How would you network your home if you had a blank slate? Wired or wireless? Our house is about to be almost entirely demolished and we have the opportunity to 'future-proof' our home. Given that the walls are down, should we take the chance to fill them full of wires? If so, what sort? [more inside]
posted by hydrophobic on Jul 21, 2009 - 22 answers

What's the best way for my wife and I to merge our computing equipment such that we both have access to everything? [more inside]
posted by specialnobodie on Apr 9, 2009 - 10 answers

Home networking question: What piece of hardware do I need to share a ... actually I don't know how to phrase it correctly so I've included links to 2 simple schematic drawings. I need help connecting a file server and an Xbox 360 to my home network. [more inside]
posted by penduluum on Nov 30, 2008 - 12 answers

I'm looking for inspiration on how to reduce computer clutter. I run a lot of machines and make them do a lot of cool things, but in a 92sqm apartment where we're also trying to manage massive DVD, magazine, and book libraries, and where my previous work station (which was never all that orderly) has been conquered by my girlfriend's rampaging makeup and sewing stuff, it ain't easy. I want to compartmentalize, organize, and speed up the process of accessing my stuff. Ideas? [more inside]
posted by saysthis on Nov 29, 2008 - 10 answers

Our home builder installed cat6 network cable for me as a favor, but now that we've moved in, a cable tester now reports it as shorting out. Wires 5&6 are shorting. I guess they treated the cable too roughly. Does anyone have any advice for me on using the old cable to pull new cable through the walls to the second floor? If I was to install a messenger cable for future pulls at the same time, what should I use for that? [more inside]
posted by Jupiter Jones on Apr 25, 2008 - 11 answers

My home network isn't cooperating. It worked fine for months, and then, unexpectedly (after a day of bad electricity (I hate my power company)), it isn't. [more inside]
posted by TrueVox on Jul 17, 2007 - 15 answers

Home Media Networking Filter: Advice for building a home media network with virtually unlimited budget. [more inside]
posted by anotherpanacea on Apr 6, 2007 - 16 answers

I'm interested in setting up network-attached storage for my media, which mostly consists of digital photos (iPhoto) and 70+ GB music accessed via iTunes. I'd appreciate any links to blogs, etc. discussing this sort of thing for the Mac. [more inside]
posted by cahlers on Feb 5, 2007 - 10 answers

Not-My-Walls-To-Cut-Through-Filter: Anyone have experience running Cat5 through HVAC ducts? [more inside]
posted by datacenter refugee on Jan 14, 2007 - 15 answers

Network Attached Storage for dummies 2 [a follow-up to this post]: If you backup your home computers to a device that's also sitting in your home, do you then take additional backups off site? And what about encryption? (Thinking of fire, or if the babysitter walks out of the house with the NAS drive in her backpack.) [more inside]
posted by Dave 9 on Sep 14, 2006 - 11 answers

Are there any inexpensive home routers with support for traffic shaping? I'm willing to load third-party firmware as long as it's stable and cheap. [more inside]
posted by Eamon on Jul 23, 2005 - 7 answers

How do I extract a file from my Tivo and put it onto my computer? [more inside]
posted by anastasiav on May 5, 2005 - 9 answers

I've just recently set up my first wireless home network consisting of a Win XP box on a cable modem hooked up to an AirPort Extreme sending a signal to an iBook. It's working great except for problems with my favorite p2p program (WinMX). I now have to use a "secondary" connection to the network which yeilds less effective search results and performance and I am unable to upload files to the network. My research tells me that I need to do some fiddling with my firewall to make things work better, which is uncharted territory for me. Does anyone know what I need to do, and can you explain it to me in basic, clear terms. Thanks.
posted by jonmc on Feb 27, 2005 - 17 answers

Looking for recommendations on networked mp3 players for a home stereo. [+] [more inside]
posted by skwm on Jan 31, 2005 - 7 answers