With the prices of computers coming down and our reliance on them increasing, it's not uncommon to have more than one computer in a house. Wouldn't it be nice if they were connected in a way that allowed them to share files? Or perhaps if they could all print from the same printer? Wouldn't it be great to have them all set up on the same internet connection? We can help! Networking computers at home where they can all share essential functions such as those listed above can be quite difficult if you don't know what to expect. Networking involves a field of technology that is rapidly growing, and keeping up with the protocols and software it requires can be overwhelming to someone who doesn't keep up on the latest technology.

  With home and business networks becoming more common than not, much equipment made by manufacturers today is available to run from a network based environment. This opens the door to a whole new list of options not available to last generation computer users. Not only that, but with the demand for networking equipment rising, the price on it has dropped tremendously making it inexpensive and practical for even the occasional computer user. Whatever your situation is, we can help you find a solution that fits your needs. With the right network configuration you can open up alot of options you may not even know exist.

• Go wireless! Change all the computers over to wireless to eliminate cable running through the house. With wireless you can access the internet from anywhere in your home.
• Share documents, pictures and any other files from one computer to the next at very high speeds.
• Play games! With a network, or LAN (Local Area Connection), you can have multiple computers in your house play each other on the same game, either against each other on your home network, or play together against others across the internet.
• Print from anywhere and any computer in your house or business. With a network installed everyone can share the same printer!
• Backup Data! If your worried about losing valuable data from your computers you could backup your data from one computer to another, or to a centralized location like a network hard drive. That way if any computer crashes, the data is backed up to another location, or even to a hard drive by itself.
• Security Cameras! With a network installed you can setup webcams, or network cameras that you can use to protect your house or business, and since they are on the network, you could make them available via web. This means you could check them from virtually any computer around the world! Want to monitor your business while your at home? This may be for you!
• Install a firewall! If you're concerned about keeping your computer secure, you could install a firewall that acts as a buffer between you and the internet. This not only filters out unwanted access to the computers on your network, but can even give you control of what computers or programs on your network are allowed to access the internet.
• Control bandwidth! If one of your computers is "hogging" all the bandwidth making the internet slow for the rest of you, there are things we can do to help control the allotted bandwidth to each computer. That way when they are streaming video, you can still check your email.
• Setup your own server! Whether it be setting up your own email server or hosting web pages, with a proper network configuration the options are unlimited. You could even buy your own domain and have an email address such as This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Take advantage of the new VOIP techonlogy (Voice Over Internet Protocol). Use programs such as Skype to allow you are others in your house to make phone calls over the internet saving you long distance charges. You can also do video conferencing provided both parties have the necessary equipment. (Webcam, etc..).
• Prevent neighbors and people near your wireless router from having access to your network/internet. Most of the time wireless modems/routers come unsecure from the factory, and without proper configuration, remain that way and allow unwelcomed users to have access to your network and even use your internet.
• Configure advanced options in your modem or router to allow certain types of connections to your network. For example you could print on your home printer from work. Or you could use a remote desktop connection to access your home computer from anywhere in the world. Use port forwarding to allow certain types of services to connect to your computer such as VOIP applications like ventrilo, or downloading programs such as BitTorrent. Or if you're hosting, you would need to do this to allow others to surf a webpage that you have made on your home computer!
• Stream music and videos from one computer to the next.
• Elliminate redundancy. With a network setup, and everyone having shared access from one computer to the next, you will no longer have a need to have redundant files. No more copying a file from one computer to the next, and back again. Now, not only can you open it across the network from another computer to the one you are using, but when you save it, you could save across the network from your computer to the computer where the file originated. This way it saves on the computer where the file was originally stored!

  The benefits of setting up a network are not limited to those listed above. If you are wondering if something not listed here can be done in setting up a network please let us know. Or if this sounds like something you want to do please contact us so we can discuss with you the best options available to suit your needs.