How to Set Up a Home Server for Your Android Phones

First of all you have to consider if you really need a wireless network in every room of your house. It is pretty amazing to be able to connect no matter wherever you are, but it's also a big project to set it all up.

Let me write some reasons why it would be a good idea to have such a wide-spread wireless network. The obvious reason is the availability to connect your Android phone to your PC wherever you are.

Some people wouldn't consider that a good enough reason to go through such a hassle just to connect your phone to your PC, but in some cases it's an amazing reason. Imagine you have a computer in your garage and you're using it as a media center.

It needs to be in the garage because of the noise it makes. Your TV is connected to your PC. The only thing you now need is a universal remote that can completely control your "media center". If you set up a wireless network, you can easily use your Android phone as a remote.

You can switch between movies and TV channels without having to point your phone directly at your TV. If you play some music, you can even change the song from everywhere, even your bathroom.

A wireless network can also be very useful to share your internet connection with more computers. You can have one server and sharing the internet with as many computers as you want without having to lay cables.
With the new technologies and devices available you could even remote control your whole house, but that's another story.

When it comes to setting up a wireless network, almost nobody asks this question. Obviously a wireless router is the way to go, right?If you only want to share the internet connection, it is. Most wireless routers are easy to install, don't waste electricity and are as small as a net-book.

But if you want to also share files or use a computer as a media or game server, it is better to only use a computer and add a wireless network card to it. This way you don't need to buy a wireless router. The main disadvantage is the noise your server will emit.

And of course the server will have to run all the time you want to be able to connect to your wireless network. The advantages are obvious. You will have a complete server capable of storing files you want to share, and providing a more secure internet connection, if you install a good firewall of course.

A computer with a wireless network card would be enough to cover one room, but not your whole house. You will need to boost your signal.To get the most signal strength in all parts of your home it's good to place the signal source(wireless router or server) in a central location.

Most antennas are omnidirectional, meaning that they broadcast in all directions around the source. If you can't place your signal source in a central location, you may want to buy a high gain antenna. Before you do that however, check if you can remove your current antenna.

After you found a good place for your signal source, you may want to go around checking the signal strength in your home. You can easily do that with your notebook or Android phone. If you find some areas that are not covered, it's time to buy a wireless signal repeater.

A wireless repeater is a stand-alone unit positioned within range of a wireless signal source. Repeaters serve as a two-way relay station for Wi-Fi signals. Clients too far away from the original signal source can instead associate with the WLAN through the repeater. You can get a cheap one for as less as 20 bucks. But quality repeaters won't be cheap.