You may have just bought your first computer home and are anxious to connect it to the internet and start browsing, or perhaps you just need to move your current computer. You can choose to extend the wires across your home, or you can buy a wireless router.

What is a wireless router? In short, it is a device that connects you to your modem-it will not connect you directly to the internet, so if you don’t currently have a modem you either need to buy a router/modem combination or buy the modem first.

It is the modem that connects to the internet, and in turn will pass information to your computer from the internet and vice versa. It normally does this through a wire that is plugged into a port in the back of your computer or internet. The wire has to be connected at all times for you to get a connection and so if you wish to move your computer or laptop, you need a longer wire.

A router will take the place of a wire. It connects to your modem, picking up the traffic to and from the internet and ‘routing’ it to where it needs to be-in both directions. The lack of wires makes for a tidier and more convenient connection.

There are even more pluses to having a router. If you have more than one computer that needs to share the internet connection, a router makes it incredibly convenient by connecting several devices at once. There is no need to run the traffic from one computer through another-they all just connect to the router.

Some routers come with a firewall built in too. This increases your level of security by blocking access to certain types of traffic online and can be turned on or off.

The router itself works in the same way as radio does, albeit on a different frequency of signal. There are some problems with how commonly the frequency in question is used, because it is possible to experience interference between devices. Not only that, but the router’s signal may be blocked by concrete walls, metal structures and anything else capable of stopping the signal passing through. That said, in a normal household it is possible to install a single router in a single room and run all of the devices in the house off it.

You router can be set up with a password to allow or block access to wireless devices, and a password to control access to the administrative panel for the router. It can also block particular devices by their MAC address-an identifier for that device which can be useful for blocking particular devices that keep making unauthorized access to your router.

With a wireless router you can browse anywhere in your house and often your garden, giving you greater freedom than ever before. With a choice of models from budget to luxury, wireless routers are available no matter what your budget.

Understanding Your Wireless Router is a post from: Computer Spot

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Occasionally, problems may occur with your wireless router. When they do you are likely to lose all or partial access to the internet, and so you will want to resolve them as quickly as possible.

The first thing to do is work out whether you have completely lost access, or whether it is just running very slowly. If it is down completely then it is likely that your internet service provider is having problems and you may not be able to overcome it.

When your net goes down completely your modem will normally display a warning signal in the form of a flashing light, or the absence of the light that normally indicates that the internet is working.

Your router may also display a similar warning-the modem input light may change to red, may flash or may stop showing.

When this happens you can try and reboot both the router and the modem. However if this does not work you are likely to have to wait till your service provider corrects the problem.

Other times you may notice that your internet speeds slow to a crawl. When this happens you should check the time-at peak times (such as around 7pm on weekdays) there are so many people online that the traffic slows down everyone’s speeds. Again there is nothing you can do but avoid these times and wait till the speeds increase again.

Other causes of slow downs may be directly attributable to your router. Signal loss may occur for three reasons:

1. Where there are concrete walls or metal objects between the router and the wireless device.
2. Where the device is so far from the router that it cannot pick up the signal.
3. Where there is interference from another wireless device nearby.

You can work out what the cause is through a process elimination. First, check the building you are in to see if there are any obvious concrete or metal obstructions to the signals.

Next, check the distance from the router, and compare it to the distance that your router is rated for. Most routers have a movable antennae, that can is directional. Point it in the direction of your device and see if you get a better result.

Lastly you should check the area for other wireless devices. If there are others, try turning them off and trying your router again. If the router runs better, then you can be fairly certain that there is interference.

Most routers will come with the option to run on different channels, that use different frequencies and these can be found in the administration panel. Try selecting a different channel, turning your other devices back on and see if it runs better.

If you cannot overcome your signal loss, you may consider buying a signal booster. These are placed in a position where they can adequately receive the router signal before relaying it onto devices that otherwise would not receive the signal.

Sometimes the router genuinely won’t work because of a fault. You can try plugging a wire in from the wire and connecting that way to establish that it is the wireless that is faulty, and not the internet connection.

If, sat within a meter of the router you do not pick up a signal on a device that otherwise is known to receive wireless, then you are right to suspect a router fault and will need to either replace the router or have it repaired if it is under warranty, but hopefully the problem can be found and resolved without it coming to this.

Troubleshooting Your Router Problems is a post from: Computer Spot

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The range of operation is decided mainly by the access point that you have. The power of your access points would decide on how long or how far off you can carry your laptop or your client desk top from the access point.

The range of operation is normally not set in a fixed way, but is realized when you move away from the access point.

Where there is not enough signal strength for the system to log on and work on the network, it can disconnect from the network. This will be the limitation caused by the location of the wireless network. As a user, you should be aware of these limitations and the maximum you range you can cover at your home.

You might have to reconnect if you go out and come back in. This could spoil any server based work if it is running when you are moving out of the network space or hot spot.

This range of operation is the final range or distance that the access point is able to reach with sufficient signal strength for comfortable operation.

In the same way, the signal strength that you need and the distance that you need to reach would all be the part of your needs when you make the list.

In order to ensure that all the needs are met, you have to select the equipment that is in line with the needs you have already marked out.

Antenna and Cable

At some point if you found the distance supported is not good enough or you need more working space, then the easiest to do is to insert an antenna to suit your needs.

There is also the possibility of shifting the access point to a place that will bring about the needed change. In order to realize the first one, you need to understand that the antenna bears an important role in the distance that a signal could cover.

That is why by suitably altering the antenna, you might be able to achieve what you want. But that could turn out to be a costlier option compared to the next one.

In the case of the second solution, you could shift your access point to the place that you deem fit. The wiring has to be redone in order to do this.

Up to the new point where you want to place your access point, you need to lay the Ethernet cable and then move the access point. This will also move the hotspot by the same distance in a simlar direction.

Normally, the area covered is in a circle around the access point. Of course, this can change depending on the obstacles you have in the course of the RF wave and other problems that you might have in your home.

Connecting Your Printers

If you want to connect your printer to a computer over a wireless network, the easiest way is to fix a Bluetooth wireless system.

There are a number of wireless printer adapters that are available in the market. Most of them work through your USB port. Check any web site that sells electronic goods and find the right printer adapter to take care of your needs.

This card is plugged in at the USB port on the printer and it connects to any Bluetooth enabled PC, a lap top or a palm top. You can connect your PDA and then print the contents out. Of course, your PC should be Bluetooth enabled.

Otherwise, you might have to install a Bluetooth PC card. Most of these cards are plug-and-play capable and they install automatically even though the manufacturer supplies an installation CD.

Setting Your Range Of Operation of Wireless Network is a post from: Computer Spot

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Components that make up your wireless system are simply the two units: one, the wireless router or the access point and two, the wireless card or the connectivity over a WiFi card.

In the case of the access point, you can also connect to an Ethernet network or to a broadband internet line. That is the additional facility that you might have on your wireless router.

On your wireless card, if you have configured with a server allocated IP address, it is easy for your laptop to be placed anywhere and still get connected to any of the servers there, provided they are also configured in the same way.

Dynamic allocation is therefore, the best method for connection where you might move in and out of multiple networks or there are multiple numbers of people who might log in and out of the network. Under all these circumstances you will find that the laptop is better configured and equipped to work at ease with this wireless modem.

The second component is the router or the access point. As already discussed the selection of the access point is dependent on your needs. Based on your requirements pertaining to the speed of the transmission unit and that of the card you have on your machine, the router is also selected.

In addition to this, there could be other signal strength requirements which could make your choice all the more specific. The access point has to be selected based on all these requirements and within your budget up to the extent possible. It should be a satisfactory choice while making the selection.

This selection will ensure that your access point will be able to work seamlessly with the wireless card that you have fixed on your computers and lap tops. Your selection should take into account all of these requirements before a purchasing decision is made.

Components Of Your Wireless System is a post from: Computer Spot

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When you first bring your router home, you can run it straight out of the box. It is often possible to simply plug it into the mains, plug the modem into it and search for the wireless signal. You can connect your computer to it right away with a nice, clean, strong signal and are away!

But then so can everyone else who can see your signal. The problem is that a wireless router will broadcast its presence far and wide, within the limits of it’s signal strength.

If it is in the very middle of your home, then it may not reach far outside but set it next to a wall and you could be providing a free internet service for all of your neighbors.

This is costly to you, and will see your own available bandwidth drop as they are eating into it. If you have a capped service then you may find that suddenly you are not longer able to reach your super fast speeds, and are crawling along at a snail’s pace, even though you have not downloaded anything yourself.

There are other risks-namely that your neighbor or another unscrupulous individual may be able to use your insecure network to access your computer. They may be able to read files, including personal and confidential information, such as banking which leads to the risk of identity theft.

Avoiding these risks are simple. When you first turn on your router you need to log into the administration panel by entering the numerical I.P. address for your router. For many routers the default it  http://192.168.1.1/.

You will need the administration name and password as listed in your user guide or router packaging. These details can later be changed once you are in the administrative tool center.

The settings and layouts for each router will differ by manufacturer, but the most important setting-that of the wireless access password will be found under ‘security’, ‘wireless’ or ‘wireless security’.

You have several choices when it comes to the type of security you use, with WPA and WPA2 being popular choices. This tab will also allow you to setup wireless MAC address filtering to block specific devices.

Your device administration password can normally be accessed under the ‘administration tab’ and it should be set at something memorable but not easy to guess.

There is one potential downfall for using passwords. Occasionally people complain that it reduces the range that the router will broadcast over, yet this risk is minimal.

If you are really concerned about a drop it is possible to use a buy a signal booster to use along with your wireless router, or else can buy a more powerful model than you were considering.

Your new wireless router should not take long to set up, and may come with a wizard to walk you through every step. Even if it doesn’t, you should be up and running in a matter of minutes, knowing that no one else can see what you are doing online.

Set up Your Router-Security is Important! is a post from: Computer Spot

A wireless system requires you to have a wireless card that does the job of receiving and transmitting data. This is either on your computer or laptop.

Most laptops, as I said earlier, come with the card installed on it. All that you have to do: go to your operating system and enable the card. You can start using it immediately.

Well, this might not be the case with all machines or laptops. Please note that there are also laptops that fitted with Bluetooth and not with WiFi. In these laptops and machines, you need to install the wireless card to get it connected to the access point.

So what are the specifications of these wireless cards and who makes them?

Figure : PCI Adapter, USB adapter and a wireless PC card with a router / access point. (Source: NetGear)

Wireless cards come in different compatibilities or types. Of course, all manufacturers produce practically all types.  What differentiates them are the methods that are adopted to plug in these wireless cards on to your machine.

Some are made specifically for laptop plug-ins. These are normally made for card bus plug-in. Every brand of laptop comes with a PCMCIA slot.

Now all that you have to do with these card bus products is to slide this into this slot. Companies such as NetGear, D-Link and numerous others provide you with this PCMCIA card bus plug which can be used for this purpose.

These normally work at 54 Mbps or 108 Mbps or, even go up to, 300 Mbps speed. They are also compatible with most of the frequency ranges that are available on your Access Points. Most of these devices are plug and play devices on your Windows XP or later systems. So they are also easy to install on your laptop. Pretty easy, true!  But easier than these are your USB plug-in cards.

These wireless cards are much easier to work with. All that you have to do is slide them into any of your USB ports and bingo! It starts working. These work equally well with your laptop or your desktop. You do not need different cards for laptops and desktops.

You get almost the same speed of 54 Mbps or 108 Mbps or 300 Mbps over this device too. Therefore, this may not be a problem for you to pick up this piece.

This might also work out to be cheaper. And if your PC or laptop supports USB 2.0, your USB wireless card should work at least forty times faster than what it is on USB 1.1!

To add to the comfort, this is easily portable. You can easily pocket it and walk away! And so much more easily losable! Ensure that you wear it around your neck; it stays there unless you bend too much!

This is more like your pen drive and there is always the possibility that you might miss taking one with you when you are in a hurry!

It is good to know that it is very comfortable to work with these devices. You can plug it in and start working wherever you are; you can carry it all the way to your office or to a client’s place and back to your home.

Remember your laptop is also wireless enabled. At railway stations and airports you can make use of all the hotspots that are provided.

The same can also be said about the PCMCIA card; the only limitation is that they are not small enough to be put into your pocket and hence are not as comfortable as the USB wireless card.

In the case of the PC Card, only a PCI card can be plugged on to the PC bus. This card is made for your desktop and cannot work with your laptop, though it has all the features that are needed for the system.

There are models that work on 54 Mbps to 300 Mbps band rates and these can also be made use of. This would make your PC more mobile.

If you are changing the layout of your office or home and moving the PCs to a different location, there is no re-wiring involved! All you have to do is move it to the new location and start working.

Are there different manufacturers for these different products?

As a matter of fact, every one of the manufacturers most often provides all the three products. Features of products generally remain the same, despite being manufactured by different companies.

Most widely selling products come from NetGear or D-Link or Linksys. There are also others who make products of standard quality.

As the technology is standardized, most manufacturers produce them in compliance with the fixed standards of IEEE 802.11a/b/g. Therefore most products are good and dependable.

However, you need to check whether the company provides you support locally and whether the goods come with a warranty. A warranty shows that the company believes that its products are well made and good.

When they are able to support the product after selling it to you, you can be confident that there is some one whom you can fall back on when things go wrong. There are always occasions when things really get out of control; this is when you need someone to offer professional help to see you through the crisis.

How do I select the wireless card that suits my need?

Quite simple! Make a list of your special requirements.

This could be something like:

• I need to access my network from any of the rooms which are at a distance of x m. Can I do it?
• I need to find the right product that matches by budget: $50 +/- 10%. Can I find one?
• My wireless card should fit both my laptop as well as my desktop. Ideally plug and play. I do not want to go about installing software from CDs!

You may have other special questions and requirements. You need to select the one that matches all of your needs, including your budget!

There are numerous sites that offer you all of these products online along with their pricing and their features. You can check them out from these sites to make the right choice.

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For every one of the systems that we discussed earlier there are devices that would enable communication. In case of WiFi equipments too, you will find a number of WiFi equipments that meet your needs.

You need to have an access point which will tie to a static server over an Ethernet network as shown in figure 1.3. Access points are wireless nodes that are configured to receive and transmit wireless RF signals on a network.

It also serves to connect the computers across a network. They also bridge the wired Ethernet network with the wireless systems.

There are number of companies that make the access points for home use. Some of the typical manufacturers are the following:

• D-Link makes a series of models that serves the purpose.

Most of the modern day wirelesses Access Points comply with 802.11 g of the IEEE standards. Airplus Xtreme G forms a series of D Link products that cater to this standard.

The new 108G as it is called is almost fifteen times faster than the older one that complied with 802.11b. D-Link makes reliable and standard products that you can always pick up and install with little or no hassle.

The 108G is a standard Point to Multipoint (PtMP) bridge that could cover most of the home based businesses or individual requirements even if the number of users on the network increases marginally.

Of course, all of these routers are also point-to-point bridges and can act as routers for internet connectivity.

• NetGear is another major vendor for Access Points

You can select these when you are in need of a quality product and need a competitive pricing too. There are numerous products that match the IEEE 802.11a/b/g standards.

There are also models that have the capacity to reach up to 300 meters with no obstructions. You need to select the one that matches your needs.

• There are a number of other manufacturers both within the country and out of it

There are a few Chinese and Taiwanese products that match the IEEE standards. Many of them are hybrid models that work on both 2.5 GHz as well as the 5.8 GHz frequencies. 5.8 GHz might be required when you have to move beyond the 200 meter transmitting distance.

• Some of the other manufacturers you might find on the net would include Starnet, Multilink, Duganit and others

However, you should ideally look for specific manufacturers who have support networks spread across the country and would provide the required support all through the life cycle of the product.

All of these access points provide similar service to the users. It is not easy or relevant, for that matter, to identify the best wireless Access Point.

What really matters are these important considerations which you should check before deciding on the purchase of your access point.

1. Does it meet all of my needs?

Particularly, does it support the relevant equipment up to the distance I need the signals to reach? Does it have Ethernet connectivity over a cable as well as over the wireless system? If you have any other specification you should also check out whether it meets all of them.

2. Is the manufacturer providing support at your location?

May be, he might not help you install the access point at your home; but when something goes wrong he should be in a position to come down and set it right for you.

This could be an important requirement since in rare situations, there is a possibility things might get out of control. External help, particularly from technically sound sources could help you troubleshoot problems and put your network back on track swiftly.

It is also good to have a support person who can work on the router or access point even if he is not a representative of the manufacturer. But you should ensure that the person is around for a reasonable length of time!

3. Then there is the price factor.

Check on the price: there is always a possibility that the price is directly proportional to the brand popularity. You might have to choose the brand you want.

Frankly speaking, there is hardly any difference between brands in terms of their technological capabilities. So choose what you like.

There is however, another thumb rule that can help you decide on the brand:  the warranty that the manufacturer is willing to provide for the product.

The big advantage in all these products is that the market is really cluttered with numerous models. Therefore, the price levels keep falling as more and more people enter the business. Of course, it is also a disadvantage.

You are not able to select one specific model without ambiguity. But take my word; there is no major difference between the way these devices work. Select the ones that are closer to your choice and needs. Apply the selection rules listed above too!

Access Points For Your Wireless Network is a post from: Computer Spot

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WLAN stands for Wireless Local Area Networking or just Wireless LAN. The wireless LAN can be set up using any of the wireless communication methods that are normally used.

The most common one is the WiFi or Wireless Fidelity systems. This is the brand name for such wireless systems produced by the WiFi Alliance.

So what is this WiFi? WiFi is a standard protocol and brand owned by the WiFi Alliance. Most internet service providers are subscribers to this brand and make equipments that fit into this interface.

As a matter of fact, WiFi is in line with the IEEE standards 802.11b/g. This means that it works at a 2.5GHz frequency. The major handicap of WiFi is the limitation on the distance that it can reach.

Indoors, this can go up to 120metres while outdoors it can extend up to 300metres. This is a constraint, especially when you need to go beyond these distance limitations; you need to look for some other wireless communication system or may be multiple access points connected to one another either over a wired system or through the wireless itself.

There is of course, the blue tooth that is used in many inter-device communications. In most cases, Bluetooth is referred to as the Personal Area Network. It is fairly private;  what sets it apart is the high degree of security and low frequency of operation. Both these factors ensure that your communication does not interfere with other systems.

Particularly, if you are going to work in close proximity with other electronic devices, it is certainly safe to use the Bluetooth enabled network.

It is necessary to remember that if you are going to be in close proximity with highly critical health care equipments, then Bluetooth is the option that you should seriously consider.

But then, the biggest disadvantage of Bluetooth is the limited distance it can cover. You can use it up to 100 meters maximum – this could be a mild exaggeration, the distance might be even less!

You should look at using Bluetooth network for connecting your printers to your computer network. It can also be used to create a basic file sharing system. This is discussed in section 3.5 of this book.

For larger distances, the Radio Frequency transmission is adopted. In most cases this is a directed transmission and will be from point-to-point.

This way, large distances are also covered running into tens of kilometers. But for our current focus of home wireless LANs this might not be significant.

For most of the WLAN constructions at home it is more common to make use of the WiFi network than any other. Bluetooth is most often used for device-to-device communications.

For instance, a Bluetooth network would work well between a mobile and headphones or printer and computer; this should ideally be the only interconnectivity you are looking for with this device.

We will continue with our discussion on the WiFi systems since that is more widespread and commonly used. Secondly, most of our requirements are met by WiFi rather than by any other system of communication. We will take a cursory glance at the inter-device networks using Bluetooth too!

WLAN and WiFi is a post from: Computer Spot

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Ok, so who are the people that make these gadgets? All that you would require are these two components primarily, all the rest are optional.  However, we will take a closer look at these two components and a bird’s eye view of the others.

One of the largest wireless router or access point makers is NetGear. There are also others like D-link, Buffalo, Linksys and Kyocera.

There are also others who make the same products; the capacities/sizes are relatively smaller. Most of these manufacturers make both the access points as well as the cards for your computers.

Again the cards come as plug-in options, adaptable with your computer; they can also be fitted into your laptop’s USB port. Most of the laptops these days come with an inbuilt WiFi adapter.

This ensures that newly purchased laptops are equipped to handle wireless LAN operations.

It is however interesting to find out how you can make use of the existing LAN card on your laptop.  This is something that we will consider when we do the installing work.

Out of the large range of products that is available in the market which one would you select for your home?

That would depend on your needs. The specifications of these devices are normally judged based on the bandwidth of the product; the number of terminals it can support; the distance up to which the access point can provide you with signal or in other words the signal strength of the unit. Before you decide on the model you are going to buy, you need to decide on your needs.

You need to make an exhaustive need / requirement list, which could probably include some or all of following: The speed at which you want your wireless network to work.

This will depend on what application or for what use you are going to put the home computers to. Of course, if you are going to use them to view movies online, then well even the best of routers could give you only basic capacity.

Even at 100 or 200 Mbps capacity you will still find that movies do not flow properly. However, decide on what you want here.

The second parameter that you will need to finalize will be the distance up to which you want the wireless LAN to be available. If the WLAN is to cover your entire house from wall to wall then you might have to ensure you have adequate power behind your access point to provide you with that service.

Decide on the distance to be covered. Then of course, you need to also ensure that the access point can support comfortably the number of machines you might connect to it at any given point in time.

If you are through with identifying all your requirements, you need to begin matching all these needs with your router. In some cases, you might have to operate in two different speeds. Then you need to select the router that can operate at two different frequency bands.

Make a complete list of all the features that you need and then select the equipment that matches all these. Of course, you should also list your budget as one of the needs!

Which One to Choose Wireless Networking or Wired Networking? is a post from: Computer Spot

If you want to do wireless networking, you need a device that will link the computer to the server over a wireless transmission system.

This is a device we call the access point. You will connect to this access point from your computer. Normally, this is the nearest access point or the strongest access point.

The word ‘strongest’ refers to the signal strength at that point! Make sure you have a wireless card on your computer or laptop.

Wireless LAN system and its components.

The wireless router is connected to the LAN or a LAN hub. This is also called the access point. All the wireless terminals or nodes will be connected to the wireless router over the wireless network.

When you are working on your home network, you will possibly connect to the broadband over the wireless router or to a dial up internet connection.

You may or may not have a LAN hub since all the computers could be on one side of the router and could form a part of the wireless terminal.

No other component is required on your computer(s) but for the wireless router and the wireless card. On your computer you will require the wireless connectivity either in the form of a WiFi card or a USB wireless card.

In either case, the computer will be able to connect to the wireless router and start working successfully.

How Does Wireless Networking Work? is a post from: Computer Spot

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