a more powerful signal is guaranteed to “reach” the farthest corners of your apartment, but it can drown out the response of the receiving device, and as a result, communication will be ineffective (the so-called near-field effect).

Attention should also be paid to the location of the devices. It is advisable to install the router higher, if possible at an equal distance from all reception points. This is especially critical in houses with reinforced concrete walls, since the internal reinforcement of such walls noticeably weakens the radio signal. In general, experiment and your efforts will be rewarded. At the planning stage, try to borrow equipment from friends for a while to figure out what and how. It is possible that you will need to audit other devices in your apartment: for example, a wireless mouse operating at a frequency of 47 MHz has a noticeably less impact on the operation of the Wi-Fi network than its sister based on Bluetooth technology.

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Finally, we would like to thank the readers for the patience they needed to read the article to the end. As you can easily see, it contains the bare minimum of recommendations, and we tried to avoid specific examples. This was done deliberately, since specific implementations of certain parameters may vary from one manufacturer to another, but once you get the gist, it will not be difficult for you to determine which checkbox is responsible for the desired parameter. The most important idea that I would like to convey to the reader is that there is nothing complicated in creating wireless networks. Just do it and you will succeed!

500 - Internal Server Error

Many users probably quite often asked the question: “How to make working with multiple computers at home more convenient? How to exchange files faster between home devices, including not only desktop computers, but also laptops, tablets, and smartphones? After all, how create a home (or local, as you prefer) network? This article will discuss the importance of a local network for comfortable work processes and file sharing at home, directly creating this type of network (mainly for devices with the Windows operating system), connecting and configuring additional devices.

What is a home or local network?

Introductory part

First of all, it is worth noting that this type of network, such as a local one, has been used for a relatively long time. Often not even in houses or apartments, but in offices and other work spaces, one way or another connected with the implementation of work on computers and other computing devices. It is also important that if you set up a local network between computers via wifi, you will be able to connect other devices like printers, special peripheral devices, and even a TV (provided, of course, that it has a wifi module).

Now about file transfer. After setting up your home network, you can share files of any format and size between connected devices. But keep in mind that if you, say, want to stream a movie over a wifi network in average quality, be prepared to experience some complications in the form of degraded local network performance or excessive load on your wifi. Setting up a connection is not particularly difficult.

Additionally

But, of course, there are more positive sides. After setting up, for example, you can carry out a session in some newfangled video game with the possibility of online matches with minimal wifi traffic costs, using only the resources of two or more devices and a wifi signal only as a direct channel for transmitting information from one computer to another without access to the Internet itself.

If you decide to connect to a local network via a wifi router, you can also connect smartphones and tablets, as mentioned above, but their functionality in a file sharing environment may be significantly limited compared to personal computers.

Creating a local network

After lengthy introductions, you can proceed directly to the process of creating a connection and start setting it up. To set up, you only need a wifi router with DHCP support and a laptop or PC itself. Before connecting to your home network, you need to make sure that the DHCP server is enabled on your router. This is important because this network protocol is used to receive and automatically fill in information about devices (IP address, etc.).

In the future, you will need to delve a little into the “Workgroup” item in the computer control panel (Start - Control Panel - System). This parameter is important for operational safety. It is needed to prevent attackers from intercepting any files when they are transferred between computers. All these procedures are carried out on the Windows 7 operating system. Then the “Computer name, domains, workgroup settings” section opens, in which you click on “Change settings”, and then on “Change”. In the window that opens, the user can configure parameters such as the workgroup name, device name, and a number of other functions. The workgroup name line most likely contains the default Workgroup.

The group name, like the computer name, can be changed, but you need to remember that the workgroup name must be the same on all computers connected to the home network. After setting the names, you should restart the computer and perform a similar reboot procedure on all connected devices.

Next: Start - Control Panel - Network and Access Management. In the active networks section, click on Home group - Ready to create - Create home group. Then the system will create a password (it is better to write it down separately on paper, it will be needed when connecting via wifi). After this, you will need to go to Change additional access settings and disable password protection everywhere (otherwise the connection through the router will be impossible).

Until the article comes to the connection itself, some subtleties should be mentioned. In the Windows 7 operating system, there are three types of local device connections: public, enterprise network and home (which is what we actually need). In Windows 8, 8.1 and 10, you can create a home group for two types of network: private and home. When you first connect, any operating system prompts you to discover devices. You have to agree with him. Then (mostly for windows 8, 8.1 and 10, since little has been said about them):

• Click on the “Network and Sharing Center” icon
• In the “View active networks” item there will be the name of the connection and its type

To set the required type:

• Windows 8, 8.1: you need to open the side menu (press win+i or move the mouse cursor to the right side of the screen), Change computer settings - Network - Connections - connection name, activate the search for devices and content.
• Windows 10: Start - Settings - Network and Internet - the name of your connection (in our case it is wifi), under the list of connections select Advanced options and make the computer discoverable.

After all this, on the devices connected to the wifi router, you need to find the Network Management, Home Group item and just click the join button. Next, enter the password written on the piece of paper and repeat the entire setup cycle. If connection fails, you should try disabling all firewalls and firewalls. Perhaps they are the ones that are preventing the normal operation of two or more computers. After completing all the settings, you need to reboot the devices connected to the local connection. To check that the connection between computers or laptops is working correctly, go to Explorer - Network. There will be a list of all connected devices.

Additionally

• With a relatively large area of ​​housing, the home connection may work poorly or intermittently due to weak wifi signal strength. In this case, you can take measures to increase the signal coverage area / move the router itself closer to the central part of the apartment / set up and distribute traffic resources / if you connect a laptop, you can work closer to the access point.
• If desired, as mentioned above, you can connect smartphones to the local network. And both on iOS and Android. But for this you will have to find optimal applications for network configuration.
• It is recommended to call connected computers by different names for ease of use. It's better to set this up right away.

Conclusion

Home network is quite a useful tool for carrying out work or other activities that one way or another require comfort in work, using the combined resources of several computers. Setting it up is not particularly difficult, which is good news. Setting up a local network via wifi will help in the future if you set up more advanced sharing of not only files, but also combining user settings. A router connection also saves the user from unnecessary and inconvenient connection cables. We sincerely hope that this article was useful.

During the conference, questions often arise about setting up network storage devices and connecting several devices for collaboration. However, information for beginners is rarely provided in articles. With this series of materials, we decided to fill the gap and help users configure their equipment efficiently and conveniently. It does not claim to be exceptionally complete and deep, but we hope it will be useful to a wide range of users.

So, you already have a computer or laptop, but you decided that this is not enough and it’s time to get a few more interesting devices - a wireless router, a network drive, a media player, an IP camera. The idea is certainly not a bad one, but if you have only worked with one PC before, reading numerous instructions will take a lot of time. Yes, and it may require certain preparation. But in reality, it's not all that scary. Many devices have built-in “assistants” for quick setup, and network settings are often set automatically.

General scheme

Let's start with a description of the participants and some general terms. We took the first illustration from the description of the ZyXEL NBG460. Here you can find a PC, network storage and printer, laptop, IPTV set-top box and smartphone. The only thing missing is a game console and a media player.

It is the router (also often called a router) that ensures the connection of all devices into a single home local network and its connection to the Internet. Internet connection options may vary. For example, via Ethernet (“Internet Beeline”, Net-by-Net and others), via Wi-Fi or 3G/4G modem, via ADSL technology via telephone (“STREAM”) or via cable modem (“AKADO”). The last two options require a special modem. It can be made as a separate device with an Ethernet port at the output or built directly into the router. In this case, the latter often has a corresponding prefix in its name.

The Internet connection port itself is usually called “WAN” - from Wide area network. That is, to connect to a “big” network. But the PC, network storage device and other wired devices are located in the local/home segment of the network and are connected to the “LAN” (Local area network) ports. Depending on the router model, there may be a different number of them, most often four.

In addition to wired connections using Ethernet technology, HomePlug can be used to connect devices - a network via standard electrical wiring or Wi-Fi - a wireless connection familiar to everyone (the combination WLAN - Wireless LAN is usually used to designate this network segment). They all differ in speed and other capabilities.

Technology	Peculiarities	Speed
FastEthernet	Cable (two pairs), up to 100 m	100 Mbit/s
Gigabit Ethernet	Cable (four pairs), up to 100 m	1 Gbit/s
HomePlug*	Electrical wiring within an apartment or office	Up to 200 Mbit/s
Wi-Fi 802.11g*	Radio, 2.4 GHz, 150 m in open space	54 Mbit/s
Wi-Fi 802.11n*	Radio, 2.4 or 5 GHz, 300 m in open space	150/300/450 Mbit/s
* for these technologies, the operating range is not guaranteed, since it significantly depends on external factors, and the maximum theoretical speed is indicated, in practice it is usually 2-3 times less

Note that to increase the number of wired ports (in some cases, the standard four may not be enough), you must use network switches. By installing an additional model with 8 ports, you connect one of them to the router, and the remaining seven remain for connecting devices. That is, the total number increases by six, since two ports are required to connect the router and switch. The switch can be either 100-megabit or gigabit. The second option can be used if you have a working network and a router with Fast Ethernet that suits its speed, but you want to ensure fast communication between your desktop PC and network storage without changing the router.

In general, today, if we talk about wired ports, then of course it is desirable to use gigabit connections as much as possible (especially if we are talking about a cabling project during a renovation). However, this will not directly affect the “Internet speed” in any way. The only place where a higher speed can be justified is the cable connection of high-performance devices (and there must be more than one of them) that require the rapid exchange of large volumes of information.

As for wireless communications, we would recommend buying routers today that support 802.11n technology, which, compared to 802.11g, shows 2-4 times higher results in performance tests and usually has better coverage.

For providers working via PPPoE/PPTP/L2TP and having a developed network of their own resources, it will be useful for the router to support simultaneous work on the Internet and access to the provider’s network.

A similar note concerns working with IPTV - if you require it, the router must support it. True, there are too many options for implementing the service and this issue needs to be clarified for each specific provider separately.

As for the general comparison of performance in different connection modes, depending on the model and connection type, the user can expect speeds of up to 100 Mbps. Reviews on the site usually provide figures for test results in different modes (do not forget that with the release of new firmware they can change significantly).

In fact, the more significant issue when choosing a router is its compatibility with a specific provider. Unfortunately, it is impossible to answer this question with laboratory tests. In this case, we recommend that you turn to forums and recommendations from users of your network, but the most successful is to consider a purchase with the condition of testing the functionality in your specific apartment. The router option offered by the provider in this case has one undoubted advantage - if something does not work, the provider himself will deal with it. But they usually have a smaller selection of devices, the models themselves are less “interesting”, and the cost is higher.

Setting up the router

As an example, we use the ZyXEL NBG460N Internet center model, connected to the Beeline Internet provider. Before setting up any device of this class, it is advisable to check the manufacturer’s website for the availability of new firmware/firmware. The second important point is changing the administrator password to access the router.

We believe that the Internet itself is already configured on it. There are too many possible configurations to describe them here. We will mention only the main options:

• direct connection with a fixed or dynamic address (usually you need to change the MAC address on the external interface on the router or inform the factory provider);
• connection via PPPoE – username and password required;
• connection via PPTP/L2TP – the address or server name, user name and password are required.

In particular, for ZyXEL equipment, the easiest way to set up is to launch the bundled NetFriend program, specify the region, provider name and account information. In a few minutes your Internet will be working.

What are the next steps to take? Perhaps the very first step will be to set up a secure wireless network. By default, routers usually have an open network radio enabled. This means that anyone can connect to it and not only use your Internet channel, but also possibly gain access to computers.

So we recommend changing the network name to something original and setting the mode to WPA2-PSK AES. This is the safest option today. And for 802.11n equipment, only it provides maximum performance. You should use other options only if some of your wireless equipment does not support it. Also, do not forget that WEP cannot be considered secure today and that the password must be complex - one and a half dozen random characters. Possible difficulties with entering it on mobile devices are compensated by the high level of network security. And for laptops and PCs, you can use WPS technology for a quick connection - you just need to press a button on the router and on the client, and in a few seconds a secure connection will be set up.

To improve 802.11n performance, it is recommended to enable the “40” (or “20/40”) mode in the access point settings, which means operation on two radio channels. You can select the most free channel using the inSSIDer program, launched on a PC with a wireless adapter installed.

Typically, the router has a DHCP server enabled. It “distributes” IP address settings to all devices connected to it. So there is no longer any need to specifically point out anything about them. Despite the fact that the system works automatically, we would recommend programming fixed MAC-IP matches on the router for those devices that will subsequently need to be accessed from the Internet. This is necessary so that their IP addresses are permanent and can be registered in the port translation rules.

Most often, the range of addresses that is used on a home network is 192.168.0.* or 192.168.1.*, where “*” is any number from 1 (usually for a router) to 254. You can check the current PC address with or in the status network connection or by typing ipconfig at the command line (for Windows systems).

Recall that a MAC address is a physical/hardware identifier that any network device has. Often they are even written on packages and cases. Formally, they are all individual on a global scale, but in many cases they can be changed through the device driver settings. It is represented as six bytes, written in hexadecimal digit format, for example 001020AABBCC or 00:10:20:AA:BB:CC.

The next point that is worth understanding is the permanent/external/white address. These concepts are often confused, so it is imperative to put things in order. If you use a router to connect to the Internet, its WAN interface has a specific IP address. All devices that are outside your home network see exactly this address and know nothing about your internal devices. The network address translation (NAT) technology operating in the router automatically and transparently for the user replaces internal addresses with external ones and vice versa when transmitting and receiving network packets.

In turn, this address, which is issued by the provider or required to be specified in the router during its configuration, can be permanent or dynamic. The only difference between these options follows from their names.

But of greatest interest is the question of the external/white address. These terms usually mean “an address accessible from anywhere on the Internet.” An example is an office PBX with a single external number. All its subscribers can communicate with each other by dialing an internal number. Outside the office, these numbers have no meaning. At the same time, they can call landline phones, but it is impossible to directly reach each specific subscriber simply by dialing a landline number. In turn, this office with its own PBX can be located inside an office building with its own PBX and another switch.

This example shows one of the reasons for using NAT technology - you can have a local network with Internet access of almost any size, but “waste” only one address from the general global list. With the transition to a new version of the IPv6 protocol, this problem may disappear, but no one knows when this will happen.

It would seem that if the Internet works like this, then why might you need an external address? The answer to this question is quite simple - if you want to have access to your local network from the Internet, its use is necessary. For example, you are planning to create an FTP server, host a Web server with a family photo album on your PC, or you want to have access from the office to files on your home network drive. Note that these problems can be solved in other ways, but they are much more complicated and more expensive.

How to determine which address your provider provided you with? First, you need to look at the external address of the router on the corresponding page of its Web interface, if it looks like 10.*.*.* or 172.(16...31).*.* or 192.168.*.*, then it is definitely “ gray" and it is impossible to access your network from the Internet using normal methods.

The second test that can be done is to go to the website and compare the address that this service shows with your address on the router. If they match, then you're in luck.

Many providers provide users with an external dynamic address. In this case, another problem arises - the address, although external, is not permanent and it is impossible to find it out while outside the network. To solve this, you need to use the dynamic DNS service built into most routers - it allows you to get a permanent domain name that will automatically be configured to the router’s IP address when it changes, and it can be used at any time to access your network.

You can use the DynDNS.org service completely free of charge - one domain name is provided to everyone. A working email address is required to register.

In addition to accessing the local network, an external address can be useful for improving the efficiency of certain services, such as messaging programs or p2p networks. Note that here we are only talking about the fact of the presence of an external address, and the use of DynDNS in this case is not required. However, there are some steps worth taking.

We are talking about broadcasting network ports. This is sometimes called "port forwarding" or "port opening". This setting allows an external recipient to connect to a specific program that is located on your PC behind the router.

Let us remind you that connection to network services occurs by specifying the IP address and port number. For example, for HTTP it is 80, for POP3 it is 110, and so on. But if we are not talking about standard programs, then the numbers can be almost any (from 1025 to 65535) and often they can be specified in the settings of the program itself.

Configuring port translation allows you to transmit a request incoming to the external address of the router and to certain ports to a PC located in the local segment. For example, you can create a Web server on a PC and “forward” port 80 for it. Depending on the router model, external and internal numbers may differ or must be the same. It is also worth mentioning that some of the ports (most often 80, 8080, 23, 25) are blocked by the provider for security reasons. After setting up port translation, the program installed on the PC begins to behave as if it has a direct connection to the Internet past the router. Check the operation of port translation in the program itself, if such an option is provided.

You may encounter the “protocol” parameter when configuring port translation. We are talking here about two protocols within TCP/IP - TCP itself and UDP. In most cases, the first one is used for Internet communications. The need for UDP is usually indicated in the program descriptions. If the router does not have such a parameter, then both protocols are broadcast at once.

Some programs support the UPnP protocol to automatically open ports for themselves. However, from a security point of view, it is better not to do this, since “simplicity” also has a downside - lack of access control.

In some cases, it will also be useful to set up regular sending of device operation log files to your email address. The truth here is that you need to understand that if there is no Internet connection, then nothing can be sent to an external server. To correctly display the date and time in the logs, the router has a built-in clock that can be synchronized via the Internet.

Another rather rarely used option is allowing access to the Web interface for configuring the router from the Internet. This should only be done if absolutely necessary and do not forget to set a really complex password for access.

Total at the moment we have:

• router connected to the Internet;
• secure Wi-Fi network;
• service for distributing addresses on a local network;
• configured DynDNS for accessing the network from the Internet;
• translation of ports for running services on a PC or other devices.

In the next article we will talk about setting up network storage drives.

Hello.

Even 10-15 years ago, having a computer was almost a luxury, but now even having two (or more) computers in the house does not surprise anyone... Naturally, all the advantages of a PC appear when you connect it to a local network and the Internet, for example: network games, disk space sharing, fast file transfer from one PC to another, etc.

Not long ago I was “lucky” to create a home local network between two computers + “share” the Internet from one computer to another. I’ll tell you how to do this (from fresh memory) in this post.

1. How to connect computers to each other

The first thing you need to do when creating a local network is to decide how it will be built. A home local network usually consists of a small number of computers/laptops (2-3 pcs.). Therefore, 2 options are most often used: either computers are connected directly using a special cable; or use a special device - a router. Let's look at the features of each option.

Connecting computers “directly”

This option is the simplest and cheapest (in terms of equipment costs). In this way you can connect 2-3 computers (laptops) to each other. At the same time, if at least one PC is connected to the Internet, you can allow access to all other PCs on such a network.

What is needed to create such a connection?

1. A cable (also called twisted pair), slightly longer than the distance between the connected PCs. It’s even better if you immediately buy a crimped cable in the store - i.e. already with connectors for connecting to the computer’s network card (if you crimp it yourself, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with it:).

By the way, you need to pay attention to the fact that the cable is needed specifically to connect a computer to a computer (cross connection). If you take a cable to connect a computer to a router - and use it to connect 2 PCs - such a network will not work!

2. Every computer must have a network card (all modern PCs/laptops have one).

3. Actually, that’s all. Costs are minimal, for example, a cable in a store to connect 2 PCs can be bought for 200-300 rubles; There are network cards in every PC.

All that remains is to connect 2 system units with a cable and turn on both computers for further settings. By the way, if one of the PCs is connected to the Internet via a network card, then you will need a second network card - to be used to connect the PC to the local network.

The advantages of this option:

Fast creation;

Easy setup;

The reliability of such a network;

High speed when exchanging files.

Minuses:

Extra wires around the apartment;

To have access to the Internet, the main PC that is connected to the Internet must always be turned on;

Inability to gain access to the network for mobile devices*.

Creating a home local network using a router

A router is a small box that greatly simplifies the creation of a local network and Internet connection for all devices in the house.

It is enough to configure the router once - and all devices will be able to immediately connect to the local network and access the Internet. Nowadays you can find a huge number of routers in stores, I recommend reading the article:

Desktop computers connect to the router via a cable (usually 1 cable is always included with the router), laptops and mobile devices connect to the router via Wi-Fi. You can see how to connect a PC to a router (using the example of a D-Link router).

The organization of such a network is described in more detail in this article:

Pros:

Set up the router once, and Internet access will be available on all devices;

No extra wires;

Flexible Internet access settings for different devices.

Minuses:

Additional costs for purchasing a router;

Not all routers (especially those from a low price category) can provide high speed on the local network;

It is not always so easy for less experienced users to set up such a device.

2. Setting up a local network in Windows 7 (8)

After the computers are connected to each other by any of the options (whether they are connected to a router or directly to each other), you need to configure the Windows OS for full operation of the local network. Let's show the example of Windows 7 OS (the most popular OS today; in Windows 8 OS the setting is similar + you can familiarize yourself with it).

2.1 When connecting via a router

When connecting via a router, the local network, in most cases, is configured automatically. The main task comes down to setting up the router itself. Popular models have already been discussed on the blog pages earlier; I will provide several links below.

After setting up the router, you can start setting up the OS. So…

1. Setting up a workgroup and PC name

The first thing you need to do is set a unique name for each computer on the local network and set the same workgroup name.

For example:

1) Computer No. 1

Working group: WORKGROUP

Name: Comp1

2) Computer No. 2

Working group: WORKGROUP

Name: Comp2

To change the PC name and workgroup, go to the control panel at the following address: Control Panel\System and Security\System.

Windows 7 System Properties

2. File and Printer Sharing

If you do not take this step, then no matter what folders and files you provide for public access, no one will be able to access them.

To enable the option to share printers and folders, go to the control panel and open the “Network and Internet” section.

Now click in the left column on the item “ change advanced sharing settings«.

Several profiles 2-3 will appear in front of you (in the screenshot below there are 2 profiles: “ Home or work" and "General "). In both profiles you need to allow file and printer sharing + disable password protection. See below.

Setting up sharing.

More sharing options

After making the settings, click " save changes" and restart your computer.

3. Sharing shared folders

Now, in order to use files on another computer, the user needs to share folders on it (give general access to them).

This is very easy to do - in 2-3 mouse clicks. Open File Explorer and right-click on the folder you want to open. In the context menu select " Sharing - HomeGroup (Reading)«.

Next, you just have to wait about 10-15 seconds and the folder will appear in public access. By the way, to see all the computers on your home network, click on the “Network” button in the left column of Explorer (Windows 7, 8).

2.2 When connecting directly + sharing Internet access on a second PC

In principle, most of the steps for setting up a local network will be very similar to the previous option (when connecting through a router). To avoid repetition, I will mark steps that are repeated in parentheses.

1. Setting up the computer name and workgroup (similarly, see above).

2. Setting up file and printer sharing (similarly, see above).

3. Configuring IP addresses and gateways

The setup will need to be done on two computers.

Computer No. 1.

Let's start setting up with the main computer that is connected to the Internet. Go to the control panel at: (Windows 7 OS). Next, turn on “ LAN connection"(name may vary).

Then go to the properties of this connection. Next, find “Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” in the list and go to its properties.

Then enter:

ip - 192.168.0.1,

subnet mask - 255.255.255.0.

We save and exit.

Computer No. 2

Go to the settings section: Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections(OS Windows 7, 8). We set the following parameters (similar to the settings of computer No. 1, see above).

ip - 192.168.0.2,

subnet mask - 255.255.255.0.,

default gateway -192.168.0.1
DNS server - 192.168.0.1.

Save and exit.

4. Sharing Internet access for a second computer

On the main computer that is connected to the Internet (computer No. 1, see above), go to the list of connections ( Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections).

Then in the “Access” tab we allow other network users to use this Internet connection. See screenshot below.

We save and exit.

5. Opening (sharing) public access to folders (see above in the subsection when setting up a local network when connecting through a router).

That's all. Good luck with setting up your local network quickly and successfully.