Product Description

The beauty of a home network is that it can make life so easy--what could be better than sharing an Internet connection so that everyone can be online at the same time? With home networking you can move files from one computer to another, share resources, print to a single printer or multiple printers from any computer in the house, and IM the kids when they're holed up in their rooms. And the downside? Anyone who's ever had to troubleshoot a network glitch doesn't need to ask that question. The simple words, "Why can't I print? Why can't I get to the Internet? Why does my computer say 'Access Denied' today, when it worked fine yesterday?" are enough to send the home network administrator running for cover. And the concept of "network security" can keep the soundest sleeper tossing and turning all night. Currently, more than 8 million homes in the US have installed a network of some kind, and within five years, that number is expected to jump to 37 million. This speaks to the availability of easy-to-install home networking products. Unfortunately, there's also a glut of potential headaches that can occur after installation (and during, sometimes) with no warning label on the box saying, "This product sure to cause annoyances." But help is here. Home Networking Annoyances will ease the headaches and annoyances of anyone who runs a home network. This book tackles all the common annoyances associated with running your network--whether it's wired or wireless, or a combination thereof. Its friendly, off-the-cuff approach will put you in a position of power over those home networking glitches, including file sharing, printing, cabling, security, and much more. You'll find dozens of on-target tips, workarounds, and fixes that will help you improve your home networking experience in every way possible. Whether you're a mainstream business user or a home user with newly installed network hardware, you've probably had your patience tested by frustrating network maintenance issues. Take a stand against annoyances now: just as the bestselling PC Annoyances brought peace and happiness to PC users everywhere, Home Networking Annoyances is your ticket to serenity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #336898 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-25
• Format: Illustrated
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

About the Author
Kathy Ivens has spent more than 20 years as a computer consultant, and has been writing computer books for more than 10 years. As a result, relatives, friends, and neighbors beat a path to her door for help. Thankfully, she has decided to share her pearls of wisdoms with the rest of us. In addition to books, Kathy also writes about computers for a variety of magazines and newspapers, and is a Senior Contributing Editor of Windows IT Pro magazine.

Customer Reviews

The Book Quickly Solved a Problem I had
I have a home network. Well, really it's a small network in a home that I use for business. I don't know if that's a home or business network. But anyway, I have one.

It's working at the moment.

The reason it's working is because I bought this book. The data comes in on a DSL line into a D-Link router. I usually write things like IP address, login name, password, etc. on a slip of paper and tape it to the bottom of the device. I have a good memory, but short, and this helps.

No login name oe password on the router. I picked up this book, and on page 28 there the annoyance -- Getting to the router. Here she gives the IP address of the router (and those of Belkin, Linksys, and Netgear) as well as the default user names and passwords.

Fixing just one problem like this makes this book well worth while. And reading the rest of the book (fast to read because you only look at the annoyance and skip the answer if it doesn't apply to your problem of the moment) gave me several better understandings of some of the problems that I've faced before.

This is a beginning to intermediate level book on home networking. It's a lot more than just annoyances.

A Missed Opportunity
To quote a friend of mine "This book has the wrong name. Instead of being called "Home Networking Annoyances," the name of the book should be "Why Windows Is Hard To Network." Yes, this book does talk all about home networking, but it only mentions Windows operating systems." Any one using any other operating system should not waste their time or money. It is unfortunate that the author is so narrow in her view as the topic is of considerable interest to many users of computers other than those operating under Windows.

clear explanations
A grab-bag of hardware and software fixes. Logically, the book starts with discussing hardware problems. Simply because if you can't overcome some of these, you won't have any software problems. Frankly, this hardware section is the most important part of the book. Grubby, but often occurring issues like how to run ethernet between rooms or floors in a building. It's things like this that make some people opt for wireless connections. Much cleaner and easier, right? Well, Ivens explains that you get other problems. Like a greater risk of evesdropping. Or your wireless transmissions might be blocked by metal objects in your environment.

Don't take the "Home" in the book's title too literally. Much of the book can be germane to you having to set up a network in a workplace.

A lot of the book's value is in how Ivens plainly and simply explains the problems and their fixes. In very nontechnical terms that make it clear what you can do to resolve the problems.