[dba-Tech] Windows 10 HomeNetwork

[John R Bartow]

Hi Gustav,
HomeGroups are the easy networking technique for Windows devices since Win7.
For the Home Version I believe it is the default network setup. 

I don't have one permanently setup here as it doesn't suit my needs but for
the typical family it is a good thing. I did set one up once o test it. It
makes networks somewhat transparent for the typical end user. It makes
printer sharing a non-issue. When I first connected my Surface RT to a
HomeGroup it went and installed all the printers without me doing anything -
and they all worked! Files are shared via libraries which makes it quite
useful for streaming music, videos and viewing photos.

I think there is an ability to connect a domain connected computer to a
HomeGroup but I've never gone down that path. Occasionally when I'm having
networking issues with a client I find that someone has set their wireless
network to "Home" and in the advanced settings that triggers the HomeGroup
security to turn on. Apparently it doesn't mix well with the user/password
security model.

Note that this technology does make the older, "Windows Workgroups"
irrelevant.
Regards,
John

-----Original Message-----
From: dba-Tech [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of
Gustav Brock
Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2015 2:10 PM
To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues
Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] Windows 10 HomeNetwork

Thanks all.

I found out it is called HomeGroup. A guide is here:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/homegroup-help#homegroup-start-to
-finish=windows-81&v1h=win81tab1&v2h=win7tab1

Strangely, no guide is found for Windows 10, but I guess it can't be that
different.

All my computers are hooked up to our Active Directory so I cannot create a
HomeGroup, only connect to one (which I can't create). I will have to set up
a virgin VM or two with the Home or Pro version to check it out.

It seems to be pretty easy.

/gustav

________________________________________
Fra: dba-Tech <dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com> på vegne af Gary Kjos
<garykjos at gmail.com>
Sendt: 28. oktober 2015 19:09
Til: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues
Emne: Re: [dba-Tech] Windows 10 HomeNetwork

Hi Gustav

I have a network at home. I guess it is a HomeNetwork.  I have 4 desktops
running various versions, Windows 10 64 Pro, Windows 7 64 Pro, Windows
Vista, XP. Two laptops, one Vista and one XP. A surround sound receiver, a
Blueray Disk Player, and a HP 8450 Photosmart Ethernet connected printer all
sharing things. I have drives mapped from system to system where
appropriate. Additionally there are 2 tablets and 2 smart phones sharing the
Internet through the WIFI although they aren't connected to other devices.
Internet connection is through a cable company provided modem/router. That
router has 4 wired ports and 802.11n WIFI. I have a 8 port Gigabit switch
plugged into one of the wired ports and a second 8 Port Gigabit switched
plugged into one of the ports on the first switch.  The XP desktop is
connected via WIFI as are the laptops but the other 3 desktops, the surround
sound receiver, the Blueray player and the printer are all connected via
wires.  Pretty much everything can see everything with the exception that
the XP systems sometimes have difficulty connecting to drives on the Win 7
system. Everything can see the printer which is the main thing that needs to
be shared.  None of these systems is officially a server although I do use
some of them as file storage primarily now.  The desktops have all been my
main workstation at home at some point over the years and rather than just
toss them when the replacement came, I continued to use them for other
things and to remain as a backup of important files that I might still want
at some
point.   The router is assigning all the network IP addresses and
things and managing that kind of stuff. I think that is a standard thing for
a router to do.

I certainly am no expert but I have fumbled my way though getting it working
and keeping it working over the years.  The router just died last Saturday
night and so I had to deal with getting a replacement from the cable company
on Sunday morning and getting it configured to work the same as the old one
did with the same encryption password etc.

My Win 10 system was originally Win 8, then upgraded to 8.1 then to 10 and
then I reloaded it completely from a Win 10 64 Pro DVD after having a video
issue on the upgraded version.  It's been stable since and I am still not
sure what happened that necessitated that reload but I had absolutely no
video on it after the BIOS screen. I guess I did get to a boot menu a few
times.  It had been kind of a flaky system all through it's life until the
latest reload. It's a homebuilt system so only myself to blame there. It's
not a mission critical system for me as it's only the music server for the
Home Theater system and I have hard copies of the music. My Win 7 system is
also built from a barebones kit and it's been very stable over the years.

I think if you have a router you have everything you need to share files and
devices between peer workstations.


On Wed, Oct 28, 2015 at 2:26 AM, Gustav Brock <gustav at cactus.dk> wrote:
> Hi all
>
> Anyone having experience with the HomeNetwork of Windows 10 (or 8.x)?
>
> A friend of mine and his family need some kind of network/interconnection
for their four pc/laptops - and a true network with server and AD will be
overkill for sure. Besides, some devices only run the Home editions of
Windows 7. All machines will be upgraded to Windows 10 however.
>
> /gustav
> _______________________________________________
> dba-Tech mailing list
> dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com
> http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech
> Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com



--
Gary Kjos
garykjos at gmail.com

_______________________________________________
dba-Tech mailing list
dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com
http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech
Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com