By Flurin - March 21st, 2017
How to set up a home network
Most people have small home networks these days, but may not be aware of the components or how it works.
This guide aims to address all the pieces of an average home network, how to put them together, how they work, and how to secure them.
Modem
The modem is the first piece of every home network, and arguably the most essential. Without a modem, you would not have an internet connection. Your modem is the point where your internet service provider's network ends, and your network begins. There are two main types of modems today, DSL and Cable. DSL modems are older and connect to your internet service provider(ISP) through a phone line. Cable modems are more common, and connect via coaxial cable, which has a circular connector. Modems are often a relatively small, black box with a few blinky lights, approximately 3 by 5 inches or so, and installed by your ISP's technician upon hookup. As far as connectors go, there is usually one connecting the modem to the wall(phone line or coaxial cable) and then an Ethernet port to connect the modem to a router.
Router
A router can come in various sizes for various applications, but in this post a router refers to a consumer grade home network router. With a modem alone, you can have an internet connection, but it is not ideal. A router will allow for a functional, stable network with relatively secure access to the internet, while also allowing computers on your local network to communicate with each other. A router is often not provided by the ISP, looks slightly similar to a modem, and likely has a few antenna coming out of it. As far as connections go, there will by one Ethernet port marked "internet" or "WAN" that will connect to the modem, possibly a USB port for connecting a networked printer or storage device, and four-or-so Ethernet ports labeled by number, which are used to connect machines to the network via Ethernet cable, rather than wirelessly. Home routers take on a number of roles for your home network, such as Network Address translation, being a firewall and DHCP server, but most likely you're interested in the fact that it can get
you connected to the internet wirelessly.
<aside> <img src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/f5c83336-ddf9-4d88-9844-aa39576adaa5/NWTel.png" alt="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/f5c83336-ddf9-4d88-9844-aa39576adaa5/NWTel.png" width="40px" /> If you are a Northwestel customer, you may have opted for a "Modem/Router combo unit", which functions exactly as it sounds.
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A Computer
This isn't 100% necessary to have a network, but what's the point of having a network without a computer? Or tablet, or smartphone, etc. You will need a computer to secure your router. A laptop is nice for this as it's small and portable, but if you have a desktop set up already and it can be plugged into the router with an Ethernet cable, that can be used as well. I would not recommend using a tablet or phone for this, although I'm sure you could.
Ethernet Cable
