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More people are using wireless networking today than before but is it really a good idea in some
situations? |
Wireless networking
is the easiest way to network a building that does not have network capability
built in. (The house is old, or the builder didn't have the
foresight to network it with cat 5 or cat6 wiring).
With it you don't have to punch holes in the
wall, crawl the attic and pull cable or hire some one to do it. (You can have it
done, the phone company that put in my DSL pulled two cables for free and
charged $50 for each additional cable).
Lets assume you want to go fairly cheap, wireless. There are a couple of
products that you can buy a workgroup access point and one or two NICs as a set,
from the same manufacture, buying a set means the hub and NICs are
designed to work together.
02/15/14 - Before we go any further I have some bad news: The Supreme Court of the USA has ruled this:
"There is no expectation of privacy with a radio transmission!"
This means as a radio receiver / transmitter (which is what your devices are)
you are wide open to any
receiver that can capture the radio transmissions from you! Encryption is
your best defense against hackers and thieves...
First lets talk about the
access point. What kind is best? As with any product there are
a plethora of deferent makes and types, depends on the application.
Most home users would chose a
access point, you could use a wireless cable modem
also. Lets go with the wireless workgroup
access point.
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Most of the newer routers have a
built in firewall (more on that in
Routers) this gives you another layer of
protection from the hackers and thieves.
Most
access point will come with a setup
program to configure the
access point's security, connect channel, and connect speed. The
main thing to consider here is how complex you make your security, the higher
the complexity the less chance of someone hacking your signal. (DO remember to
write down your password and name of your network!)
Once you have your
access point setup you are ready to setup the computer.
Some
wireless devices need to have the software/drivers installed before you
install the card into the system.
Read the directions.
Now you need the password
and network name that you setup the access point with. When you complete the setup, keep
the password in a safe place, you will need it again, trust me on this one.
One last thing on wireless networks, now that you are connected to the WWW please insure
your computer is user and password protected. The more complex you make your
user id and password the less chance of being hacked.
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The easiest
way to get
connected
is with USB
wireless!
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