Two problems with Tivo: 1) it's an American thing and not available in Canada and b) I refuse to pay monthly or subscription fees. I just want a DVR: a VCR with a hard disk to store content and a DVD burner to archive things I want to keep.

With my cellphone comment I suppost I digress a bit; I'd like to be able to keep a single contact list on my PC that feeds my email, cellphone, PDA, etc. It's crazy that we're still maintaining the same info in different places.

Who was that directed at?

DSL from QWest to Linksys RT31P2 (soon to be dumped for a DI-604) to DLink Gigabit. Off of the gigabit is 1tb of Ximeta NDAS, 2 replaytv 50xx's, 1 replay/dvarchive machine, and a 100bt switch. Whole house is CAT5e or 6 and the 5 or 6 PC's connect to it along with a Laserjet. Have a DI-524 with 5db ant used to only connect toshiba wifi netcam. All the network gear is on a UPS as are some of the PC's.

The things I am missing (aka, I'd like them but am too lazy or poor to get them)

1) Mediacenter extender: as much as I hate XP MCE I would like to be able to stream my video in a little more efficient manner.

2) DVD changer/server, I've been toying with the idea of getting an Escient Fireball or a Kaleidescape but I barely have enough time to watch my Tivo content at the moment... Perhaps I'll just get a couple of Sony 400 DVD changers but the thought of having them all online at the same time is pretty neat...

3) Quicker email/internet in the house... I'm still looking for that perfect little tablet for in the house, I'd love a couple of in-wall systems for home automation, music etc... but don't want to fork out $2000 per unit. I've tried all kinds of cheap solutions like the 3Com Audrey and most recently a nokia 770 but none satisfied me enough...

SBC DSL into a LinkSys wireless router in my home office. That is connected by wire to another LinkSys wireless router which is a slave to the first providing a hot spot in the family room on the other side of the house. The server runs the network printer and is connected by wire to the first router. All of the laptops are wireless.

I use a couple of old phone numbers as the security key as I can remember them and they can't be found on the web.

My TIVO is a Series 1 and has none of the cool series 2 features.

I use LinkSys equipment as the support is second to none when getting this stuff working and well worth a few dollars more.

Try the All in Wonder card in a desk top. It works well as a DVR but you need to know exactly when your program is on to record. The TIVO records a better picture but a Series 1 cannot send things to a DVD burner.

I use a Comcast DVR which has 2 tuners so I can record 2 programs at once along with my old TIVO and the server with a tuner. For 5 bucks a month the Comcast unit is a bargain. It also records HDTV which no TIVO will do yet.

Ok ScottC... think I might give you a run ...
http://master.nickdawson.net/Shared%...ents/NSnet.htm
That is my current network diagram for home.

I'm not willing to give away my motives for this thread 100% but here's part of it..

For connection I have a 30mbs/10mbs FiOS connection (thanks work!) with 10 statics
At home I have- like some of you- a windows domain...
2 windows 2003 servers on the LAN
1 Windows 2003 box on my DMZ
1 IPcop router (linux)
3 macs (soon to be 4, thanks santa!) (Two Minis hooked to TVs)
2 XP laptops for work (belong to work, not me)
1 XP desktop (my every day box)
1 Asterisk Linux based VoIP server
4 VoIP hard phones (including one, I'm poud to say, in the master bathroom john)
2 VoIP soft phones (on Wifi Subnet)
3 Apple Airport expresses - WPA w/ RADIUS (LAN)
1 Linksys WRT45g - Wide open, MAC filtering on IPcop (WiFi subnet)
1 PocketPC
3 DirecTV TiVos (1 HD)
1 stand alone series 2 TiVo
1 xbox
And a frickin' partridge in a pear tree

My point is (not bragging rights like it sounds, or an empty wallet) is that *I* can do AMAZING things, my wife can do neat things, the average Joe wouldn't have a clue how to use this stuff....
To start, when we bought the house we started remodeling, so the first thing I did was drop something like 32 network drops (3 bedroom, 1700ft cape cod)... at the time I thought it was overkill...now I'm out of ports in some places....

I download IPTV, I rip DVDs and CDs, buy music online, send it around the house and to all our iPods, etc... I can do a lot of neat stuff...

BUT, if this concept of a digital life is to succed how is the average Joe supposed to do it? That is the question. Does everyone need to get a structured wire guy in and drop ports? Does everyone need a few access points (that will be slow and outdated in a year)... how does the average joe make it all work together? I'm about to build a MythTV box and I'm just thinking how daunting it is. I think the average person wants control over their content, but the providers and the device makers keep it so locked down. Either no one will adopt, or if they do they will not like not being able to transfer a video from Apple to their Slingbox, etc.. So, whats the answer?

Comcast Modem to the AirPort Extreme
APE to 24 Port Switch
Switch - One Connection to VoIP Router

Switch - Replay Units (2) Video
Switch - Win2k Puter
Switch - G4 Server
Switch - MiniMac

Airport - G4 12''

3 Airport Expresses - Bedroom/Bedroom/Living Room for music

The APE is on a CLOSED network, you have to have the SSID name inorder to log on. I do this since WEP slows down my traffic since it has to encode/decode everything.

Isn't turning off SSID braodcast almost pointless? I believe sniffing the SSID is trivial -- *much* easier than cracking WEP.

Well, I suppose it isn't ointless as it will keep computer-illiterate neighbours off your network.

There are DVD recorders with built-in hard disks that will record tv and then to DVD.

All cell phones sync with computers so your data only needs to be maintained in one area.

Comcast into a Linksys BEFSR41 (IIRC) a wire runs from that to the 1st floor where it is connected to a WFCT54G Linksys wireless router. I have two PCs wired to that router and a videophone also wired to that router. The 2nd router is setup not as a router, but as a switch. The reason for doing that way is that the video phone doesn't work with the 2nd router / switch. I use laptops to connect wirelessly also. I have the WPA security set up, MAC filtering, renamed SSID, turned off SSID broadcast, etc...

[QUOTE=gunnar]Isn't turning off SSID braodcast almost pointless? [QUOTE]

Utterly pointless...
And not to be confused with security... Just b/c your network isn't easily discoverably, doesn't have anything to do with how the traffic interacts with the AP.

One bedroom + office NYC apartment. Time Warner RR cable modem into D-Link DI102 VoIP accelerator and then into a Buffalo wireless VPN router (WZR-RS-G54). On the wired network (also includes a linksys 8 port switch) are:
-- Sling Box (controls Time Warner SA Explorer 8300 digital cable box)
-- Maxtor shared storage hard drive
-- Cisco VoIP ATA (using Vonage, connected to apartment's telephone wiring)
-- Netgear print server on an old laserjet
-- Multifunction printer with HP Jet Direct
-- Docking stations for laptops

For wireless, I have a high-gain omni direction external antenna (to help overcome interference from the 40+ wireless networks visible from my apartment). Security is WPA-PSK. Three laptops and an HP Digital Entertainment Center PC use the wireless network.

The HP media center is in the living room. It is mainly used for iTunes at the moment. Windows XP MCE is pretty crappy. I haven't gotten around to making it work better. I have an SA Explorer 8300 HD DVR from time warner, so there is not much need to use the PVR functions of the media center PC. There is another HD DVR from time warner in the bed room. I wish these were networked so that I could transfer recordings between them and control them remotely. I could probably get more functionality from TiVO, but I really like the simplicity of the time warner DVR. Hopefully time warner will increase the DVR functionality. I generally find it quite annoying how difficult it is to get all this crap to work together like I would like it.

Look,

The fundamental problem most of us have is that we have a wild network. We don't go into this with a plan, and because we buy gadgets as needed/wanted ("shiny thingy!" factor) rather than as a planned expansion, we quickly lose control of the environment as a whole and end up with a group of connections running hither and yon.

The place to start solving this problem is to decide what you're doing and what you want to do. THEN apply the technology to create a solution. As opposed to adding technology and then finding a use for it.

That said, the best idea is probably to start with a requirements discussion, as a person needing remote access has diferent needs than someone who cares more about access to stored media for entertainment. One size does not fit all. Maybe you're that third person who wants or needs both of the above.

Once you've decided what it is you want your network to do, you can move to functional design. This is where you get creative about technology application, and try to keep in mind likely expansion paths. By example, if you bought a bluetooth capable PDA a few years ago there wasn't much use for it. Now, however, you can use a BT enabled phone and a BT enabled PDA to surf or do email pretty much anywhere at anytime with no wires involved at all. With a BT adapter on your PC, you can then sync it at home without extra cables. Make a list of the required bits and pieces to reach your final short term goals while providing for expansion.

Eventually, you should end up with an orderly core group, including a wireless capable switch/router, a media center PC connected to your home entertainment system, and perhaps one or two other PC's or laptops for work and gaming and the like. That's your core. From there, you expand outwards to your peripherals like your PDA or cellphone etc via bluetooth.

Really, it's as simple as making two lists: Needs & Wants. Populate them both, configuring or reconfiguring your current arrangement to meet the first list as much as is possible. Then work on the second list in the same way. When you're done, work on acquiring and setting up the remaining "Needs" first, then repeat the process for "Wants".

At the end, you've met both requirements and done so in a logical fashion and provided for future expansion and peripherals.

Regards,
-Bouncer-

Can anyone be more specific about how they have their printer set up on their network? Currently, I have 2 laptops running off my wireless router (and 2 tivos hardwired to it). I would love to be able to send stuff to my printer without having to plug the USB cable into my laptops. I currently just have an HP deskjet - do I need a print server, a better printer, or both? If someone could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.