The winning network in the Best Home Office Network category, submitted by Anthony Wolfenden, is an especially good example of IP telephony enabled by Cisco IP phones, the Integrated Services Router, Power over Ethernet, and Cisco CallManager Express, according to Jawahar Sivasankaran, a manager in Cisco IT and one of the distinguished Cisco engineers who judged the contest entries.

The runner-up for Best Home Office Network, Ron Visser, Sivasankaran says, "achieved a nice balance between entertainment and office uses with his sophisticated home network that includes gigabit connectivity in most locations in the home."

Both the winner and runner-up in this category demonstrate how a home network has revolutionized the ways families can live, work, play, and learn.

Doing Business Globally...in a Home Without a TV
Cisco employee Anthony Wolfenden and his wife Megan conduct business worldwide and access digital entertainment and information sources from their home in Sydney, Australia. Their situation is not uncommon, until you learn that their household includes two young sons, but no televisions or other traditional audio and video equipment.

This arrangement is possible because of the home network (PDF - 394 KB) designed, installed, and maintained by Wolfenden, who is director of rich media communications for Cisco Corporate Communications in the Asia Pacific region. The network is used primarily for two business purposes. "The Cisco Enterprise Class Teleworker solution forms the basis of my home-office services, which are equal to those available at my Cisco office," says Wolfenden. "A separate network segment allows my wife to conduct her global business electronically and allows my kids access to media and education online."

For the entire family, all information and entertainment media in the house is digital and uses IP, Internet, and Cisco technologies for access. "To keep everything kid-friendly, we don't use DVDs or other physical media, so there is nothing to be scratched, damaged, or lost," explains Wolfenden. The children already use PCs for viewing movies and learning activities, and in the future will become more active users of the network as they access the Internet.

"When I started, I had a vision of the network that I eventually wanted to create in my home," explains Wolfenden. "I gradually built that network as I had available money, time, and resources." Today, the network comprises the following major elements:

• In-home wired connectivity provided by a 48-port Cisco Catalyst 3750 Switch with Power over Ethernet. A Cisco 871 Integrated Services Router (ISR) provides Internet access (over an ADSL2 service) and wireless communications.
• Voice over IP (VoIP) services for business and personal calls are provided by Cisco Unified Communications Manager (formerly Cisco CallManager) and Cisco Unity Express software installed on a Cisco 2811 ISR, Cisco IP phones, and the Linksys Cordless Internet Telephony Kit.
• The Cisco Enterprise Class Teleworker (ECT) solution gives Wolfenden secure access to the Cisco corporate network. This solution includes a Cisco 871 Integrated Services Router, Cisco 7970 (wired) and Cisco 7920 (wireless) IP phones, and the Cisco Unified Video Advantage software and Web camera for videoconferencing.
• Connected user devices include several PCs and Apple Mac computers, printers and faxes, display monitors, a media server, and a network-attached storage system.

Cisco's Anthony Wolfenden offers this advice for simplifying the challenges of creating a home network:

1. More devices means more wires, electrical power, and complexity. Keep the network design simple and use integrated, multifunction devices and applications.
2. Phase the implementation, focusing first on the right network connectivity for each location in the home. Then, work on implementing network security, management tools, and media distribution.
3. Things fail, so create backup images of configurations and content for every end device to avoid the need to freshly install operating system and application software when a device fails and must be recovered.
4. Configurations and media, especially family photos and movies, are critical data. Store them centrally on backed-up media servers or NAS and burn copies to DVD. Never hand out your only copy.
5. You will likely get a call about network problems when you are traveling. Enable remote access and use WebEx, Secure Shell (SSH), and Virtual Network Computing (VNC) for remote support.

A home network allows Linksys sales engineer Ron Visser, runner-up in the Best Home Office Network category, to help service provider customers through his own testing and troubleshooting environment for Linksys products. The network design (PDF - 133 KB) supports three major activities for Visser and his family at their home near Amsterdam.

One virtual LAN (VLAN) segment connects a frequently changing set of Linksys products for Visser's testing and troubleshooting of customer configurations. Another VLAN segment gives PCs and peripherals access to the Internet and services such as VoIP.

This segment also supports distribution of entertainment and other digital content within the home. Content is received from the Internet on the network-attached storage device, then distributed over the home network to standard PCs, a Mediacenter PC, and media center extenders for playback on televisions.

Visser's network design is distinctive because it uses many forms of connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet and coaxial cable, wireless, copper phone lines, and electrical power lines.

• The network primarily uses the Category 5 cabling that was built into the home, with connections provided by a Scientific Atlanta cable and VoIP modem, a four-port Linksys RVS4000 Gigabit Ethernet router, and a 24-port Linksys SRW224G4 switch that also provides four Gigabit Ethernet ports.
• A Linksys WAP54GP wireless access point supports cordless phones, cameras, and easy Internet access for laptop PCs.
• The coaxial cable connections use Scientific Atlanta DPH548 Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HPNA3) bridges for data access.
• Linksys PowerLine AV Ethernet Adapters connect televisions to the network over a power outlet in places where a cable connection is not available.

"I want experience with all of the available ways of getting data through the home because our service provider customers are very interested in learning the pros and cons of all these methods," Visser says.

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: THE SAMPLE HOME NETWORKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SHOWN ABOVE (THE "NETWORKS") ARE PROVIDED "AS IS," WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NONINFRINGEMENT, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE, OR TRADE PRACTICE. The Networks are presented for novelty and informational purposes only. The Networks do not constitute and should not be considered Cisco professional advice, nor should they be considered recommendations or endorsements by Cisco. The Networks have not been tested, validated, or otherwise confirmed by or on behalf of Cisco. The Networks may not address the unique circumstances of any user environment, and therefore, should not be relied upon alone to build a home network. Users should seek technical guidance from qualified third parties to address their unique environments. Reliance on or other use of the Networks is at your own risk.