This tutorial will guide you through the process of planning, building and testing a wireless home network. Although conventional wireless networks have made great progress over the years, wireless technology and terminology remain a bit difficult for most of us to understand. This guide will also help small businesses online wireless networking equipments!
Build a wireless LAN, step by step
You can build any typical wireless home network, a wireless LAN (WLAN), using this simple three-step approach:
1. Identify the WLAN design that best suits your situation. 2. Choose a good wireless device. 3. Install the device and test the configured WLAN.
I will break down each of these steps in more detail.
Ready for wireless technology?
This assumes that you have already made an informed decision to use wireless technology instead of building a traditional wired network. Prices have dropped dramatically for a few years, when wireless equipment was quite expensive, so network hardware is much more affordable now, but wireless networks are still not for everyone (yet). If you are not sure that wireless technology really meets your needs, be sure to research the different capabilities to decide what is best for you.
Benefits of wireless technology
Wireless technology offers tangible benefits compared to traditional wired networks. Have you ever tried to quickly find a recipe on the net while cooking in the kitchen? Do children need a networked computer in their bedroom for school projects? Have you dreamed of sending email, instant messaging or playing games while relaxing in your outdoor patio? These are just some of the things that wireless technology can do for you:
Next stop - Terminology
The field of computer networks once sat directly in the domain of technicians. Equipment manufacturers, service providers and experts studying the field of networking tend to be quite heavy in technical jargon. The wireless network industry is gradually improving this legacy, making products more consumer friendly and easier to integrate into the home. But there is still a lot of work to do for the industry. Let's take a look at the common jargon of wireless home networks and what this all means.
When looking for wireless equipment to buy, or when talking about wireless networks with friends and family, you should have a solid knowledge of this basic terminology.
What is a WLAN?
We have already said that a WLAN is a typical wireless home network. This is because a WLAN is a wireless LAN, and a LAN is a related group of networked computers located in close physical proximity to each other. LAN networks can be found in many homes, schools and businesses. Although it is technically possible to have more than one LAN in your home, few do so in practice. In this tutorial, we explain how to build a single standard WLAN for your home.
What is Wi-Fi?
Wi-Fi is an industry name that is used to market wireless network products. You will find a black and white Wi-Fi logo or certification emblem on virtually all new wireless equipment you buy. Technically speaking, Wi-Fi means compliance with the 802.11 family of wireless communication standards (described below). But because all conventional wireless home network equipment uses 802.11 standards today, basically the term "Wi-Fi" distinguishes only wireless equipment from other network equipment.
What is 802.11a / 802.11b / 802.11g?
802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g represent three popular wireless communication standards. Wireless networks can be built using any of the three, but 802.11a is less compatible with the others and tends to be a more expensive option implemented only by larger companies.
What are WEP, WPA and Wardriving?
The security of wireless home networks and small businesses remains a concern for many. Just as we use radio or television receivers to tune station broadcasts, it is almost as easy to pick up signals from a nearby wireless home network. Sure, credit card transactions on the Web can be safe, but imagine your neighbors spying on every email and instant message you send!
A few years ago, some technicians popularized the practice of conducting war to raise awareness about this vulnerability in the WLAN. With the help of cheap and homemade equipment, war drivers walked or drove around the neighborhoods spying on the wireless network traffic emanating from nearby houses. Some wardrivers even registered their computers on the homeless WLAN networks of unsuspecting people, essentially stealing free computer resources and Internet access.
WEP was an important feature of wireless networks designed to improve your security. WEP mathematically encodes (technically speaking, encrypts) network traffic so that other computers can understand it, but humans cannot read it. WEP technology became obsolete a few years ago and has been replaced by WPA and other security options. WPA helps protect your WLAN from access controllers and nosy neighbors, and today, all popular wireless devices support it. Since WPA is a function that can be activated or deactivated, you just have to make sure that it is configured correctly when configuring the network.
Next - Types of Wireless Equipment
The five types of equipment found in wireless home networks are:
- Wireless network adapters;
- Wireless access points;
- Wireless routers;
- Additional wireless antennas;
- And wireless signal amplifiers.
Some of these devices are optional depending on the configuration of your home network. Let's examine each piece separately.
Wireless network adapters
Each device that you want to connect to a WLAN must have a wireless network adapter. Wireless adapters are sometimes also called NICs, short for Network Interface Cards. Wireless adapters for desktop computers are usually small PCI cards or, sometimes, USB adapters similar to cards. Wireless adapters for laptops resemble a thick credit card. Today, however, an increasing number of wireless adapters are not cards, but rather small chips embedded within laptops or handhelds.
Wireless network adapters contain a transmitter and a radio receiver (transceiver). Wireless transceivers send and receive messages, translate, format and, in general, organize the flow of information between the computer and the network. Determining how many wireless network adapters you need to buy is the critical first step in building your home network. Check the technical specifications of your computers if you are not sure that they contain built-in wireless adapter chips.
Wireless access points
A wireless access point serves as a central WLAN communication station. In fact, they are sometimes called base stations. The access points are thin and light boxes with a series of LED lights on the face.
Access points connect a wireless LAN to a pre-existing wired Ethernet network. Home network connectors typically install an access point when they already have a broadband router and want to add wireless computers to their current configuration. You must use an access point or a wireless router (described below) to deploy hybrid home networks with or without cables. Otherwise, you probably don't need an access point.
Wireless routers
A wireless router is a wireless access point with several other useful features added. Like wired broadband routers, wireless routers are also compatible with Internet connection sharing and include firewall technology to improve network security. Wireless routers look a lot like access points.
A key advantage of both wireless routers and access points is scalability. Its powerful built-in transceivers are designed to broadcast a wireless signal throughout the house. A domestic WLAN with a router or an access point can better reach corner rooms and backyards, for example, than one without it. Similarly, home wireless networks with a router or access point support many more computers than those without. As we will explain in more detail later, if your wireless LAN design includes a router or access point, you must run all network adapters in the so-called infrastructure mode; otherwise, they must be run in ad-hoc mode.
Wireless routers are a good option for those who build their first home network. See the following examples of wireless router products for home networks:
- The best 802.11g wireless home routers
Wireless antennas
Network adapters, access points and wireless routers use an antenna to help receive signals on the WLAN. Some wireless antennas, such as those of adapters, are internal to the unit. Other antennas, such as those of many access points, are visible from the outside. Normal antennas that are delivered with wireless products provide sufficient reception in most cases, but you can also install an optional additional antenna to improve reception. Generally, you will not know if you will need this equipment until after completing the basic network setup.
Wireless signal amplifiers
Some manufacturers of wireless access points and routers also sell a small piece of equipment called a signal booster. Installed together with a wireless access point or a router, a signal amplifier serves to increase the power of the base station transmitter. It is possible to use signal amplifiers and additional antennas together, to improve both the transmission and reception of the wireless network simultaneously.
Both antennas and signal amplifiers can be a useful addition to some home networks after the basic elements have been installed. They can make computers out of reach again within WLAN range, and they can also improve network performance in some cases.
WLAN Settings
Now that you have a good knowledge of the parts of a wireless LAN, we are ready to configure them according to your needs. Do not worry if you have not decided on a configuration; We will take care of all of them.
To maximize the benefit of the instructions below, have your answers ready for the following questions:
- Do you want to expand your home cable network with a WLAN or are you building a completely new network?
- How many wireless computers do you plan to network and where in the house will they be located?
- What operating systems run / run on your networked computers?
- Do you need to share your Internet connection between wireless computers? How else will you use this WLAN? Share files? Network games?
Installing a wireless router
A wireless router supports a WLAN. Use a wireless router in your network if:
- You are building your first home network or
- You want to rebuild your home network to be completely wireless, or
- You want the installation of your WLAN to be as simple as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment