Phoneline Home Network Diagram

Layout for HPNA-based phoneline home networks

This diagram illustrates use of Home Phoneline Networking Alliance equipment to build a home network. See below for a detailed description of this layout.

Key Considerations - Phoneline networks utilize the ordinary telephone wiring of a residence to carry home network communications. As with Ethernet or Wi-Fi networks, phoneline networks require each device to have a compatible phoneline network adapter installed. These adapters are connected by ordinary phone wires (or sometimes CAT5 Ethernet cable) to telephone wall outlets.

When connecting multiple computers with phoneline networking, one central computer "gateway" must be established. The gateway represents the network's primary device for connecting to the Internet. A few models of home network routers (sometimes called "residential gateways") support phoneline networking today. Otherwise, you must designate one computer as the gateway and install two network adapters on this computer to enable it for gateway functions. Depending on the type of primary device chosen, hybrid networks with a combination of phoneline, Ethernet or Wi-Fi devices can be created.

The Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA) develops technology standards that compatible phoneline equipment must support.

Optional Components - As mentioned above, a network router is optional when building a phoneline home network. Phoneline networking also works regardless of whether the residence is subscribed either to basic local telephone service or to DSL Internet service.

Limitations - HomePNA phoneline networking has proven much less popular than Wi-Fi or Ethernet alternatives. Phoneline networking products will generally be more difficult to find, and there will be fewer choices of models for this reason.

All phoneline network equipment must be connected to the same electrical circuit within the residence. Specifically, residences that have two phone lines installed, must choose one or the other line to connect all devices.

The range of an HomePNA (version 2.0) phoneline network is about 1000 feet (300 m). The maximum bandwidth of an HomePNA 2.0 network is 10 Mbps, while an HomePNA 3.0 network supports more than 100 Mbps. The speed of phoneline networking can suffer depending on the quality of phone cables installed in the residence.

Ethernet Hub/Switch Network Diagram

Common layout for Ethernet-based home networks

This diagram illustrates use of an Ethernet hub or switch on a home network. See below for a detailed description of this layout.

Key Considerations - Ethernet hubs and switches allow multiple wired computers to network with each other. Most (but not all) Ethernet hubs and switches support up to four connections.

Optional Components - Networking of Internet access, printers, or game consoles and other entertainment devices is not required for the rest of this home network layout to function. Simply omit any of these components shown that do not exist in your design.

Additional hubs and switches can be incorporated to the basic layout shown. Connecting hubs and/or switches to each other expands the total number of computers the network can support up to several dozen.

Limitations - All computers connecting to a hub or switch must possess a working Ethernet network adapter.

As shown, unlike a network router, Ethernet hubs and switches cannot interface directly to an Internet connection. Instead, one computer must be designated as controlling the Internet connection and all other computers access the Internet through it. Internet connection sharing software can be installed on each computer for this purpose.