There are some cool additions that you can make to your home network that will make your geek friends jealous.
1. File server or NAS. I added and mounted a 1U file server in the distribution room that holds all of my multimedia. This includes a mirrored RAID with 1TB of storage for music, movies, TV shows, etc. (RAID is not a backup, but I feel better about not losing my media if a hard drive takes a dump) With this I can stream media to any computers on my network! A SOHO NAS device such as Netgear’s ReadyNAS also works well here, but I’ve found that their network performance (of NAS devices, NOT specifically the ReadyNAS which I’ve heard is tha’ bomb) doesn’t approach the gigabit speeds their network interfaces can negotiate.
2. XBMC. I have both of my Xboxes (yes the originals, no 360 yet) soft modded with XBMC loaded on them. They’re also configured with the DVD remote receivers for Xbox so I can control them from the Harmony. This allows me to stream all the multimedia on my server to either of my TVs! No more is watching Hulu or other media limited to just my computer screens.
3. Gigabit switch. I touched on this before, but upgrading to a gigabit switch allows super fast file sharing between machines on your home network. It’s probably overkill but so is a Bugatti and we all want one of those. If you can’t afford one with enough ports for your entire network, you can segregate two networks. With the patch panel, you could plug port one and two from each four-port location into the gigabit switch and the other two into the slower switch. But come on, you might as well blow the money and get the whole shebang!
4. DVR anywhere. With a file server set up, you can also install a bunch of DVR cards in it. Each card can record different shows from your cable and store them on the file server. You can then watch your recorded shows on any TV in your house with XBMC. Assuming you set up the routing and or VPN access, you can access those shows from a laptop with decent bandwidth anywhere.
5. IP phones. Some manufacturers are making IP-based telephones that can connect to the internet. Who still has a home phone!?! But if you need one, at least you can skip the phone company bill.
6. IP Cameras. You can put security cameras in any room that you’ve run network drops to and record them to your file server. No more worrying if the babysitter is shaking your kids or snooping in your bedroom.
7. Be creative!
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