Microsoft Vista Home Networking Setup and Options
The most daunting part of upgrading to Windows Vista may be trying to figure out where in the layers of menus the networking and file-sharing options are hidden.
Tips for Securing Your Home Router
Seemingly minor and easily overlooked settings can still have profound security implications. Here are some steps you can take to make sure your wired or wireless home router — and by extension, your network — is as secure as possible.
Most Popular Reviews
Microsoft Windows Home Server
If you have a home network, you'll welcome the easy file sharing, remote access and the image-based backup features of Windows Home Server.
Iomega StorCenter Network Hard Drive
Iomega's fourth generation StorCenter Network Hard Drive brings many of the features found in higher-end storage devices down to an attractive price.
MikroTik's The Dude
This free tool delivers many of the same capabilities that you'd find in pricey network monitoring tools. As long as you don't mind tinkering, The Dude is a decent network utility that should be worth the download.
I'm an @HOME user and using a hardware router. I can't reach
the "http://www/" startup page.
NOTE:
This solution also helps if you can't send or receive mail from a Client
computer, access your news server, or web browse in general.
This is a common problem with @Home users and other users
whose ISP does not use FQDNs (Fully Qualified Domain Names) for their
servers. (@Home typically names their mail server mail,
when they should name it mail.home.com or mail.altoona.home.com
or something similar.)
The non FQDNs work fine when computers are connected directly
to the @Home network. But when you install a sharing program or
hardware router between computers and the @Home network, the Client computers
need some help to form the proper FQDNs.
1) You first need to find the domain that you are
in.
(
that you may have to temporarily disconnect the router and reconnect a
computer directly to the cable modem to do this! You might also
be connected to multiple domains, so you might need to check
your domain from more than one computer. Thanks to Peter Richeson
for this tip!)
Open an MSDOS window and type
ping www as shown below.
C:\>ping www
Pinging lh2.rdc1.ab.home.com [24.64.2.55] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 24.64.2.55: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=252
2) The domain name is contained in this part of the ping return: rdc1.ab.home.com NOTE:
This is an example. Your domain name will probably be different.
3) Go to your Router's administration page or program and look
for a Domain name setting. Enter the domain name and save
the information.
4) Either reboot your Client computers, or run winipcfg (if you
need help to do this go here) select
your Ethernet adapter and click the Release and Renew buttons.
You should see the Host Name information at the top of the winipcfg
window change to look like the information that you entered in the router
Domain name box.
You should now be able to access the @Home startup page.
If things still aren't working, you may have to modify
your Client computers' DNS information. Go
here to find out how.