Homegrown Network: A Concrete Example

Designing and installing a DIY home network is hard enough. But doing it in a concrete block home requires extra planning and care.

HDBaseT 1.0 Spec Finalized

The HDBaseT Alliance recently announced the finalization of its first specification for distribution of HD video over standard LAN cabling.

How To Set Up Switch Link Aggregation

Gigabit Ethernet NeedTo Know - 2008

Packet Captures and Network Devices

Using packet papture software like Wireshark is a useful troubleshooting technique that can be used to examine packets and gather details to help find the root of a problem. In my previous post, I talked a little bit about how to use Wireshark and walked through some steps to run a simple packet capture from a PC. This time, I'm going to go a bit deeper into the how to for doing packet captures.

Packet Captures, Plain and Simple

One of the features I've seen in newer small network routers is the inclusion of a packet sniffer/capture/trace tool within the diagnostic menus of the device. Routers I've recently tested with this functionality include the SonicWall TZ190W, D-Link DFLCPG310, and Netgear's newly released FVX538 and FVS336G.

In each case, these devices have the ability to capture packets on a specific WAN port and/or on the LAN interface. Some of these routers have more sophisticated filtering capabilities than the other, but they all seem to have the same basic functionality of capturing packets.

The Tao of Multimedia Production Networking - Part 3

The Tao of Multimedia Production Networking - Part 2

Atheros sampling 10/100 switch chip

Atheros today announced that it is sampling a low-cost six port 10/100 Ethernet switch chip to key customers.

The company said the AR8216 will allow it to provide networking customers with "all of the major silicon required for complete wire-to-wireless router solutions". Atheros chose to produce a 10/100 switch instead of a gigabit Ethernet version because it believes that is where the volume will be in the near term.

The Tao of Multimedia Production Networking - Part 1