Installing a Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) Network – CompTIA A+® Certification All-In-One For Dummies®, 2nd Edition [Book]

1.11. Installing a Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) Network

When installing a Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) network — a home office network or a network to be used by a small office with a few employees — you need a number of network components to get the network up and running. This section introduces you to the network components needed to build a small network.

The first major component that you need is a home router, which is a multifunctional device that provides you with all the network components that are needed for your SOHO. Then decide whether to go wired or wireless. If you opt for wired, you need the appropriate type of cabling. If you go wireless, make sure you get a wireless router. Finally, you might want to think about using a server. After the networking nuts and bolts are in place, think about security.

1.11.1. Functions and benefits of a home router

A home router has a WAN port that you use to connect to your high-speed Internet connection. This could connect to your cable modem or your DSL modem, and will be used to share the Internet connection with any users on the network.

The following is a list of benefits to having the home router in your SOHO network:

• DHCP: The first feature of the home router that is important is that the home router is a DHCP server, which is responsible for assigning IP addresses to clients on the network so that they can gain network access.

• Internet sharing: The home router will also share the Internet connection that is plugged …