Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Networking educational site?

I'd really like to learn more about networking; not only to network my existing computers but also to possibly incorporate network storage or servers within the business. I put a few "Networking for Dummies"-type books in my Amazon cart, but none of them are getting 5-star reviews.... they all seem to have shortcomings.

Before ordering, I wondered if anyone here knows of a website that goes through the basics of networking in 20~40 pages to give a good, solid overview?

I haven't clicked through the links on this page, but it looks promising.

Basic Networking Concepts

I looked at a few other pages and Peter's suggestions seems to be as good as any.

The Introcuction to Home Networking Link looked like a pretty good place to start. I liked the example diagrams of you most common layouts a little deeper down in that section. Nice simple diagrams.

It's a really, really broad topic to just start into a conversation on so read until you fall asleep then come back with questions.

Wait, this isn't the network site?

I come here to network.

Thanks guys... I never considered About.com!

I come here for the maple syrop recipies.

I'm with Mark on needing a better understanding of setting up a "real" network. I've made lots of little tactical decisions putting up a wireless network many years ago, but now that I want to do more than just have multiple PCs accessing the internet, I'm not so sure what to do.

I've PM'd some here to discuss NAS. I've got my PS3 on the network. And I want to be able to backup PCs and share/stream files, etc. But I haven't found anything that gives me a real overview/framework for how networking really works in a Windows environment. Why do I see some folders and not others? How does Windows, conceptually, view a network?

Not sure I'm asking the crowd here to answer per se, but I didn't get what I needed from the about.com links. So are there any others? Perhaps seeing a "step-by-step how-to" for a non-Vista windows environment would help me understand what the key steps are and why.

Thanks,
Rich

I promise that I will spend some time going through the suggested About.com site pages as recommended. But I have a very quick question in the meantime.

**Remember that my computers are NOT Networked to communicate with each other. I'll do that someday, but right now, this question involves spreading internet access only!

I have a Linksys WRT54GS router as the 54 series was highly recommended here. My cable modem is plugged into the input, and I'm using 2 connections for nearby computers to have internet access. Two laptops are gaining wireless internet from the router, and three other computers have no internet at all.

To update my Denon recently, I ran a 50' Ethernet cable across my office, across the hall and to the far side of the living room to my rack. It's not ideal, but I've left it in place at the moment to enjoy internet radio on the Denon.

As the updates for the Denon and B-D player went so well, I've started considering the advantages of getting my other HT components on the net…primarily the Xbox 360 and HD TiVo in addition to the receiver…though I guess the B-D player gains some benefit to online content as well. That should suffice for background…I hope.

So I've got that Ethernet cable going to the rack, but have 3~4 components that could benefit from a connection. Will a unit like THIS one take the incoming connection from the Linksys Router and simply distribute it? Or are there weird things like packets and codes and secret handshakes and decoder rings needed?

{{{extra long link provided since Ken doesn't like little links!!}}}

If this will work, maybe I'll plan a more permanent solution by running the cables through the attic instead of across the floor!

Yup, that'll do the trick.