moleculo
Footballguy
so my house came wired with CAT5(E?) throughout. I'd like to take advantage of this for multiple PC's around the house, as well as plugging in AV stuff for streaming, maybe a NAS, maybe a networked printer. I do want to have wifi as well, but I think it might be best to not rely on it.
Coming into my house is cable broadband into a cable modem (which also has a VOIP phone line - I'm old school, maintaining a land-line). Right now, that plugs into one of about a dozen ethernet cables, which goes upstairs to my wireless router and then into my PC. I don't have anything else plugged into the router besides my PC. So, basically, I have a whole bunch of ethernet cables throughout that aren't being used.
My router kind of sucks. Constantly dropping connections, instable, etc. At the bare minimum, I need a new wireless router.
So - talk to me. What do I need to set this house up properly?
My assumption is cable modem into an 8-port network switch, with distribution throughout the house. One port from the switch goes to a wireless router, centrally located in the house, but not necessarily next to my PC. I'm concerned that with a system set up like that, there is no hardware firewall (unless the cable modem has one? how do I know?).
Is a hardware firewall even important?
What else do I need to be concerned about?
Suggestions on inexpensive hardware?
TIA
Coming into my house is cable broadband into a cable modem (which also has a VOIP phone line - I'm old school, maintaining a land-line). Right now, that plugs into one of about a dozen ethernet cables, which goes upstairs to my wireless router and then into my PC. I don't have anything else plugged into the router besides my PC. So, basically, I have a whole bunch of ethernet cables throughout that aren't being used.
My router kind of sucks. Constantly dropping connections, instable, etc. At the bare minimum, I need a new wireless router.
So - talk to me. What do I need to set this house up properly?
My assumption is cable modem into an 8-port network switch, with distribution throughout the house. One port from the switch goes to a wireless router, centrally located in the house, but not necessarily next to my PC. I'm concerned that with a system set up like that, there is no hardware firewall (unless the cable modem has one? how do I know?).
Is a hardware firewall even important?
What else do I need to be concerned about?
Suggestions on inexpensive hardware?
TIA