What is a home network?

When two or more computers are connected, they become a network. If you connect them at home, they're known as a home network. And you can add games consoles, media centres and storage equipment.

When you connect your computers, you can do more with them:

• Share a single internet connection.

• Share printers.

• Work on one computer and save the files to another. This is a simple way to back up your files – if one computer goes wrong, you have a copy of all your work on another.

• Share photos, music and video.

• Share games for multiplayer challenges.

How do I set up a home network?

With O2 Home Broadband, it's easy to set up a home network. You don't need any special computer skills.

Make sure that all your computers or other equipment can connect to a network. They need to have an Ethernet socket or a wireless connection. You'll find your Ethernet socket at the back of your computer. (It looks like a phone socket, but a bit bigger.) Most newer PCs and consoles have wireless as standard. Just look at the specification. If you're not sure, there's probably a section on 'networking' in the manual.

Connect your equipment. You should be able to do this using your O2 Home Broadband setup CD. Pop the CD into each computer in turn and follow the on-screen instructions. If your O2 Home Broadband is already working, you'll have to choose the option  Add an extra computer to my O2 Home Broadband connection.

Your O2 Home Broadband setup CD won't work on consoles or other devices. If you can't find the instructions in your manual, call the O2 Techies. They'll help you add them to your network.