OK you have a PC connected to the internet at home and you want other PCs to
share the internet access. What should one do?
First, make sure everything you buy conforms to the dominant wireless
standard known as 802.11b, there are two newer, faster versions of Wi-Fi:
802.11a and 802.11g. "A" is for business use; "g" is for the home. (short for
wireless fidelity). That way you can mix brands, operating systems, even
network a Mac to a Windows PC and everything should still work together [that
said, I have yet to see a MAC networked on a HOME setup which can access
folders and files ona WINDOWS PC].
The heart of your network will be a separate wireless access point and the
Internet Access [cable modem] or preferably one device that does both called
a wireless router, acting as Wireless Access Point and cable 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 or remote desktop PC, you'll need a wireless PC
card or NIC. Most new notebooks have Wi-Fi capabilities built in. Notebooks
with Intel's new Centrino chip, for example, are Wi-Fi-enabled.
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 or Family 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. Write down
these settings and 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 or Router 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.
