HOME NETWORKS HOME NETWORKS How to set up a computer network in your house, and whether a media PC will add to the fun here’s nowhere the richest man in the world would rather be than your living room. Microsoft boss Bill Gates is betting that computers will move out of the study – and that they’ll expand to gobble up your music collection and hi-fi, your DVDs, even your family photo album. And queuing up behind him are his rivals from every other home computer company.
HOME NETWORKS NEED TO KNOW Send music wirelessly Connect to the internet wirelessly 4 Make the network secure The problem with wireless links is that people can potentially piggyback on your internet connection or snoop on your online activities. However, there are a few steps you can take to make your network more secure. REDUCE THE POWER 3 Find the best place for your router Where you put your router is obviously limited by where you have telephone or cable connections for the internet.
HOME NETWORKS We recommend that you stick to the same brand for your WiFi adaptor and router. This ensures that they’ll work well with each other. We’ve listed the matching adaptors for each of our Best Buys. The Best Buy combinations of router and adaptor work well for listening to music a couple of rooms away – through at least one brick wall and a couple of plaster ones. Our Best Buys also have clearer software and instructions than other models.
HOME NETWORKS Media PCs A media PC is a computer that receives TV and acts as a hi-fi or digital photo album. It also apes a PVR (personal video recorder); you use a simple on-screen menu to select TV programmes to record on its hard drive. (You can also use it like a normal computer.) It has a remote control and large-text menu options so you can select them from the sofa.
HOME NETWORKS SENDING MUSIC AND VIDEO FROM YOUR COMPUTER One of the handiest things about a computer network is that you can use a TV or hi-fi to listen to music, watch videos or view photos that you’ve stored on a computer elsewhere in the house. To do this, you need a media extender, a box which plugs into your TV or hi-fi. It receives music or video from your computer and converts it so that the TV or stereo can play it.
HOME NETWORKS Xbox 360 VIDEO MEDIA EXTENDERS The main difference that makes our Best Buy stand out from other models is that it’s easier to set up and use. But it’s important to remember that none of them is very good at streaming video wirelessly from your computer. Our Best Buy does stream video effectively through an Ethernet cable, though. 5 Elgato Eye Home 73% £210 from www.apple.com/uk This is the best choice for Apple computers (but it doesn’t work with Windows computers).
