Wireless Network Setup

Special Features

About: Wireless Network Setup Christmas Day 2003 Rachel surprised me with something wonderful, a shiny new laptop computer! I was completely snowed, as I had given her three things to buy me. The first was a Dell 1500 laser printer. I do a lot of printing at home and the inkjet was just not cutting it. In fact, I can buy a new Lexmark Z35 printer that comes with two ink cartridges cheaper than replacing the two that are in there. The laser printer ran about 300 dollars so I figured that would be the probable gift. The second was the Dell Axim Xi3 Wireless handheld. I already own a Palm M130, but this baby was wireless and came with Windows Handheld software. I just wanted a second toy to play with. It ran about 350 dollars so this was my second most likely. And just to throw it in, I suggested the Dell Inspiron 5100 Laptop computer. I knew this was a long shot, as I was still paying on my IBM NetVista that I bought last Christmas. But like a miracle on 31st street, I got my laptop. I thought I was getting the printer. My dilemma Anyway, most of that is unrelated, because when I got the laptop, it presented a dilemma, "How do I get on the internet?" Well, first I was contempt with plugging my network cable from my DSL router directly into the back on the laptop. This provided easy internet access and was simple to set up. All I did was tell Windows what I was setting up and just like that, it worked. But then I realized, why did I get a laptop if I have to sit at my desk and use it right in front of my desktop computer, why not break the bounds and use the internet anywhere in the house?! So I started to research wireless internet solutions. After a quick search on Yahoo! I figured out that what I needed was something called a wireless router and a wireless card for my laptop. I quickly ran to Staples to purchase my wireless notebook card. It ran me about $70.00 Learning about how we get the internet I had run into a problem while helping a guy in Vandergrift set up a home network. I had created a simple two computer network in my parents’ house that was capable of sharing our dialup internet access. I know, it sounds pathetic now, but it was very convenient when I needed it. I used a special type of cable called crossover Ethernet cable to connect the two back to back. It is important to remember this when connecting just two computers without a router, standard network cable will not work, you need crossover. So anyway this guy had a router, which I just figured enabled you to connect more computers to the network. Boy was I stupid. After calling his friend, he explained that I had to connect to the router to set it up. I was still confused. Apparently, routers are a separate person inside a network. It generally routes information between two or more computers, much the same as someone does when they are stuck between two people who are not talking to each other. But, advancements in routers enabled them to connect directly to the internet. They run their own software and most configure themselves. They use DHCP; a program that automatically does all of the hard stuff for you. Just like sending mail, everyone needs an address, and computers are no different. This DHCP thing does that for you, so you can spend more time communicating and less time configuring. So, all simplified, the router itself connects to the internet and serves the information to the connected computers. The router has an address itself, so that your requests travel to it first before being sent out onto the internet. When you type in http://home.alltel.net/godlesky and click that go button, your computers sends that request to the place it knows where the internet is, the router. The router receives the information and sends the request out to the internet via its connection. It continues to get forwarded until it finds its destination. Thus your request is received and your information is sent back the same way. So, with this basic understanding of how the internet works with a router, you can easily understand how a wireless router works. It does everything a regular one does, it connects to the internet, it has (commonly) 4 inputs in the back to connect computers. And it even serves up the internet. The New Stuff So, the first router I worked on could use dial-up internet, the kind that you get through your phone line and pay twenty bucks a month for. You simply plugged your phone line into the back of the router and it dialed the internet up for you. I don’t know if they make them, but I have not seen a wireless router that uses this old method. Most new routers are for broadband applications, such as DSL and Cable. When you receive DSL or Cable in your home, you get what is called a DSL or Cable Modem. These devices are much like the routers that we talked about earlier, except that they use only one Ethernet cable to give the internet through. You can not connect four computers directly to one of these, only one at a time, unless you purchase an additional router to share it with. That’s where the Wireless Router comes into play. When you plug the Ethernet cable that comes from your broadband modem into your wireless router, the internet is shared through all four of its ports and wirelessly. The wireless is the new part. They add something to the router that broadcasts a signal out into the air. This is based on the same technology that runs your 2.4 GHZ cordless phone. The router seeks out someone to connect with. On the router you can see an antenna sticking up from the back, and on some models you will see two of them. Routers share information commonly at 100MBPS, which is pretty fast compared to before. The old standard was 10MBPS, the new (and for now, expensive) standard is 1000 MBPS. For comparison, your old dial-up internet has a speed of 0.056MBPS. The newer DSL and Cable offer around 0.8MBPS. So, seeing that the internet can only communicate at a fraction of the routers top speed, you do not have to worry about being slowed down, you get near maximum speed. This is also where the wireless card comes in. The card I bought is what the wireless router is seeking. Whenever I plug the card into the laptop and install the included software, the card seeks out someone to connect with. There are 11 different channels of communication that someone could be broadcasting on, so the little card that could actively listens to all of these. I’m sure if I was a real geek, I could pick up the neighbors 2.4 GHZ phone conversations with his mother. But, I really don’t need to; I can hear it just fine through my floor. So, I went back to my main computer and logged into the router. This is done by typing its address into my browser. I think the default address is 162.196.0.1, but I could be wrong, they are all different. When you hit go, a box comes up asking for your password. You read the instructions that came with your router and put the one they say to use in. This brings you to the routers master controls. I quickly used the routers powerful features to route all phone calls in Leechburg to the wrong places. A riot developed and all of the local businesses had to evacuate! I took a drive downtown to do some quick looting, as looting is not actually stealing. I was just about to swipe some movies from the video store when I woke up at my desk. "Damn!" I said. I was grasping a book from my desk, not the entire collection of newest release DVD’s as I had hoped. Well, within the routers master controls are options to configure the internet, set restrictions, view logs, and all sorts of other neat stuff. The first thing I did was set up my internet. It asked me for my user name, password, and all other relevant information. I typed it in and I attempted to connect. And, just like that, it did. The "I" light on the front of the router blinked for a few second and then came on solid green. YES! I said its working. I quickly ran to my laptop, to try out a website. Nothing. "Damn!" I said, again. I went into the master controls of the card to see if it found anyone to connect to. It could not. There is an option to survey the site. This returns a report of all available access points to connect with. The wireless router is an access point. I ran the report and came up with nothing. So back to the router I ran, and then I noticed that there were options for "wireless settings". Bingo, this was the lead that I needed. I clicked on the option and a screen came up asking for a name, location, channel, and mode. The name referred to the name of the router. This is what it is seen as when it is found. It already had a default name, NETGEAR. I left it as it is. The location was the United States. I left this go to. If you change it, it will send out a slightly different signal depending on the location. The channel was 11, so I just left it there. The mode was G only. There are three types on wireless modes available right now. G, B, and A. A is the fastest, but can not travel very far. G and B can both travel around 150 feet, yet G is almost five times faster. B works at 11MBPS, while G operates at 54MBPS. My card was G, so I left the router in G mode. It can operate in both G and B at the same time, but I had read that it operates much slower in this mode. I avoided in like the plague. Below these options was Security Options. There were three selections, none, WEP, and WPA-PSK. This is equivalent to ok, better, best. With no security, anyone with G access can connect to your network, use your internet, and access your files if you allow. With WEP, you use a 48 or 64 bit key to allow access. Instead of making one up, you can decide on a smaller word and the software will convert it for you. Someone with a Linux computer and the proper software can break that code in about a week. I’m not worried about that, as I live in Leechburg. I’m probably one of fewer than ten networked people in the town. I’m guessing the WPA-PSK is the best, but I did not attempt to use that. Now, finally, I ran to the laptop and tried the internet. Still nothing. Argh! I went into the card’s software and did a site survey. Finally, the router was showing up. In the columns of information, I saw something that caught my eye: "security: WEP" So, I put that together and went to my card’s security tab. There I found the option to enable WEP, and entered my word. The software converted it and finally! The two connected. I stood up and raised my hands in achievement. I yelled. I hollered. I jumped for joy. Then I took a quick glance left. Rachel was looking at me like I was from Apollo or something. She quickly snatched the laptop and used it. All that work so she could use it? Sure, why not. The Review So, setting up a wireless network in your house? Here’s how: Make sure you have: Broadband Internet (DSL, CABLE, T1, T3, etc.) Purchase: Wireless Router, Wireless Notebook card or Ethernet Adaptor (If it’s two computers, not a laptop). Take router out of box; find a place to put it near the computer you access the internet through. Make sure it is close enough for the cables to reach. Take your Ethernet cable out of your computer and plug it into the internet port of the router. This is usually grouped differently from the other ports. Take another Ethernet cable (usually included) and plug one end back into your computer, and the other end into one of the ports on the router. You are now hooked up. Log into your router; this is done by placing the address into your browser that the instructions specify. Set up your internet and wireless settings in the screen that appears. Enable security if you like, just don’t forget to match the settings at the other place your going to be wireless at. Install the wireless card software. Plug your wireless card into your laptop. Open up the utility and scan your network. Find your router and connect to it. Match your security settings if you need to. Now, you should be wireless. - Clinton N. Godlesky 02/15/2004

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