Contemplating Installing a WLAN?

Let me start off by saying up front, this is NOT an ad for any particular device or company. I'm merely setting down my experiences and making some general recommendations. My first attempt at standing up a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) was just so I could have access to the Internet from anywhere in my three story townhouse. I hooked up my cable modem to a directional wireless router, and adjusted the antennae so that I had adequate coverage on all floors.

Then I made sure the LAN was secure by assigning a strong password to the router's encryption feature. All went well. I could go anywhere I pleased in our home and access the Internet. Over time, I populated each floor with a smattering of various PCs, conveniently located so I could log in whenever the whim hit me. My family also liked the convenience of being able to reach the Internet with whatever portable device they happened to hold. Just for convenience, I placed a wireless printer on each floor and linked it to the WLAN. Everything was going on smoothly.

But one glaring problem was that I was still using each PC locally, and sharing files between computers was a nightmare.

Then I heard about the Western Digital's "MyCloud". Quick like a bunny, I bought a 2 Gb "MyCloud," apprehensively attached it to my router via its Ethernet port and then linked it to each of my remote computers as a separate drive.

What a rush! This is amazing! Now I have remote access to all of my projects and files from anywhere in my house! I'm a believer!

When you're setting up your home WLAN, you might also want to consider adding a Western Digital's "MyCloud" or similar remote Wireless server as a remotely, fully controlled information repository. Linked to your home network, and behind your router's firewall, it's the perfect place to put all of your important (and in my case, almost all) files. Accessible from any place in your house, through any device connected to your LAN, it's a perfect way to share information and to have access to that information.

Before I invested in my MyCloud, I had to remember on which machine I had saved files locally, Now, I can log in from any of my machines, and have immediate access.

You may find that some other company's product fits your lifestyle better than Western Digital. That's OK. The whole gist of my advice is to have you consider a remote data and information serve that is under your total control.

Now, I'm not completely paranoid about "Cloud Servers" that sit external to your router's firewall, they do have their place, but I do abhor paying a fee to access my own personally created files.

To populate your WLAN, consider installing refurbished computers, even those that you upgrade to Linux! Here's an article that may help you get started: "Installing Linux" by Jason Jenkins