Wednesday 29 July 2009

Easy Steps to Setting Up a Wireless Network

By Feliciano Mulen

Switching from wired to a wireless Internet connection can make much of your use a computer much more enjoyable. This can be done with a wireless router. With a wireless router you can free you and family members from the confines of a desk and allow access Internet from anywhere in your home without the wires. You can do it and here is how.

Now do you have broadband connection such as ADSL or Cable? If you do then you already have the modem. If you don't, then you are probably using 56k modem. Most people tend not to setup wireless for a 56k modem but it is possible but not really practical. Okay, next you would need wireless router and a few wireless network adaptor depending on the number of PC you want on your network.

Before you buy a wireless router you should try to understand the different kinds of wireless or Wi-Fi. There are four types, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n. If it's a 802.11a, don't get it. They're not really used anymore. The main types used today are 802.11b and 802.11g. They both have better wireless range than 802.11a which is why they better. The difference between wireless B and G is their data transfer rate. B has a limited at 11Mb/s while G has 54Mb/s transfer rate. Wireless G however, is generally used over B as it can work in send signals as both B or G. Wireless N is the newer of the four and has twice the range of G and a transfer rate of up to 144Mb/s and also the most expensive of the four types and decrease from G to B. The best choose is to get wireless G.

After you decide on the type of wireless router you want, you should get wireless adaptors that would work with the router.Also you should check if your computers if it has one built-in and is compatible with the router you are buying. You would need an wireless adaptor for the computers that you want access on your wireless network. Install them in and use the proper software provided with the adaptor and the manual that it came with it.

To set up the router, you should not throw the instructions out as you will need them later. Keep them in case you forget something. It is best if you follow the instruction manual but here is the simple version of it.First power down your DSL or cable modem and disconnect it from your computer. Connect the modem to your wireless router. From the purchase of the wireless router, you should have a short cable. This is your network cable. Connect the network cable to the wireless router in the port labeled as either , WLAN, WAN, or Internet. It depends on brand of router you bought. Then connect that the Internet connection cable to the modem and reconnect your computer to the wireless router and power the modem back on.

Your devices with built-in wireless and those with the wireless adaptors should be able to detect the wireless router but don't connect any devices through wireless just yet. Open you Internet browser on computer that is connected to the router. There should be a be an address that came with the router and type it in the address bar. A window should that prompts for a password. It should come with the router as will. After entering the password it should take you to the configuration page for your wireless router.

On the configuration page you can give your network a name. Pick something the hard to guess for security reasons but should be something you can remember and type this in the SSID section. There should be a section that asks for a WEP or a WPA choose one and it should prompt you to enter an administrator password or a router password. It should be remember but random to prevent hackers from getting on to your network. You should be done with that. You can unwire your computer if you wish switch to wireless. Now your other computers, laptops and other devices on your network and have wireless Internet. All you have to do is type the network name and password or the the network connection page on your devices. That is all you have to do.

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