Tutorial Home Network Basics

¶ … Home Networking Basics Tutorial

This online flash tutorial about home networking is well done and informative. It teaches the basics of home networking, including the usefulness, the possibilities and the equipment needed. The progression through the subject matter is logical and sequentially well organized and paced. The graphics are well done, clearly understandable and the little test is useful, but it does not go far enough. It would be useful for most end users, but it is outdated and does not cover quite enough concerning security.

The tutorial begins with no assumptions about the user, which is good. It is attractive and done in plain English, referring to jargon as needed. The little router guy is cute and may actually halp to pur users into a receptive state. If the user does not need the information in a particular module it is easy to select the next or another module. It is also easy to back up if one gets distracted or pause if needed. For most end users this information is useful. As guide to home networking needs it works well. Each part builds upon the knowledge of the previous part and the labels are well named. However, it is outdated as far as equipment is concerned, and that is very serious. There is no mention of 80211n or VPN technology.

The graphic representations are clear and attractive. They provide the visual support for those who do not learn well from text or sound. The network diagrams are good, and the addition of more configurations would be really nice. Multimedia drives and other recent technologies are missing and needed. The little test is useful, but with new technologies it needs expansion. It would also be more useful if more configurations were added to include multimedia streaming, entertainment centers and drives and mobile devices.

The tutorial does what it says it will, but there are those, myself included, who would disagree with the statements concerning security. Stealth mode for a network is good, but without encryption it is not real protection. After all, the same technology used with password sniffers could be adapted to seek network SSIDs. Encryption also protects against data theft. Not enough information was given concerning other possible threats and how to best use the network hardware to provide extra protection. For example it did not mention nanny mode, site filtering or access control, all of which are parental protection strategies. There are also new technologies for filtering email and screening for malware which are not included. There is also no mention of home power wiring networks, and Linksys sells those. Actually, it was a kinder, gentler world when 80211g was the latest thing. One proviso was left out that should have been there the router does not protect against viruses. One still needs antivirus software protection. Users who would benefit from this tutorial generally do not know this.