Some customers are used to dealing with networks, but see them as being a ‘work thing’; it’s the magic that happens in the office, with hidden wires that mean all the workstations connect to one printer which the office share.
When it works it’s great but when it starts to malfunction, or lose connection, frustration can mean colleagues reach boiling point within minutes! And so, noting the perceived unreliability of their work based network, people tend to stay away from installing or utilising one at home.
But, we live in a technological age. We live in an age where everything – including, it seems, our lives on a daily basis – is controlled by computers, networks, tablets and smart phone. Even the TV is now connected to the internet so that online movies can be accessed.
So why have a home network? Is it complicated? Will it mean arguments at home, as well as at work…?
Why setting up a home network is a great idea – the 4 top reasons
In a way, your home probably already has a broadband network. For the internet, you probably have one broadband hub, possible a ‘repeater’ in other areas of the home to make the signal from the hub stronger, and all the PCs, tablets and smart phones in your household tap into this signal. Apart from the wires that connect your hub to the phone line, everything else is probably wireless.
You may need to switch off the hub every now and then to maintain is effectiveness at transmitting but apart from that, you will not give this little box another thought.
Why does the router or hub appear to get ‘stuck’ and need resetting? There is constant information flowing back and forth from your hub to the network and beyond. On occasions, the amount of data can be akin to getting an elephant wedged in your letter box; in other words, this information clusters together and gets stuck. Resetting the hub helps to scatter this data into more manageable chunks.
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Sharing
This is the second advantage to having a home network. You can share anything from videos to photos, as well as important documents. Many people, once they realise the benefit of a home network also network their home printer and so if the teenage daughter need to print her homework, she can do so from the comfort of their room and then bribe a younger sibling to make their way to the printer to get it! It saves the aggravation of chucking you off the only PC that is connected to the printer.
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Streaming
It is the third advantage of what you can do with a home network. Music, film, popular online social media sites along with various TV channels can now be enjoyed via the PC, smart phone, tablet etc. and a home network can make this a lot easier to stream and share.
- And finally, a home network allows you, the parent, to have at least some form of control over what you children are watching or accessing via the internet.
Wired or wireless?
In setting up your home network, you have 2 options – you can rely on the magic of wireless or enjoy the reliability and comfort of wired. Both have their pros and cons so contact Master AV Services as we can talk to through the whole process, as well install and set up your home network – giving you greater control over the Internet in your home!
Steve Bateman, our guest author, has gained a wealth of experience working with home networks through many years as the Director at Master AV Services.
