Archive for the 'Home Networking' Category

Smart Homes to take care of us?

Published
by
Paul
on 19 May 2004
in Home Networking
. 0 Comments

BBC NEWS | Technology | Smart homes offer a helping hand

Researchers at the technology consultancy Accenture are working on ways to help homes watch what their occupants are doing.

The work is aimed at helping older people by spotting when they get into difficulties, to diagnose health problems before they become serious and to combat loneliness by making it easier to keep in touch with their family.

Good to see people are looking at Smart Homes. Its not the type of technology I usually have in mind when Smart Homes are discussed but interesting nevertheless. A mirror which changes its image to show me thinner…

Cost of Wireless Routers

Published
by
Paul
on 14 April 2004
in Broadband, Home Networking, Innovation, WIFI and Wireless
. 0 Comments

Linksys Wireless G Router

I just looked at how much this now is - sub �60 is a fantastic price I can’t believe how much this has been reduced since last year. I think I paid double this…

Its interesting that there has been very little out this year in terms of new developments (well, at least not that I am aware of). Last year lots of media adapters and hushed tones of new and exciting products in this area none of which seem to have emerged. I await optimistically that there will be something interesting later in the year.

In the meantime you can always go look at the Internet Washing Machine

Linksys Gaming Adapter

Published
by
Paul
on 4 November 2003
in Home Networking
. 0 Comments

Linksys Gaming Adapter WGA54G

Excellent! The new gming adapter from Linksys has just launched… Much simpler to use than the Wet 11, although essentially the same thing i.e. an Ethernet Bridge. It allows you to connect an Ethernet device i.e. Xbox or PS2 to a wireless network. It looks okay too, although its not going to win any design awards.

Certainly worth having if you want to play online games away from your Broadband Connection. I currently have a PS2 on a different floor and an Xbox in a different room. Both work extremely well with Linksys kit (although I have to admit to only using one device at a time on the connection.

Netgear

Published
by
Paul
on 1 October 2003
in Home Networking
. 0 Comments

Had a meeting with Netgear today to look at their existing and new products.

While there is nothing stunningly new in what they presented (although they would say that they have superior products) their aesthetic design of the products is really nice. The rounded silver appearance fits in far more with a consumer electronics type of product than something like Linksys which is certainly more of a business / IT type styling.

Here is a picture of their 802.11g Router

Defintely worth looking at if you prefer that kind of look. They certainly seem to be market challengers rather than leaders though. Not that that is a problem just interesting to note.

The Digital Entertainment network comes a step closer

Published
by
Paul
on 2 September 2003
in Home Networking
. 0 Comments

Consumer Electronics Association: Press Room

I think this is a massive step forward for ‘plug and play’ in home networking linking consumer electronis, computers and network hardware together:

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced today that its Home Network Committee (R7) has adopted a new standard for home networks, designated CEA-2008 -The Digital Entertainment Network Initiative DENi (TM). The standard was created to make it easier for consumers to share content over a home network and to establish consistent interoperability between consumer electronics end devices. The standard collects existing standards and specifies how they work together.

“With DENi, consumers will be able to choose compatible home networking products from different CE manufacturers and literally plug-and-play them together with no user setup required. Now that we have agreed on how to do audio/video networking, we can start building products which share content with other vendors’ products over the network.”

I wonder what companies will be the first into this arena and use the standard to promote interoperability?

BTW: If anyone wants to pay me to blog CES 2004, I am sooooo there :)

Netgear kit flies!

Published
by
Paul
on 26 August 2003
in Home Networking
. 0 Comments

Designtechnica News - 108 Mbps 802.11b/g wireless gear unveiled

With wireless throughput up to ten times faster than 802.11b, NETGEAR’s 802.11b/g-compliant 108 Mbps wireless networking solutions are designed to support the bandwidth-intensive entertainment applications of the next generation connected home.

Hmmm… Have netgear really managed this? I await to be convinced and will be keeping an eye out for reviews.

Home Networking

Published
by
Paul
on 21 August 2003
in Home Networking
. 5 Comments

It occurred to me that not everyone understands what Home Networking is or why it is of interest.

[UPDATE 19/03/04: If you need help with Home Networking go to Chetnet as your starting point - there are lots of very helpful people who use this site and forums who can give you good advice]

4 key points for me:

  • Sharing Broadband (or narrowband) connection between computers

  • Sharing files between computers
  • Sharing peripherals i.e. Printers, Scanners etc
  • Connecting other devices to computers or Internet e.g. Xbox or PS2

ntl’s broadband service currently only allows 1 device to be connected at once.Although the Aceeptable Use Policy says you can connect up to 4). You can pay extra for a PC + Console service but it doesn’t really solve the many devices connected or the ability to talk to different PCs.

In order to create a Home Network you need some kind of Router, with switching, and some kind of adapter to connect to the computer (or device).

A router basically allows you to communicate between computers by directing your communication traffic around. (If you want something more technical there are some links at the bottom of the post)

My Set Up

My set up currently is thus:

2 PCs connected by ethernet (wire) via ethernet card to the router
Xbox connected by ethernet (wire) via built in ethernet card to the router
PS2 connected by 802.11b (wireless) via Network adapter and Ethernet bridge to router
Laptop connected by 802.11g (wireless) via PCMCIA Card to router

This allows me to communicate easily between the two wired computers for sharing of files, storage and division of labour. I will use one of the PCs for development & testing of website ’stuff’ and mostly learning (or remembering) of how to code. The other PC is my main device for computing, connecting to the Internet and has printers, external storage and USB hub etc.

Xbox is upstairs need the PCs and is connected to Xbox Live service for networked gaming.

PS2 is downstairs and connected for networked gaming.

Laptop is for roaming Internet access and testing only.

Future development

I would like to add a PDA device with an adapter to connect to Internet and other PCs.

I would like to add some other adapaters or devices related to home entertainment. Initially this will probably be something like the Linksys Media Adapter but may well increase to something else.

I think fairly soon (2 to 3 years) more and more devices will expect an Internet connection and provide additional services to you within your Home.

Such things will include Fridges, Washing Machines and Microwaves, and applications that offer security type functionality e.g. wireless connected cameras.

Of course some people are into full home automation (see here) but I think Orange and others have proven this to be generally a step too far for most people (iSociety posting on Smart Homes).

Applications are also something to consider by which I mean the kind of software functionality that will be added to make use of all this connected hardware. I’m less clear on this but Marc Canter is a good starting point for that type of thinking, and I’ll post some more later on this.

Support

If you are thinking of setting up a Home Network then good luck! It should be straightforward and easy although sometimes it can be tricky. Here are some good sites to help out (with a slight ntl bias):

Chetnet - excellent site for help on all things computer and cable modem (it has a number of colleagues support on it including my current ex-manager!)
ntl: Communities - ntl’s official support site with Knowledge base (although its not much use for Home Networking) Now gone!
nthellworld.com - ntl’s unoffical forum & support site (ntl owned) Also gone!
nthellworld.co.uk - non-ntl forum and support site (independently run site)
Robin Walker - lots of technical stuff about cable broadband in the UK
How Stuff Works - excellent site for explaining things - even to idiots like me :) Linksys - education section on what, when why and how of networking
Microsoft - Sharing a computer with Windows XP
Xbox Live - UK version of the site
Sony PlayStation Network gaming guide

Linksys Kit

Published
by
Paul
on 20 August 2003
in Home Networking
. 0 Comments

I have just bought a new 802.11G router

wrt54g.jpg

from Linksys, upgrading from by previous ‘B’ version.

I just love the Linksys kit. I have had several negative conversations with colleagues about its design but I like it. Its distinctive and it stands out. What’s more it is very stable on top of my cable modem! And more importantly its easy to install and configure.

I think the key for me though has been its ability to be rock solid despite all the odd things I get up to. When I compare it to previous kit I’ve tried out (names omitted to protect the weak!) it stands head and shoulders above them. I have seen an article knocking the speed but it does perform better than the 802.11b router I had, even if it doesn’t make 54 Mbps

For the record I do have a business relationship with Linksys and ntl have a deal with them (it was one of my proejcts). But I remain an advocate because of the kit not because of the deal.

BTW I’m playing around with Amazon ads at the moment. I’ve added one for Linksys kit just to see how it works (seems they have some good deals there at the moment too… I wonder if I need anything else?:-) ). I’d be delighted if you bought something, but they are there because I’m experimenting with the technology to see whether I would use it elsewhere, when I finally get the betaroad site up and running. Please feel free to comment as per usual.

Blogging Fridge!

Published
by
Paul
on 12 August 2003
in Content, Creativity, Home Networking and WIFI
. 0 Comments

f r e e g o r i f e r o | weblog

Connected appliances.

A bit of a buzz around the old idea of a screen fridge, possibly because there’s a camera now that points inwards and posts pictures of what is in your fridge, so that you can check them while at the supermarket and stock accordingly.
It used to be all about magnets, now it’s pixelated postcards from your refrigerator.

Leaving all other Cooltown scenarios aside I just wonder: why the surprise?

A few years ago the hot thing was “your appliances will be able to talk to one another”, now your fridge has got its own weblog.

If you ask me that’s simply evolution of the species.

Sergio made me smile with this little post. it reminded me of a scene from the Young Ones (UK alternative sitcom from the 1980’s) where the fridge starts to eat someone. It may even talk, but I suspect it only burps… loudly!

I do kind of see the point about seeing the inside of fridges when you are out shopping but I would rather I had something that could audit what’s in the fridge or indeed all my household shopping and based on my usage patterns actually do the shopping for me with my Internet Shjopping facility. My only concern I think then is that in order to do this would I actually be destroying any privacy I had left?

Imagine if the fridge did start blogging - “Well I’m still in a mess from when he dropped the milk all over me and the tomato rotted on the bottom shelf..’ Privacy would efinitely be gone then :)

Now you’ve got my attention

Published
by
Paul
on 2 August 2003
in Home Networking
. 0 Comments

Marc’s Voice

Home LANs are the trojan horse
Jef Raskin: “If you have to set up a network it’s likely to drive you crazy.” Amen. Too many people forget this fact. [Scott Mace's Radio Weblog]
That’s Scott Mac referencing an interview by one of the godheads of our industry: Jeff Raskin. He’s pointing out that despite best efforts and sexy consumer WiFi - the practical realities and setting up and maintaining networks, especially Home LANs - is a nightmare.
So now think about it. What if your software WAS the Home LAN installation code and left behind [insert whatever it is you're hussling?] Ooops, I just revealed part of our business plan. :-)

As if Marc didn’t revel in attention enough :)
I’ve talked about being excited by marc’s ideas before. And I eagerly anticipate the Peopleaggregator but the dessscription of Home Lan installation and trojan horse has me salivating.

Somethng compelling, something that gives consumers what they need (ability to set up a fool proof home network) and what they want (value added software). Now that’s a winning combination and one I would wager lots of service providers will go after.

If I have anything to do with it, an ISP close to me will at least explore this.