|
Setup a new wireless network or add wireless capability to your existing network. Learn how to setup your own wireless network for your home or office. Enjoy the benefits of being free of the cable and rid of the eyesore and physical limitations of a wired-network.
I'm sure that you know by now that wireless networks are all the rage nowadays. No more cables; simple and easy to install. Internet access everywhere you go. For many people, going wireless really is so much better. No more running cables around and through walls. Be able to surf on a laptop and do work from anywhere in the house or office. Wireless is getting cheaper and cheaper these days and so many other devices like Tivo, printers, security cameras and more have built-in wireless adapters. There's no reason why anyone wouldn't be able to benefit from the flexibility of wireless. There are several reasons why you might have been afraid of wireless. Maybe you had a billion questions that nobody at BestBuy was able to give you a definite answer on. Maybe you already tried it but it didn't work out.
"What do all letters mean? What's better? A, B, G, or N?" "What is MIMO?" "Does expensive mean better" "Which one do I need?" "How do I know what I need?"
There are some key terms and basic wireless theories that you must be familiar with before we begin. You can read the guide HERE.
Here are some simple questions that should be asked before we begin:
Do you have a network already setup in place? If so, then you only need to buy a Wireless Access Point (WAP), but I recommend buying a Wireless Router anyway for future flexibility later on. If you don't have a network setup, go to Step A. If you DO have a network already setup, go to Step B. STEP A) You don't have a network setup yet.
1) You should have a broadband internet connection, either cable or DSL. 2) You need to go shopping for wireless equipment. Wireless equipment is made up of at least 1 router (the central device that connects to your modem and beams out the wireless radio signal), and also 1 wireless network adapter for every PC (this device is to allow a PC to connect to the wireless router, most laptops nowadays have a built-in wireless adapter). When buying wireless equipment, it is NOT NECESSARY to match the brand names of the router and the wireless adapters. I recommend going for the cheapest thing that works. A good common name brand would be Linksys, Netgear, D-Link. Linksys is the most common. There are many other small brands. Most of the time, they perform just as well as the name brand thing but half the cost. I always buy the small brands. If you are a total beginner at networking, you need to buy a name brand like Linksys or D-Link because they are easier and have automatic setup wizards to make networking easier on you. Using a name brand will also help you find help from many other users on Google. If you only need a small area of wireless coverage, get a regular Wireless G router. Wireless G routers are backwards compatible with G and B wireless adapters. If you have a big house and many walls get a MIMO router. Many different router brands will confuse you with buzz words like Super-G, Extreme-G, Enhanced-G, Extreme-SRX MIMO and blah blah blah.... just look for key terms like G, or MIMO. They pretty much all mean the same and perform the same. Many wireless routers will come with at least 4 wired Ethernet ports so that you can connect some computers hard-wired if you want to. Now for the wireless adapters. They come in 3 different forms but perform the same (assuming they are all one kind of frequency A, B, G, or N). The 3 different forms are PCI-adapter, USB-adapter, PCM card. A desktop can use the first 2, while a laptop can use the last 2. If you have a late model laptop, a wireless card is probably already built-in. Some of you might like a USB adapter because you can un-plug it and stick it on another computer share that wireless capability. When buying wireless adapters, it is important to get an adapter that is as strong as your router. For example, if you have a wireless G router, get a wireless G adapter. If you have plan on using that computer at multiple locations, it's best to get the strongest adapter you can afford so that you have the optimal POTENTIAL signal strength everywhere you go. And again, the brand of your wireless adapter doesn't have to match the brand of your router. Now on to the actual setup! First plug 1 PC via Ethernet cable into one of the ports on the router. And plug the modem into the WAN port of the router via Ethernet cable.
From here, you can begin the setup of your wireless router. That can be done by inserting the CD that came with the router or following the instructions that came with your router. You can also do things manually. To access your router's setup, you have to enter in the router's IP. If you don't know what the router's IP is, or you don't want to read the manual and would rather find out for yourself, just go to run, and type in "cmd". At the command prompt, type in "ipconfig" and hit enter. The default gateway is your router's IP. Now type that IP address into your internet explorer browser and hit enter. You will come to the router's setup page. The router's default username and password will be listed in the manual. Most of the time, the user name is "admin" and the password is "admin", "default", "password", or nothing. While in the setup page. There is usually a wizard that will guide you through setting up the router. This is easiest way to go! You can also setup things manually. By going to WAN setup or the boxes on the main page. Here are some general ideas of what settings to use. If you have DSL, you are "PPPoE", and the username is the FULL - MAIN email address of the DSL account like
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
, and the password will be the password of that email account. If you have cable internet, your setting would be "OBTAIN IP AUTOMATICALLY" (lucky you, no settings need to be entered). In some occasions and for some business users and cable internet users are actually be (STATIC IP) in which case you have to enter in the IP address and DNS address - this info is provided by your Internet Service Provider. After setting up your router, you are sometimes directed to the wireless settings page. If not, just look for the wireless settings page yourself and begin entering in the settings. SSID means the name of your wireless network. Setting a password is good if you have a lot of other people in the proximity, and you don't want your neighbors or random people leeching off your network and hogging the bandwidth and accessing your shared folders. If you are in a big house in a rich neighborhood and your neighbor's house is 500 feet away and you have guests coming over all the time, you might not want a password because they would have to keep entering in the password every time. If this is a public free wireless internet access like for your cafe, then you don't need wireless security there either. Some suggestions about wireless settings are to broadcast a "mixed" signal so that B and G wireless adapters can connect to your network, also use WPA-PSK security if you want to setup a security. Because this is a the easiest method to use a password. It basically means there's only one password for the wireless network to use for every computer that wants to join the wireless network. Now comes setting up your PC's. To setup the wireless network adapter there isn't already one, you just put in the CD FIRST and then install the drivers. Then install/connect the wireless network adapter and it should detect. One of the main confusions that I see most people run into is understanding what a wireless client is and which to use. A wireless client is a program that allows you to scan the radio waves in reach of your for wireless networks. And then from the choices of available networks, you pick the wireless network you want to join. Windows XP comes with a built-in wireless client program but you can also use the one that is included with your wireless adapter. It doesn't which one you use, just remember that you can only use ONE OR THE OTHER, and if make sure that you disable the one that you end up not using.
From here, you just need to run the wireless client, scan for available networks, pick the network you want, and enter the password if there is one and HOORAY! You setup your own wireless network! STEP B) You already have a network setup and want to add wireless access. If you bought a WIRELESS ACCESS POINT, all you have to do is connect it to a free port on your existing router and run the included CD to setup your wireless network access. You will find many options in the wireless settings page. Here are some suggestions and help. SSID means the name of your wireless network. Setting a password is good if you have a lot of other people in the proximity, and you don't want your neighbors or random people leeching off your network and hogging the bandwidth and accessing your shared folders. If you are in a big house in a rich neighborhood and your neighbor's house is 500 feet away and you have guests coming over all the time, you might not want a password because they would have to keep entering in the password every time. If this is a public free wireless internet access like for your cafe, then you don't need wireless security there either. Some suggestions about wireless settings are to broadcast a "mixed" signal so that B and G wireless adapters can connect to your network, also use WPA-PSK security if you want to setup a security. Because this is a the easiest method to use a password. It basically means there's only one password for the wireless network to use for every computer that wants to join the wireless network. Now comes setting up your PC's. To setup the wireless network adapter there isn't already one, you just put in the CD FIRST and then install the drivers. Then install/connect the wireless network adapter and it should detect. One of the main confusions that I see most people run into is understanding what a wireless client is and which to use. A wireless client is a program that allows you to scan the radio waves in reach of your for wireless networks. And then from the choices of available networks, you pick the wireless network you want to join. Windows XP comes with a built-in wireless client program but you can also use the one that is included with your wireless adapter. It doesn't which one you use, just remember that you can only use ONE OR THE OTHER, and if make sure that you disable the one that you end up not using.
From here, you just need to run the wireless client, scan for available networks, pick the network you want, and enter the password if there is one and HOORAY! You setup your own wireless network! IF YOU BOUGHT A WIRELESS ROUTER, you gave yourself two choices. To either add the router to your network as a wireless access point (recommended if you have a complicated setup and don't want to risk damaging your current network), OR to re-build your entire network with the new router as the central point and get rid of the old router (recommended). If you want to rebuild your network, just go to Step A. If you want to just add the router to current network, then there are IMPORTANT KEY INSTRUCTIONS you must follow! First you must treat it like a wireless access point and then follow the instructions below! - When connecting your existing router to the wireless router, you want it be via an Ethernet cable from a "numbered port" on the old router to a "numbered port" on the wireless router. DO NOT PLUG INTO THE WAN PORT of the wireless router! The reason why is because the wireless router is acting a wireless access point, not a wireless router. You can read more information on the basics of networking HERE<> - You also need to disable the DHCP server function of the router, because it is acting as a wireless access point. The main router is already acting as a DHCP server, and having 2 on the same network will crash it. (This is a common reason when many people add a 2nd router to their network and wonder why it crashes.) You need to disable the DHCP server function in the router settings AFTER you have already setup the wireless settings like SSID, security, and etc. I hope that this guide is truly helpful and makes things easier for you. I left out several details to make things less confusing for you. You are more than welcome to ask questions on the RFUZ FORUM and I wish you the best of luck.
Need more assistance? Check out our other guides: Comments or Questions? Have something interesting to add? Send to
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
We're looking for writers. Anybody who thinks they can help us is welcome. Feel free to support the site and share this site with your family, friends, and colleagues.
 |
Networking 
