STACK #185 Mar 2020

LIFE TECH FEATURE

MSITrident X

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KEY NETWORK CONSIDERATIONS

Sneaky smart home The term ‘smart home’ may feel like something out of a sci-fi series, but more and more devices around the home are getting smarter. Lightbulbs, alarms and monitoring systems, home appliances, remote controls and speakers are all smartening up these days. The more connected your home becomes, the more reliant its smooth operation is on a robust network setup. Nailing networking While the not-so-humble TV has deservedly regained its crown as the hub of the home, the chances are its capacity to entertain is hugely dependent on the configuration of your home network. That said, these days the TV isn’t the only screen we rely on for entertainment. More connected devices means more demand on your router, and with only finite Internet capacity to contend with, getting your home network in order gives you the best chance of smooth sailing. First things first, get that router in a central position. If you can, position it as high as you can. This might mean investing in an Ethernet cable, but

WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra 2-Bay NAS

trades makes it a focused master of neither. A standalone modem does a really good job of controlling the Internet side of things. And a separate router keeps networking resources laser focused on the job of handling local network tasks. The downside is two powered devices means a higher power bill, and if things go wrong, there are two main items to troubleshoot instead of one.

Casting a ’net While your home network may be capable of many gigabits-per-second of shared capacity and data transfers, any online entertainment will be restricted by the maximum speed of your home Internet connection. The now standard NBN50 speed tier has up to 50Mbps of download capacity and 20Mbps of upload, which may not be sufficient for the ’net needs of a larger home. These homes should opt for an NBN100 connection, which has up to 100Mbps download and 40Mbps upload speeds. Correct config The right networking equipment and configuration gives your home the best chance of being seamlessly entertained.

something like a five- metre Belkin Cat-5e Snagless Ethernet Cable can help connect router to modem, or networking device to stationary connected gadgets.

Switching it up If the prospect of divvying network tasks across two devices isn’t intimidating, consider tossing in a

third. With a networking switch, even more networking resources can be freed up across devices. A modem handles the Internet. A router directs wireless traffic. And the switch exclusively takes care of wired Ethernet traffic. Despite the potential trip hazard, wired is preferable over wireless for devices that regularly transmit or stream lots of data. This includes backup or media devices like the WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra 2-Bay NAS as well as gaming devices like the Xbox One X or the MSI Trident X.

Ethernet cable

Modem vs router Modem/routers used to be all the rage. These days, some Internet service providers (ISPs) are erring towards a separation of the gadget that’s essential for Internet (modem) and the gizmo that connects in-the-home devices to each other and the Internet (router). You don’t have to stick with what your ISP may bundle with your connection, but it’s best to check with your ISP

to ensure a potential upgraded modem, router or modem/router is compatible and supported. Modem/routers do help simplify network connections by juggling two core roles. That said, being a Jack of two

Without it, wireless gear may drop out or take ages to load and even Ethernet-connected devices can be slowed to a crawl. The goal is to spend less time looking at a buffering circle and more time being entertained.

Xbox One X

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MARCH 2020

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