Users say the darndest things, only because they don't know any better. Here's the deal: These days, everything is networked: a printer connected to a computer is a network...a dial-up connection to the Internet is a network. To get the most from your investment, your network needs to be properly confgured. Without proper networking, your investment is a waste of money, time, and resources.

When it comes to networking, here are some terms you should know:

• LAN - Local Area Network. This refers to the cabling and hubs that link together all the computers, printers, file servers, scan servers, digital fax servers, net cameras, MP3 servers, and video servers within the local vicinity of your office or home. For instance, if you connect to a co-worker to share files, you are locally networking.
• WAN - Wide Area Network. This refers to the networking resources that are available to you beyond the local vicinity of your office or home. For instance, if you connect to your office from home, then you are wide area networking.
• Ethernet - This is the primary standard by which offices and homes network their devices. We use this term to describe the type of wire, panels, jacks, and device interfaces and usually means Cat5 cabling with RJ45 jack termination.
• TCP/IP - Transmit Connect Protocol/Internet Protocol. This is the universal "language" used by office and home computer devices to communicate over LANs and WANs. If your web access isn't working, it could be because your TCP/IP settings are incorrect and your computer can't "talk" to the Internet. There are other kinds of networking "languages", such as AppleTalk and IPX, but TCP/IP is the standard that everyone is moving to.
• IP Address - Think of this as a network "phone number". It's how computers contact each other. In order for computers to communicate, they need to know each other's IP address. Network administrators are concerned with the IP address of computers changing on them. Without proper IP address configuration, networking doesn't work.
• Static IP Address - This is the same as an IP address, only it never changes. Static IP addresses are the key to a constantly running LAN, and the ability to run a successful WAN, either for connection to the office from home or for running your own web server and E-mail server.
• ISP - Internet Service Provider. This means the company that provides your Internet connection. ISPs use different technologies to get you connected, ranging from the slowest to the fastest connections. There are dial-up ISPs, Cable Modem ISPs, ADSL ISPs, Wireless ISPs, and frame relay over T-1 and T-3 Telco ISPs. By the way, America On Line is not an ISP. AOL is an overblown BBS (bulletine board service) people mistake for an ISP.
• HSP - Hosting Service Provider. This means the company that runs the servers that establish your domain name presence (web site and email addresses) on the Internet. In many cases your ISP is also your HSP if they host your website and email addresses as well as provide your Internet connection. But your HSP can be seperate from your ISP.
• DNS - Domain Name Server. This is the computer(s) that broadcasts your domain name over the Internet. Again, in most cases your ISP runs the DNS server(s) that is "authoritative" for your domain, but that does not have to be the case. You can have a DNS server that is seperate from your ISP just as you can have an HSP that is different from your ISP.

All that sounds very technical, but it's extremely important to understand. Most ISPs provide the HSP and DNS services only because it is easier for them to administer all the components that are necessary to make your Internet experience a success. Good ISPs should be applauded for taking care of everything.

However, challenges may arise when you want to take control of your network infrastructure (i.e. moving eveything in-house). Your ISP is reluctant to help because it means hours of consultation, support, and work for which they aren't getting paid. Why would they HELP you leave them? In reality, ISPs that provide good Internet connections are in no danger of losing business. On the contrary. The more people who understand network infrastructure, the more ISPs can focus on what they do best - getting you connected.

Business managers and home owners should seriously consider how their computers are networked, if at all. Research has indicated that businesses that are not properly networked waste up to 35% of their manpower. One computer with a modem doesn't mean your home or office is truly connected. And something as innocent as copying a file to a disk and giving it to a coworker can be done in the fraction of the time over a network. Executives who work with files on the road lose those files 50% of the time if they carry disks rather than connect to the office over a WAN. On the other hand, the resale value of a home is increased by 5 -10% if it is wired for a LAN. Members of the family can share a single Internet connection if all of the computers are connected to a network. It's clear that there are bigger profits and better savings when you choose the added benefit of proper networking.

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