Computer Upgrade-Networking questions?

[Molin Vardo]

A year ago, we installed a Netgear wireless network between our Win98
Desktop and our WinXPpro Laptop. About the only function that ever
worked was the ability to access the internet from both the desktop and
from the Laptop. At one point my son did make a connection to a desktop
-connected printer from the laptop . . . (he didn't leave me
instructions!). But basically the Win98-XPpro never has done much more
than supply the internet connection.

At any rate - we have recently upgraded our Desktop to WinXP Home and
hope we can set up the Netgear router to give us wireless access between
both computers. Should we "uninstall" our present setup (and what files
need to be removed to accomplish that) Does Windows have a function to
uninstall the entire wireless setup (or is that necessary?) and/or do we
uninstall the Netgear router setup (is there an Add/Remove program for
that?) If anyone has experience with this sort of maneouver, please
advise where I might find detailed instructions for same. Thanks for
any assistance.

Molin

 

[Guest]

The heart of your network will be a wireless access point and the Internet
Access or preferably one device that does both called a router, acting as
Wireless Access Point and cable or DSL modem and Network Switch.

The two-in-one units, available from Linksys, D-Link, Netgear and others,
start at about $100; with a few Ethernet ports and USB port too, so you can
connect to PCs using a standard Ethernet cable or USB cable.

To establish a wireless connection between a desktop PC and the wireless
router, you need a USB or Ethernet Cable.

To connect a notebook PC, you'll need a wireless PC card. If new notebooks
have Wi-Fi capabilities built in. Notebooks with Intel's new Centrino chip,
for example, are Wi-Fi-enabled.

Note that 802.11g is backwards compatible with 802.11b — meaning a laptop
with a "g" card will talk to a "b" router, albeit at the slower speed — but
802.11a is not. If your office installs an 802.11a network, get a dual-band
wireless PC card for your laptop so that it can connect both at home and at
work.

Make sure that the software that comes with your gear will walk you through
the installation. The steps will vary slightly, depending on each computer's
operating system. The older the OS, the trickier it can be; Windows XP is
designed to detect and configure a PC card to talk to an existing network.

Before you start, gather the following information:
• your broadband connection's IP address, e.g., 123.43.2.1
• subnet mask, e.g., 255.255.122.0
• default gateway e.g., 192.168.0.2
• DNS IP addresses e.g., 123.123.123.1

You can get these things from your Internet provider; your customer-service
rep will know what you're talking about (or you can find this using the
Properties tab, under Network Connections). Each is just a series of numbers
(e.g., 123.43.2.1) that you'll be prompted to plug in during setup. (If your
provider supports a protocol called DHCP, your router should retrieve these
settings automatically when you plug it in.)

You may also be asked to choose an SSID (service set identifier) I recommend
that you do not accept the default setting as anyone nearby with a wireless
device can also use your internet access. Set your SSID to a meaningful name
use your Business Name. For work-group name use ‘Wireless’ and a wireless
channel select from 1 – 11, I recommend you use a higher channel as default
settings usually select the lower end. Keep these consistent for all of your
machines.

Security
For additional security you can and should use Wired Equivalent Privacy
(WEP) algorithm: and set this at 64bit: you can then choose a combination of
10 hexadecimal characters [0-9 + A-F], again for this may I recommend you
select your mobile phone number as it is 10 characters long and not known to
all your neighbours.

Additionally you can set the Access Point to only allow access to specific
units, where you would enter their MAC address, again a series of Hex
numbers, usually found on the Wireless Card plugged into the Laptops or other
desktop PCs.

Now even if you have previously established settings on one or both PCs, you
can start the Networking Wizard to 'reset' the network configuration to
accomodate any changes.