Windows Tools, Help & Guides

If you don’t have a home network set up or if you have some of the components you need but haven’t set everything up yet, this guide is for you. In this guide, I show you what hardware you need to set up a home network, where to get it (if you’re in the UK), and give the basics of connecting it all together.

Please note that this is assuming you have an ADSL subscription (i.e. BT, TalkTalk, Sky, etc), and not Cable (i.e. Virgin). Also, whatever ISP (Internet Service Provider) you are using, if you have joined within the last few years, they should have sent you a free wireless router, with cables, anyway. If they haven’t, and you’re out of your contract, you should be able to speak to them and get them to send you the equipment out for free. For example, BT would send you their Home Hub, which is a really decent piece of hardware (especially as you can run a virtual “phone line” off of it, with BT BroadBand Talk!)

This guide is part of the Home Network Setup, Sharing, Streaming, and Backup Series. Learn more about setting up a home network, configuring file sharing and streaming, and performing network backups on the series homepage.

If you’re in the United States, please use the US guide to pick hardware. Otherwise, read on:

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If you don’t have a home network set up or if you have some of the components you need but haven’t set everything up yet, this guide is for you. In this guide, I show you what hardware you need to set up a home network, where to get it (if you’re in the US), and give the basics of connecting it all together.
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ASUS has a unique software called EPU-6 Engine that monitors your energy consumption and CO2 emissions of your system. I have utilized this software and have found it to be dependable and beneficial. It allows the system to exhibit minimal cooling to maximum cooling, either auto or manual settings. Completely configurable through the GUI, this software is a must for the gaming machine that has many cooling fans.
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One of the worst things for any electronic component is “heat”. Cooling is essential for electronic components! Every six months I clean the inside of my system and perform maintenance on the electrical contacts of each card. REMEMBER Grounding is essential always when performing maintenance.

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Build your own PC

USE NO MAGNETIC TOOLS

Step-1 is to obtain the case from a computer parts warehouse of your choice. I recommend Tiger Direct. Make sure you have planned ahead for your hardware i.e. video cards, memory, memory speed, bus speed, processor, all associated fans for cooling, modem if so desired, hard drives and the chosen size, whether you desire SCSI, SATA, IDE etc. Your DVD/RW, USB devices, Card Readers, what ever hardware you choose make sure that your case is of a good quality and that the power supply is of enough wattage to support all your hardware installed with enough left over as not to tax and overheat the power supply itself. I would recommend at least an overage of 50-100 watts above my hardware requirements.

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