Deciding Where to Put the Concentrator

The concentrator is the core of the network; everything travels to it (and flows from it). You should place the concentrator in a location that reduces the amount of cable you need to schlep through the house. For example, a reasonably logical person can count on the following scenarios:

• If you have two computers on the second floor and one on the first floor, putting the concentrator on the second floor means you'll have only one long cable run.
• If all your computers are on one floor, the logical place for the concentrator is at a midpoint among all the computers.
• If the same number of computers are on the first floor as are on the second floor, find a location that's as close as possible to being equidistant from each computer.

Where you decide to locate the concentrator requires a couple of other important considerations, so logical thinking doesn't always work (much like applying logical thinking to politics or economic theories, or to guessing what "that look" on your spouse's face really means). The following sections help you work through the not-so-logical considerations you need to take into account.