How to set up a cross-platform network

PC World - Your business -- and the computers that power it -- may have started with an idea that popped into your head while you sat in front of your laptop, freeloading off of the local coffee shop's wireless network. But you can't work out of the Java Hut forever.

As your company grows and you add employees, computers and an office to house them, you'll need a network to connect everyone to each other and to the Internet. But at this point, maybe your start-up crew uses a collection of Macs and PCs, with the graphics people favoring OS X, the software developers relying on the tools that come with Linux and everybody else preferring Windows. Fortunately, these three operating systems can communicate and coexist on a single network. By using suitable off-the-shelf networking equipment and the various operating systems' built-in tools, you can connect your heterogeneous hardware to the universe in short order.

First, there was Ethernet

Your first question when setting up an office network may be "wired or wireless?" Unless you have serious security constraints, the answer should be "both." Wireless networks are more convenient, allowing untethered laptop users to work anywhere in the office. Wired connections are the better choice for stationary PCs and printers because they're faster, more secure and easier to configure -- and they leave maximum wireless bandwidth for your free-range connections to use.

Before you run out and buy the first $99 wireless router you see, however, take a moment to assess your specific networking needs and your office's topology. First, is network wiring already in place? If so, does it go to the places where you want to connect computers and other networked devices, such as printers?

Ethernet cables are fairly inexpensive. To create an uncluttered, professional-looking environment, however, you may want to have an electrician install Ethernet cabling in the walls before you move into a new office space. But even if your budget is too tight for electricians and interior designers, it makes sense to draw a plan showing where your connected and wireless devices will be.

All of that wiring has to end up somewhere -- and often the destination turns out to be a closet, where the cables plug into an Ethernet router. The router does a number of important jobs: providing computers on your network with a private, local IP address (required to communicate with each other); coordinating connections between those private addresses and servers on the Internet; and blocking unwanted incoming and outgoing connections with a firewall. The router may also incorporate a wireless access point.

If your Internet connection enters the premises in the same closet, so much the better. And if your business is small -- say, five people or so -- you may be able to get by with a cheap wireless router after all (for likely candidates, see our most recent roundup of wireless routers). Most routers incorporate a wired Ethernet hub with three to five connections, and a few offer eight ports -- the more the better, for a growing business.