Networking Support

Home Networking 101

What is a Home Network?

A home network is a series of Internet devices (PC's, gaming consoles, PDA's) connected together. A home network may consist of several PCs, gaming consoles, etc - all in different rooms both wired and wireless. When you connect multiple devices together in a home network, you can share files, printers and your Internet connection.

What is a router?

A router is a networking device that connects multiple networks together, for example, your home network and the Internet (the world's largest network). A router allows each of your Internet devices to share the internet connection you receive from your ISP, both wired or wirelessly (WiFi).

Are there different types of home networks?

There are two kinds of home networks: wired and wireless. The most basic difference is that wired networks communicate through data cables, while wireless networks communicate via WiFi.

Things to Remember When Setting up or Changing Your Home Network

When your computer is connected directly to your modem, you are provided with an IP address lease that is bound to your computer's Media Access Control (MAC) address. Each modem is assigned only one IP address. If you reconfigure your home network, or if you purchase a new router, you will need to release your IP address before reconfiguring or plugging in your new router. If your IP address is not released, the reconfigured or new router cannot be recognized on our servers. After you have released your IP address, you can reconfigure or add your new router and your IP address can be obtained.