The Complete Tutorial on Setting Up a Home Network for Beginners

How to Set Up a Home Network- Beginners Guide

Today almost every home and small business has a local network, and an Internet connection.

The home network or small area network enables multiple devices e.g. PCs,tablets etc to connect to each other, and also to connect to the internet.

In this tutorial you will learn how you to build and setup a home or small business wireless and wired network, and connect it to the Internet.

Quick Links

Choosing a Wired or Wireless Network

Do You Build a wired or Wireless Network? which is best?

Early (pre 2008) home networks were predominately wired networks.

Wired networks use Ethernet over UTP cable and tend to be faster than wireless networks, which is an important consideration if you are a gamer. The simple wired home network diagram below shows a minimum setup with a switch and broadband router.

Wired Network Advantages

• Fast typically 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps
• Secure and reliable.

Wired Network Dis-Advantages

• Doesnt work with devices that dont have an Ethernet port e.g. tablets and smart phones.
• Not so easy and fast to setup as it requires running cables. However Homeplug or powerline adapters can be used instead.
• Not so easy for visitors and mobile devices (laptops) to connect to.

Main Uses

It Is best used for network backbone i.e. connecting between router,network switches and wireless access points on different levels (floors).

See How to Wire your Home Network

Home Wireless Networks

Today most home networks are Wi-Fi networks.

The installation of wireless networks using Wi-Fi is quick and easy, but wireless networks are generally slower than wired networks. See Wi-Fi and Wireless networks for more details.

Wireless Network Advantages

• Easy installation and set up from an end user perspective.
• Allows easy access to smart phones, Tablets and mobile devices.
• No cables to run.

Wireless Network Dis-Advantages

• Not as Secure as wired networks without proper configuration, and easy to set up insecurely.
• Not as fast as wired networks.
• Not as reliable as wired networks.

Main Uses

Connecting peripheral devices like computers,smart phone,tablets etc.

Most home network installations will use a mixture of wired and wireless.

However small home and home office networks will generally be Wi-Fi only.

Setting up a Home Network -Components and Structure

Today however most home and small business office networks will use a wireless network or mixed network, as most people use Smart phones, and tablets which dont have Ethernet support.

The main components required to build a typical home/small business network are:

• Router or Wireless router Connects the network to the Internet.
• Wireless Access Point Used to Connect Wi-Fi equipped devices to the network.
• Ethernet HUB or Switch -Used to Connect Ethernet equipped devices.
• Cable cat 5, cat5e or cat 6 with RJ45 connectors.
• Telephone Cable with RJ 10 connectors.
• Broadband Filters.

The home network diagram below shows the structure of a typical small home network using a wireless router and connected to the Internet.

For most home networks the Wireless Router or Hub which connects the network to the Internet will be the main component of the home or small home office network, and in many cases it will be the only component.

The Wireless router usually incorporates a Wireless access point, Ethernet switch, DSL modem and Router in a single box.

This short video shows how to use a Wireless Home Hub ( BT) or router to create a home network that is connected to the Internet.

Video Notes:

DSL Modem converts digital signals into analogue signals that are suitable for sending over a telephone line. It is usually built into the Internet/broadband router and is not normally purchased as a separate component.

DSL/Broadband Filter Used to filter out DSL signals from telephone signals so that you can access the internet and use the telephone simultaneously. Often included as part of the connection socket.

See How to Setup and Configure your Home Router

Install Location of a Wireless Router

The Wireless router will need to connect to the telephone line, cable or fibre network access point in your home.

Therefore most people locate the Wireless router near to the main telephone socket.

However you can usually change the location by using telephone extension cables or longer WAN cables.

Note: WAN cables use the same connectors (RJ45), and cables as Ethernet cables.

Because the Wireless Router provides the Wireless access point then you should install it in a central location, if possible, to get the best wireless reception.

Dont

• Hide it in a cupboard
• Install it behind the sofa
• install next to motors,microwaves,cordless telephones

Testing Your Wireless Signal

The easiest way of testing you signal strength in various locations is to use the inSSIDer Wi-Fi checker which is an App that you can install on your Android Tablet or phone.

The general idea is to install the Wireless router in its preferred location and then move around the house with the inSSIDer Wi-Fi checker, check the signal strength, and then adjust the location if necessary.

Extending Your Home Network

In large homes/offices it may not be possible to connect all devices directly to the Wireless router and so you will need to purchase additional networking components.

You can extend your home network by:

• extending your Wi-Fi coverage by installing additional Wireless Access Points or a more powerful access point.
• or you can extend the Wired network by running cables into other rooms
• or using your power cables by installing home plug adapters. See How to extend a Home Network

Home Router Setup

To administer the home router you access it via a web browser, and login using a username and password.

Before you allow devices to connect to your home network you should make some basic changes to the default setup parameters of your router.

The two important one are the SSID used to access the Router and the router admin password as the default username/passwords are well known, and published on the Internet.

See How to Setup and Configure your Home Routerand Setting up a secure wi-fi home network.

Connecting Wi-Fi Devices

The standard way of connecting a Wi-fi device to a Wi-fi network is the connect to the network and enter the password when prompted.

However most modern Wi-Fi routers/hubs support a feature called WPS ( Wi-fi protected setup).

This usually involves pressing a button on the wi_fi router and a corresponding WPS connection button on the Device.

The devices then connect without requiring you to enter a password. See Wiki on WPS

Home Network IP Addresses

All of your devices will need an IP address.

This is provided automatically by a service called DHCP which, by default, is provided by the home router.

IP address provided by the DHCP server are known as dynamic addresses, as they can change. You can also assign addresses manually, and these are known as static addresses.

Static Addresses are not normally assigned but are often required when using Port forwarding.

They can be assigned on the network settings of the device, but preferably on the DHCP server using reserved addresses.

Additionally the addresses used on your home network are known as internal addresses.

When you connect to the Internet your device will use an external IP address. This address is the IP address of the router/hub. See Internal vs external IP addresses for a more detailed explanation.

Finding Your DNS, IP, MAC Addresses and Router IP Address

You may need to find out what DNS servers you are using or the IP or MAC address of:

• Your Home Router.
• Your own computer/tablet/phone

The main tool you use is the ipconfig (windows) or ifconfig (linux) tool.

The screen shot below shows the ipconfig command use with the /all switch. i.e. ipconfig/all

Your home router is your gateway to the Internet. When viewing your configuration some devices refer to it as the default router whereas other use the term default gateway.

In the screen shot above it is 192.168.1.254

Splitting Your Home Network

For security reasons you may find the need to split your home network. This is especially true in small business networks like restaurants etc were customers are also given access to the network.

Many modern routers will provide guest networks for this purpose, and is easy to setup.

Another common method, but not as simple is to use VLANs. See Understanding and using VLANs

Connecting to Internet

Your home router connects to the internet and acts as a Firewall.

A firewall protects your home or small business network computers and devices from intruders on the Internet.

It effectively acts like a one way digital gate blocking access to your network from devices on the Internet, but at the same time allowing devices on your network to connect to devices on the Internet. (schematic diagram below)

Generally there is no configuration required as the default behaviour is only to allow connections from the local network to the Internet, and not from the Internet to the home network.

See Home router setup for more details.

However if you do require devices on the Internet to connect into your network (often required by gamers) then you can configure port forwarding.

You may also want or need to use dynamic DNS see What is Dynamic DNS ? and Why Use Dynamic DNS Services?

Checking Network and Internet Speeds

On any network the speed is restricted by the slowest component.

A computer with a Gigabit network card talking to a computer with a 100Mbit/s network card is restricted to 100Mbit/s.

Shared devices like switches and Wireless access points are network choke points just like traffic lights and roundabouts on a road.

LAN Speed test is a very useful tool for testing your local network speeds. See understanding Home network speeds.

For Internet speeds you can use online speed test sites. See Understanding Internet speeds and speed tests.

Home Network and Internet Connection Problems

You will invariably have connection problems from time to time.

In my experience most problems are easily diagnosed, and fixed with a little patience and perseverance.

Having a good understanding of how your network fits together, and works is essential for successful troubleshooting.

Questions and Answers

Q- What is the difference between a router and a Wireless Access Point (WAP).

A- A router connects the home network to the Internet a WAP connects a device to a network.

Q -How do I check my home network Speed?

A- See Understanding home network speeds

Q- Do I need a landline or cable to connect to the internet?

A -Not any more. Wireless connections are getting more popular. See Internet connection methods for more details.

Q- Can I have more than one Internet connection?

A- Yes and this is becoming more popular see setting up backup Internet connection

Related Tutorials and Resources:

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The Best Home Network Setup: A Step-by-Step Guide

Having a good and stable home network is important, especially these days when we work more from home and have more and more connected devices.

It also makes things a lot easier, nothing is so annoying as walking upstairs and losing the wifi connection. Or when you are working on the dining table, but you cant use the printer.

Today, I am going to explain how to set up your home network. First, we take a look at which components you need (router, access point, switch, etc). Then how you can set it up to get the best home network with great performance.

We are going to discuss the following topics:

Planning your Home Network Setup

Before we start buying the network gear, first figure out what we need and what we want to accomplish with our home network.

• What is the layout of your home and where do you want to have internet? Just inside or do you also want to use the WiFi in your garden?
• Wired or Wireless? Most devices can connect over WiFi, but for streaming and gaming, a wired connection is better.
• How many devices do we need to connect wired?
• Do you want to support PoE (Power of Ethernet) devices? Think of IP Cameras and Access Points.

So taking these points into consideration, we need to plan for a network setup that is suitable for now and the upcoming 3 to 5 years. More and more devices require an internet connection these days, most wireless, so good wireless coverage is important. Especially if you want to use Smart Home products, like the Philips Hue lights. They require a wireless connection.

Also, keep in considerationthat kids grow up, get their own mobile phone, and might have a computeror game console in their own room.

Best Home Network Router

The first thing we need is a good network router. Your ISP will provide you with a modem/router which sometimes also has a built-inaccess point. So you might think, why not use just the default modem/router?

Well, you have no controlover security, the features are limited and the WiFi coverage is terrible. Besides that, the modem/router from the ISP needs to be placed close to the internet cable, which is in most cases, not the place where you want to use the wireless network.

So what makes a good router? If we look on the internet most brands advertise with the speed of the wireless connection, how many Mbps the router can handle etc. But what we are looking for is

• Easy to manage preferred a simple-to-use web interface
• Fast (amount of packages per second it can process, the throughput)
• Supports QoS (quality of service, so we can prioritize streaming media and gaming)
• Fanless (fans make noise and attract dust into the device)

What I dont care about is their WiFi performance. A router is never placed in the optimal position for good WiFi coverage. And good WiFi coverage and speed is the most important part of a good home network. We will leave the WiFi to the access points, there are built for that.

Which router should you buy?

Now there are many routers on the market, but I have the best experience with the UniFi or Edge routers, both from Ubiquiti. You might have never heard of them, but they make enterprise-class network equipment for a really great price.

I use only UniFi or Edge network gear for home networks, and it has never let me down.

UniFi Next-Gen Gateway Lite

The UniFi line uses a controller that you can run on your computer or with a cloud key. You can use one controller to manage all your UniFi devices and get a clear overview of your network performance and connected clients.

The performance of the devices is enterprise-grade, and the prices are really good. They support all the must-have features, like QoS, Advanced Firewall, VLAN support, and VPN. You can get a Unifi USG on Amazon for around $ 130.

Also, make sure that you check out my UniFi Dream Machine pro review. The all-in-one UniFi console.

EdgeRouter X

If online gaming, streaming, or video conferencing is important for you (or your household), then go for the Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X.

The EdgeRouter X is capable of handling100 to 250mbit internet connections with QoS enabled. The USG can only handle a 60mbit internet connection with QoS.

Another advantage of the ERX is that costs only around $50 on Amazon. I have written a detailedguide on how to install and set up the EdgeRouter X and optimize it for the best performance.

You can use the EdgeRouter also as an OpenVPN client. So you can protect your whole network with your favorite VPN providers like NordVPN or ExpressVPN

Netgear Nighthawk (RAX43)

If you dont want to go for a Ubiquiti product, then the Netgear NightHawk (RAX43) is a really good and popular option. This is one of the most bought routers on Amazon for a good reason.

The Nighthawk RAX43 AX4200 has dynamic QoS. QoS prioritizes the network traffic, for example, streaming (Netflix, YouTube), and video conferencing (Skype) traffic is more important than normal download network traffic. So this is given a higher priority and is handled first over the network.

If you dont want, or cant place dedicated access points in your house, then this is the router you should get. The wifi performance is great and blazing fast.

The Netgear is more expensive than the USG or the EdgeRouter.

Home Network Switch

Connecting network devices by wire is the best solution if you want stability and performance. Wireless networks are prone to interference which can be really frustrating when you are watching your favorite series on Netflix or competing in an online game. So when you have the opportunity, pull cables to every location in your house to ensure a good, reliable, home network.

Tip

If you want to know more about wiring your home network, then make sure you read this article where I will go more into detail on wiring your network.

When I remodeled my home I pulled some extra wires to the TV and HiFi set. Yes, the Smart TV supports WiFi, but the built-in antenna is surrounded by metal which weakens the signal. And I hate it when Netflix keeps buffering, so if you have the chance, get an ethernet cable between your TV and router.

How many ports do you need?

So as part of our home network setup, we need a good switch to connect all the devices together. Most routers come with 4 LAN ports, so if you are only going to use WiFi in your home, then a switch is not needed.

In all the other cases, I recommend getting at least an 8-port switch with PoE (Power over Ethernet) to connect everything. Why 8-ports? Well, let me take you through a shortlist of common network devices:

1. You need one port of the switch to connect the router
2. Access point ground floor (requires PoE)
3. Access point second floor (requires PoE)
4. NAS (Network Attached Storage / External hard drive)
5. Smart TV
6. Game Console
7. Smart Thermostat (some connect over wifi, others need a bridge)
8. Office / Computer

You see, nothing really special here and I already used the 8-ports. When buying a switch keep the following in mind:

• PoE support, this way you can connect an access point with only an ethernet cable.
• vLAN support, you want to separate your guest network from your own.
• Gigabit Ethernet speed

UniFi Lite 8 PoE

To take full advantage of the UniFi products, we will go with a UniFi Switch with PoE. The PoE (Power over Ethernet) allows you to connect the UniFi Access Points with only an ethernet cable, eliminating the need for a PoE adapter (and extra power sockets)

The UniFi line is again enterprise-grade hardware for a good price. Combining all the UniFi products will allow us to manage our network with just one controller. It will make your life and network a lot easier. The UniFi Switch will cost you around $110,- on Amazon, but that is money well spent.

If you need more than 8 ports, then there is also a 16-port version of this switch.

Netgear ProSafe series

Netgear has a lot of switch models, plastic housing, metal, managed, non-managed, big, small, grey, blue But what we want is a managed switch, 8 to 16 ports, and gigabit ethernet.

The ProSafe series is the best choice for home and small businesses. They can be wall-mounted really nicely, have a lifetime warranty, and have all the essential networking features. The ProSafe is a little bit more expensive compared to the UniFi, but it comes with more ports, so you only need one of them. Check the price on Amazon if you are interested.

So these are my two goto switches, I have used them both many times and they never let me down.

Home Wireless Network

For every business or home network setup, I just use one brand for the access points, Ubiquiti UniFi. Why? Because they are so easy to manage and have such a great performance they are the best value for money in my opinion.

So to get the best wireless network, we need to understand the layout and structure of our house and identify the places where the most Wireless devices are.

Yes, you can place an access point in the hallway, but if there is a concrete wall between the hall and the living room, then your wireless signal will suffer from the concrete and rebar.

UniFi has multiple access points, you can read more in this article on choosing the right access point for your network and installing the access points. If you go for the all-UniFi solution, make sure you check out the Unifi Product bundles on Amazon to save some money.

Home Network Basics

So before we start with setting up our home network, let me talk you through some basics to help you understand how a home network works.

In a network, all devices get an IP address. Each device has a unique IP address in the network. This way all the devices can communicate with each other.

Your router has always a fixed IP address, this way you are able to easily log in to your router, you simply go to http://192.168.1.1 or http://192.168.0.1.

DHCP vs Fixed Ip Address

In a network, a device has either a fixed IP address or gets an IP address from the DHCP server. The DHCP server is built-in into your router and assigns a unique IP address for a specific time to a computer.

This way you can not only use your notebook or mobile phone in your home network but also at the office for example. When your notebook connects with the wireless network from the office it will request an IP address from the DHCP server at your office.

Now its good practice to give a fixed network device a fixed IP address. This way you always know how to connect to them. Think of your network printer, access point, or NAS. When you leave your network printer on DHCP it will get a new IP Address every time its restarted, resulting in that you will lose the connection to your printer.

So in our home network setup, we will give our fixed network devices a fixed IP address so we can easily manage them when necessary.

Home Network Setup

We now have all the gear we need for our network. All is left to connect and install everything and we are done. Sound simple right?

Let me help you with that

Note

If you go for the all UniFi solution a recommend getting an Unifi Cloud Key. With the Cloud Key, you can manage your home network from the cloud and it eliminates the need for a local controller (which you can install on a Raspberry Pi for example)

Home Network Diagram

So we have all the parts, but how do you set it up? First a little diagram of how your network setup could look like:

As you can see we have a modem that we got from our ISP, the Router (EdgeRouter ER-X in this case), a switch, multiple access points, and a Cloud Key.

Now no matter what router you bought (or already have), the basics are the same. The router from the ISP will only be used to set up the internet connection. Further, it will only forward all the traffic to our own router.

I always give network devices a fixed IP address and use DHCP only for clients. This way you know how and where to reach your network equipment when something is not working.

Step 1 Connect the router to the modem

Most ISPs combine a modem and router into one device. This way you can just plug in your computer and it all works. But we want the best home network setup possible, so we need to disable the router function of the ISPs modem/router.

What you will have to keep in mind is that every router you buy has a fixed IP address already set from the factory and 9 out of 10 times it is 192.168.1.1 and thats a problem. Because if two devices in the network have the same IP address then they cant talk to each other.

As you can see in the big diagram above, the router from the ISP and our own router have a different IP Range than our internal network (colored orange).

Change IP address and DHCP

So we are going to start with changing network settings in the router from the ISP:

• Press Windows Key + R
• Type cmd <enter>

The good old dos box (Windows Command Prompt) opens. Enter the following command:

ipconfig <enter>

It will give you a result similar to this:

As you can see, the default address of my ISPs router is also 192.168.1.1, so when we connect our new router to the router of the ISP we will get a conflict.

So first you need to login to your ISP router, on http://192.168.1.1 and change the IP range in the DHCP settings to something like 192.168.0.10 192.168.0.100 and make the IP address of the router itself 192.168.0.1

You will find the DHCP settings somewhere under Network Settings, Local Network, Network Setup, or something similar.

Set the router in Bridge or DMZ mode

To disable the router function or your ISPs router we need to set it in Bridge mode or DMZ mode. It really depends on the brand of your router on where this setting is located. Most likely on the internet settings page.

Disable the built-in access point

Because we are logged into our router, we might just also disable the wifi so we dont have to come back later. But before you do this, make sure you are connected to your router with a network cable. Otherwise, you will lose the connection to your router.

Find the Wireless settings page and disable the WiFi so it wont interfere with our new access point.

Connect new router

We now can safely connect our new router, just connect a cable between the LAN port of your ISP router to the WAN or Eth0 port of your new router. And because we need our computer connected as well, a cable from a LAN port of our new router to your computer:

In the case of an UniFi USG router, you now need to connect the Cloud Key to set up the controller. This way you can adapt all the network devices. I wont go into detail about this now.

Step 2 Setting up our new Router

So our new router is connected to one of the ISP. We now need to set up our new router. I created a detailed guide for the Edgerouter ER-X. If you have chosen another router then you can follow the step below as a guideline for your home network setup:

Change the default password

Security in our home network is something you always have to take care of. Make sure you change the default password of the router to something unique and strong. Default passwords are listed on the internet, so you really shouldnt use those.

Setup the DHCP server

We want to keep the IP address above 192.168.1.200 available for the fixed network devices. So make sure the DHCP range is set to something like 192.168.1.10 to 192.168.1.199. This way we have enough IP addresses available for our access points, network printers, etc.

DNS Server

DNS Servers translate domain names, like lazyadmin.nl, to an IP address. So your computer can connect to the server where the site is hosted. Now some DNS servers are relatively slow while others are blazing fast.

You can find the fastest DNS server for you, but most of the time 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 are the fastest DNS server available. Another advantage of 1.1.1.1 is that they respect your privacy, more info about that here.

Step 3 Connect the switch

This one is pretty easy, just put a cable between the LAN port of your new router and the switch. If you have a managed switch, then check the documentation on how to log in into the web interface.

Some switches come with a fixed IP address, others have a tool to find the device. What I often use for strange networks, is a small program called Advanced Ip Scanner. This small, free tool, scans your network and lists all connected devices and their IP addresses.

When you are logged in to switch, give it a fixed IP address, so you dont have to search for it again.

Step 4 Access Points

Depending on the access point you have and the switch that youve bought, it can be as simple as connecting an ethernet cable between the switch and the access point. But when you have a switch without PoE, then you need to place the PoE adapter between the switch and the access point.

If you did go for the Unifi access point, and you should have, then open the Unifi Controller (or app if you want to install them without controller), and adopt the access points. A full guide on how to install the Unifi Access Points can be found here

The best location for the access point

The placement of the access point is a really important part of your home network setup. Placing it in the right location makes all the difference in a good wifi connection or not. In the Unifi Controller is an option the create a floorplan with your devices placed on it.

You can use this map to find the perfect location for your access points. The map allows you to draw different types of walls, each with its own characteristics. Next, you can place your access point on it and turn on the heat map.

You will see how much of the signal is blocked by the walls, doors, and windows, so you get a good idea of what the perfect location is. I made a few examples to give you an idea.

In the first floor plan, the access point is placed at the entrance. Its typically used location because people dont like the view of an access point on the ceiling of their living room. As you can see, the 5G coverage in the living room is poor, the slower 2G coverage is ok.

When you place the access point in the living room, where most of the wireless devices are, you will get a good connection with great performance. So I really suggest that you first draw up your floorplan in the controller, so you can find the best location for the access point.

Home Network Security

Separate Guest WiFi Network

After we have done our home network setup its time to think about its security of it and the devices on it. We all get guests in our house, it can be friends, family, or relatives and they all have cell phones. You might be tempted to give them your WiFi password, but what if their device has malware or a virus on it? Your network could be infected as well.

Most modern access points allow you to create multiple SSIDs (WiFI networks), so create one for your guests. But thats not all you have to do, the goal is to separate the guest network traffic from your own network. And thats where VLANs come in (remember what to keep in mind when looking for a new switch).

Create a separate VLAN for your guest network to keep your network safe. When creating a VLAN you need to create the VLAN on the router first, and then assign the VLAN to the guest SSID in the access point.

If you have gone for the Unifi solution you can also use the Unifi Guest Network to prevent guests from accessing your local network. Read more about the guest network and guest portal in this article.

Scan internet traffic

To keep our network safe, we need to prevent malware and other malicious traffic. This can be done with a free service called OpenDNS. When you browse the internet, every URL you type is converted to an IP address.

So when you type www.google.com, its converted by a DNS server to the correct IP address (for example 172.217.19.196 ). This conversion is done by DNS servers, and there are many DNS servers available. Your ISP has one, Google, Microsoft, etc.

What OpenDNS does is keep a list of known malicious servers. When your computer makes a request to www.fakebanksite.com it will check if that site is on the knownlist and block the traffic. This way it protects you from phishing and other malicious websites

OpenDNS is free for personal use and I really recommend using it. All it takes is changing the DNS servers in your new router to their DNS server to protect your network.

OpenDNS is also one of the fastest DNS servers available, so a really good choice next to 1.1.1.1.

Change the default network name (SSID)

New routers and access points come with a default WiFi network name (SSID) and password. You should always change this immediately after you connect everything. Hackers can easily guess the password based on the manufacturer of the router or access point.

Choose an SSID name that doesnt give away any personal information like your family name or address.

Regular update the firmware of your network appliances

All network appliances, routers, access points, switches, smart devices, and printers, need to be updated regularly to keep them secure. Creating a good home network isnt a one-time task, you need to keep it updated.

The firmware updates can address security vulnerabilities and improve your network devices performance. So every two months or so, check for the latest updates and apply them to the devices.

If you are using the Unifi network gear, then you can check it easily for all the devices from the controller.

I hope you found this guide useful, if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.

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