Despite the fact that almost 90 percent of the country has access to the internet, there are still many misconceptions out there about household internet access, networking and the difference between the two. When you move into your first place on your own, there are some things that you need to know about internet connectivity and household network structures.
You Don't Have To Have Internet Access To Establish A Network
The word network is often misconstrued as another word for internet. This isn't the case. In fact, a network is simply a collection of more than one computer and electronic devices connected together so that they can communicate and access central data. You can do this with or without internet access.
Networking the computers, printers and other devices in your house can be convenient, because it's easier for everyone on those devices to access and share information among each other. For example, you can save presentations on the hard drive of your desktop and then access them from your laptop in the other room if the folders are shared on the network. You can also connect printers to the network to allow everyone in the house to print wirelessly to the same printer.
Your Bandwidth Rating Isn't Guaranteed
When you do decide to invest in internet service for your home, part of the package selection includes choosing the upload and download speeds that you want. While you might assume that this means every file you transfer will be moved at those quoted speeds, you'll actually find that your upload and download speeds will fluctuate some. In most cases, your file transfers will likely be very close to those peak transfer rates.
However, there are some situations where it may be slower. For example, if there are many computers sharing your internet connection or you're doing something that demands a lot of bandwidth, like streaming a movie, while you're downloading. If you have any questions about your actual speeds or you want to see how close your actual speeds are compared to the quotes from your internet service provider, there are many sites out there to allow you to test your speeds. You simply visit the site, click the button to start the test and then it will display the final results so that you can see what your actual speeds are at any given time.
If you're ready to set up your home network and secure an internet connection, it's time to reach out to a local internet service provider for help. Your internet provider can help you establish an in-home network as well with the necessary networking equipment to ensure sufficient communication between the devices.
