Once I graduated college, I got my first apartment and immediately started setting up my home theater network. My home theater was very similar to my college setup with the same 24″ Panasonic TV and the same Philips stereo. One big difference is that I bought a Series 1 TiVo. The TiVo was one of the best purchases I ever made as it was a huge time saver. It let me watch shows when I wanted to, and I could forward through all those annoying commercials. For example, a one hour episode of 24 took me less than 40 minutes to watch. The series 1 TiVo was also great because it was hackable. I added an extra 120 GB hard drive to it to give me over 200 hours of recording space, was able to pull video off of it, and was able to control it using my computer. If you’re interested, the details on how to do all these hacks (except video extraction) are in the TiVo community forum.

Video signal quality was something I also tried to improve on. I wanted to use S-Video cables instead of composite, but the Panasonic TV only had one S-Video input. To fix this problem, I purchased an audio/video switch box, which allowed me to switch between 5 composite/S-Video inputs. Thus, I was able use S-Video cables with my TiVo, PS2, and GameCube.

The last improvement I made was adding surround sound speakers. The way the walls were laid out in my apartment let me easily run speaker wires to the speakers behind the sofa. It wasn’t true surround sound since it was Dolby Pro Logic, but at least it was better than nothing.

More Information:

• TiVo
• S-Video
• Surround sound speakers
• AV switch box

The data network of my first apartment was centered by a D-Link 802.11b wireless router. The reviews said the DI-614+ model had good range and stability so I went for it. I put the router on top of my TV so I could easily connect my hacked TiVo’s add-on Ethernet port. There was a cable outlet right behind the TV so I used a splitter to have part of the signal go to the cable modem and the other part of the signal go to the cable box.

My desktop computer was located in a side room so I couldn’t run Ethernet cables to it. The only way I could get internet access was through a wireless connection. I bought a D-Link DWL-810+ wireless extender, and it worked most of the time. The connection would sporadically die which drove me nuts.

Wireless security was important to me since I was in an apartment complex with lots of people within range of my signal. WEP encryption, turning off the SSID signal, and changing the username/password made my wireless signal secure.

More Information:

• Networking
• security
• routers

The good old college years, I finally moved out of the dorm rooms and into a nice townhouse. The townhouse had two bedrooms upstairs with the kitchen, dining, and living room downstairs.

My first home theater network wasn’t really a home theater network. It was missing key components like – a home theater. I did manage to talk my parents into handing me down their old 24″ Panasonic CRT so all wasn’t lost. The TV did have 2 composite video inputs, one S-Video input, one coaxial input, and two analog stereo inputs. The S-Video input was shared with one of the composite inputs so I connected my cable box and my PS2 to the two composite inputs and the two stereo inputs. The VCR (yes, it wasn’t that long ago when we were all still using them!) took my coaxial input. All of this left my GameCube out in the cold. I would have to manually unplug my PS2 cables and plug in the GameCube cables whenever I wanted to play Zelda, Metroid, or Eternal Darkness.

One of the nice things about the Panasonic TV was that it had stereo output which I was able to connect to an old Sony stereo. This let me use my stereo speakers instead of the weak built-in TV speakers.

More Information:

• Home Theater Network
• Composite
• Stereos

Luckily for us, the townhouse was pre-wired with Ethernet cables. Well, kind of pre-wired. There were Ethernet outlets in both bedrooms with both cables running downstairs through the walls into a utility closet. The utility room had a cover plate on the wall instead of an Ethernet outlet so I had to take the cover plate off and fish around in the wall to find the two Ethernet cables.

I connected the two Ethernet cables into the LAN ports of a D-Link 704P router we owned. The cable modem was connected to the WAN port, which gave us the final result of being able to share two computers with one internet connection. Since the 704p router is not wireless, setup was real easy. All I had to do is type in the router’s IP address into a browser, and I was able to control all of the router’s settings. I updated the firmware, changed the password, and set it up for a dynamic connection.

With the network setup, I had both computers upstairs networked and communicating with each other. It was just a regular XP network setup where all you have to do is make sure your in the same workgroup and that sharing option is turned on at both computers. The computer I had back then wasn’t that bad for yesterday’s standards. It was Gateway PC with a 1.3GHz AMD Athlon processor, 256 MB RAM, and a GeForce 3 video card.

More Information:

• Networking
• Ethernet
• routers

Only a few years ago, home theaters consisted of large tube-based TVs, VCRs, and stereos with two speakers. Today, home theaters consist of flat-panel HDTVs, receivers, surround sound speakers, DVD players, and more. So what components will make up the home theater of tomorrow? Audio, video, and data distribution will be key to any future home theater, which will soon morph into a home theater network.

Today’s home theater is limited to a single room. For example, a show recorded on a DVR can only be viewed on the TV to which the DVR is connected; music heard from the speakers of a home theater can only be heard in the room in which the speakers are placed. However, by establishing a home theater network, owners expand the capabilities of their home theater by creating a system capable of sending a recorded TV show to any bedroom, or playing music on speakers throughout the property.

The equipment needed to change a home theater into a home theater network includes a router, receiver, and a home theater PC (HTPC). The router distributes data and allows Ethernet-capable devices in a home theater to connect to the Internet and a home network. The receiver distributes audio and video from a home theater to multiple rooms. Note, the simple 5.1 surround sound receivers of today are not capable of this function. Newer receivers with multiple-zone outputs will be necessary for a home theater network. Finally, the HTPC functions as a source for audio, video, and data. For example, the HTPC can be used as a central server where an owner can save all of his music, video, pictures, and data. An HTPC also has the ability to serve as a DVR, and record TV shows. Since the HTPC is a computer, its capabilities are essentially endless.

As prices drop, more people are trading in their large, tube-based TVs and stereos for thin, high-definition TVs and multi-zone output receivers. Also, more people are building home networks with their laptops and multiple computers. The merging of the home theater and home network into a home theater network will arrive in the not–to-distant future. Your first home theater network lies just around the corner.

You’ve added a HDTV, surround sound speakers, and a DVD player to your home theater, but do you still have an empty taste in your mouth? Something missing like whole-house audio/video distribution, or easy access to all of your data? This craving can be satisfied by adding a few extra ingredients to your home theater. A receiver, wireless router, and a home theater PC (HTPC) will turn your home theater into a home theater network.

A home theater network is the idea that all in-house audio, video, and data distribution should be centered around the home theater. Adding a receiver, router, and a HTPC to your home theater system will allow them to work together and distribute movies, pictures, music, documents, and more throughout the house.

The first ingredient of a home theater network is a receiver. A multi-zone receiver has the ability to transfer audio/video from the home theater to another room. Audio/video distribution can be very useful if you are watching a DVR-saved TV show in your home theater, and you decide to finish watching the TV show in your bedroom. A click of a button on the receiver will transfer the TV show to your bedroom where you can finish watching in bed. A click of a button can also take the audio of a football game, or any music, and send it over to the speakers on the porch.

The second ingredient in a home theater network is the wireless router. A router can be placed anywhere in a house, but you might find it convenient to locate it with your home theater system. The multiple Ethernet inputs of a router can be used for game consoles, PCs, or DVRs. Also, the central location of most home theater rooms makes them an ideal location to distribute a router’s wireless signal.

Now that you can distribute audio/video with a receiver and data with a wireless router, you need an audio/video/data source. This is where the HTPC comes along as the final ingredient to your home theater network. Being a computer, the HTPC has an almost unlimited amount of abilities. Besides the basic tasks like surfing the web (with the HDTV as a monitor), the HTPC can store all your videos, music, pictures, documents, and more. This will give all the computers, laptops, and PDA phones in your house easy access to your data. The HTPC also has the processing power to be an upscaling DVD player, or a high-definition gaming console.

All three ingredients of a home theater network will morph your home theater into a audio/video/data distribution center. The central location of a home theater system creates an ideal location to add a receiver, router, and HTPC. Adding these three ingredients to a home theater will help you cook-up a home theater network.