Share & share alike

Home Office Computing, Oct, 1998 by John R. Quain

CAN THERE REALLY BE HARMONY IN A HOME OFFICE OF TWO, THREE, or more? We'd certainly like to think so. Of course, anyone who's ever tried to work side-by-side with a coworker or spouse in a spare bedroom or converted garage may have his or her doubts.

That's because the economics of running a home office often demand that you share not only your space, but also your printer, fax, and other essentials. But thanks to networking and hardware-sharing products, it's easy to make smart use of your equipment--and increase your efficiency.

To help you set up a workspace fit for more than one, HOME OFFICE COMPUTING visited three shared home offices from Colorado to California, zeroed in on their problems, and made some process and product suggestions. Although their situations were diverse--from sharing a PC with a spouse to needing to streamline communications to working in a mixed-platform environment--all of our subjects shared a common concern: how to make the most of their office resources.

1. The Situation: One Computer, Two Businesses, Three Kids

Keith and Terri Gray run a tight ship--or rather, two tight ships moored in Austin, Tex. He runs Keith Gray Construction Services, specializing in remodeling and glass etching; she owns Gray's Internet Consulting (www.bizine.com/wm), an Internet training, design, and maintenance firm. The pair's problem isn't so much that both companies are based in the same converted garage--it's that the Grays share a single computer.

"Keith has his half of the garage and I have mine," Terri says. But the office doubles as a play area for their three-year-old daughter, and the computer doubles as a research/entertainment center for their teenage daughter--a source of friction for many homeworking families.

The Grays have a classic work environment: a Canon BJC4100 ink-jet printer, a Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 5P scanner, and a Dell Dimension desktop (upgraded from a 486 to a Pentium). But with only 1.2GB of hard-disk space, they've pushed their PC to the max. "Now the kids are disappointed because I pulled off the games," says Terri.

Besides family feuds over the PC, the Grays also tie up their three phone lines--one for each business and one that's a shared fax/modem line. "When I use the modem," Terri complains, "either the fax machine or Keith's business line is down."

To work around the shortage, "we divide our office time," Terri explains. "I let Keith have access to the computer in the morning to set up his day." Then, after Keith heads out to jobs, Terri takes the helm of the family PC.

Besides desperately needing another system, Keith is itching for a laser printer for his decorative glass-etching jobs, which require the use of stencils that can't be reproduced on the ink-jet printer. At present, he sends scans to an outside company.

So what's holding the Grays back? Cost. "We need the best for the least amount of money, because our businesses are small and we have kids to feed," says Terri.

The Solution: A Low-Cost Networked PC

To help the Grays select a new system on a limited budget, we turned to Richard Malloy, managing director of CurtCo Freedom Group Technical Labs, for advice. Fortunately, with system prices plummeting, the Grays will be able to pick up a powerful system for a song. Compaq, for instance, offers its Presario 5030, a 300MHz Pentium II desktop complete with 64MB of RAM and an 8GB hard disk, for a low $1,299 (800-888-5858, www.compaq.com). The "Web storefront vendor iDot.com sells a comparably equipped 400MHz system for $1,599 (888-388-iDOT, www.idot.com). Considering the Grays's graphics-intensive work, Malloy suggests outfitting either system with a 17-inch monitor such as Optiquest's Q71 (800-843-6784, www.optiquest.com), available via mail order for as little as $319.

For making copies of Keith's glass-engraving stencils, a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 6Pse (800-752-0900, www.hewlett-packard.com) is also recommended. If they shop around, they could find it for about $800. Best of all, the 6Pse includes networking features that will be useful in the future when Keith's business expands.

To speed up Terri's Web designs, she sorely needs a faster connection to the Internet. The most cost-effective solution is an ISDN line with 128Kbps throughput. Installation through Southwestern Bell costs $78, with monthly service running about $52 if the Grays sign up for two years (plus long distance charges). Is the expense worthwhile? You bet. The additional line will save Terri time; their teenager can research assignments faster; and Keith's business line will no longer be disabled. For a reasonably priced ISDN modem, Malloy recommends 3Corn's US Robotics Sportster ISDN 128K internal unit (800-638-3266, www.3com.com), selling for as low as $200.

If they want to take full advantage of their new resources, our tech expert strongly suggests that the Grays network the two PCs. The most inexpensive approach is to connect the systems with a $20 serial cable, then use Windows 95/98's direct cable connection wizard under the Accessories tab. This will let the couple exchange files and share the new printer without the expense of network adapters. The downside: The connection can be slow, especially when printing. Should the Grays need more speed, they can later install Ethernet networking cards in both PCs for roughly $200.