Wireless all- In-One for Dummies- P4 pptx

Chapter 5: Installing Your Wireless Adapter In This Chapter ✓ Installing PCI-based network adapters ✓ Installing laptop expansion cards ✓ Installing USB adapters ✓ Configuring drivers an

Book II Chapter 4

If you do break out a separate area for statically addressed machines, it’s a

good idea to make a note of it somewhere

DHCP, get out of my hair!

Sometimes you just want to turn off DHCP You only want one DHCP server

on your home network If you have another device that’s doing the job of

DHCP and you plug in your device, then you’ll have two devices handing out

addresses

DHCP is so simple that most devices come with it turned on As you add

more pieces to your network, you’ll probably come across the situation

where you get two DHCP servers Make sure to turn that second (or third, or

fourth) server off

As a case in point, these combination router–access point–switch devices

are roughly the same price as an access point, so you might just come

home one day with a second router to expand your new wireless network

Configure wireless, turn off DHCP, and give the new router a different static

address, and you can plug it into the rest of your network as if it were an

access point Just remember to leave the Internet port unplugged, because

your first router is providing the path out to the Internet, and the new one is

bridging your computer between the wireless and wired inside networks

But wait, there’s more!

Looking back at the results of ipconfig /all from Figure 4-3, a bunch of other

information is there Most of it isn’t that noteworthy, but tI discuss two in

the following sections

Default gateway

The Internet is one big game of Hot Potato One guy throws his packet to a

router, who throws it to the next router down the line, all the way until it lands

at its destination To join in, you have to know where to throw your packet

Your default gateway is the place that your computer sends all the packets

it doesn’t know what to do with (for people on your local network, you can

talk directly to them) DHCP tells you the address of your gateway when

handing out the address You can see that this address is 192.168.1.1, which

is your router

Without a default gateway, you’re not going to get on the Internet

DNS servers

This chapter has talked a lot about addresses like 192.168.1.1, but you’ve

probably never typed one into your browser You’ve always typed URLs like

http://example.com/, right?

70 Understanding DHCP

DNS, the Domain Name System, is what translates those names that you understand into the numbers that computers understand It’s like the phone book of the Internet

Most routers make themselves the DNS server and relay your requests to your ISP’s DNS servers Sometimes they just tell you to talk to your ISP’s name servers directly by handing out those addresses Either way is good.The funny thing about DNS is that you can be connected to the Internet, but without DNS, you’ll get nothing but errors when you try to do anything That’s because your computer has no way to figure out how to convert the names to IP addresses, and you probably don’t know the addresses off the top of your head, either The address is required for your computer to con-nect to your destination, such as a Web server: a name won’t cut it

prob-is called the autoconfigure address range Thprob-is address prob-isn’t helpful, because

it’s not one of yours and therefore can’t be used to talk to the Internet

If you get this autoconfigure address, then make sure you’re within range

of your access point Sometimes you get enough strength from the wireless signal to see the other side, but not enough to have any meaningful con-versation, such as the whole, “Hey, I need an address” song and dance that starts things off

Other times, the problem is related to your wireless drivers, especially if you’re trying to get equipment from two different vendors to play nicely together You need to check to see if you can hookup using a wired connec-tion, and download some updated drivers

Of course, if you’ve turned off DHCP on your network, or never had it in the first place, you’ll see a lot of those 169.254.x.x addresses until you set up a static address or turn on DHCP

Contents

Chapter 4: Deciphering DHCP 63

Understanding DHCP 63

Chapter 5: Installing Your

Wireless Adapter

In This Chapter

✓ Installing PCI-based network adapters

✓ Installing laptop expansion cards

✓ Installing USB adapters

✓ Configuring drivers and wireless utilities

After your wireless router is up and running, you are ready to install

the wireless network adapters Unless you were fortunate enough to have wireless functionality built into your computer, you’re going to have to plug something into your computer so that you can get on the wireless net-work That something is a wireless adapter, and they come in all shapes and sizes In this chapter, you find out how to install different kinds of network adapters

Installing a USB Adapter

USB adapters can be used in both laptops and desktops Some USB adapters are sleek, little numbers that are designed to be unobtrusive in a laptop, and some are larger but flatter and are designed to be hidden on a desk They’re easy to install in either case, which is why we’re looking at them first.The USB adapter I’ve been working with is from NETGEAR and is of the laptop variety However, it includes a USB extension cable and a simple bracket designed to be Velcroed to the wall, so it’ll work equally well on a desktop Have a look at Figure 5-1 to see what I mean

A spare USB port is, of course, a prerequisite for a USB adapter If you have USB ports but none are free, consider an inexpensive USB hub that splits one port into four (or more) If your computer doesn’t have USB, the only way to get a port would be to add a PCI expansion card

USB devices are hot swappable, meaning you can insert and remove them

without powering down your computer Be careful about the removal part, though; if you’re storing anything on the USB device, it might get lost unless shut down properly!

72 Installing a USB Adapter

Installing the drivers first

As magical as it might seem, your computer needs to be told how to do everything through software You’re probably familiar with installing appli-cation software such as a word processor, spreadsheet, or games Another

class of software is called drivers, which are smaller pieces of code that tell

Windows how to work with hardware Chances are the piece of equipment you just bought came out after Microsoft released your version of the oper-ating system, so Windows probably doesn’t know how to deal with your new card without the right drivers

In some cases the hardware is generic enough that Windows will work fine using its default set of drivers If the hardware I’m installing includes its own drivers, I always use those Vendor-supplied drivers are going to have the latest fixes and are usually faster than a generic version After all, if the vendor made the hardware, I trust its drivers

When installing the vendor’s drivers, you usually get the opportunity to install the vendor’s wireless management software, which is much better than the software built into Windows It’s a win-win situation

Book II Chapter 5

Installing a USB Adapter

1 Load the CD that came with the adapter into your computer.

After you load the CD, the setup wizard starts (See Figure 5-2.)

2 Select the Install from CD option.

The wizard is helpfully offering to check for a newer version of the ers Because this computer doesn’t have any Internet connectivity (yet), the check would fail

driv-3 Accept the license agreement and default installation path.

The wizard reports that the software is installed, as shown in Figure 5-3

74 Installing a USB Adapter

4 Click Next to confirm that the software has been installed, and ceed to the next step.

You are asked to plug in your USB wireless adapter If you got ahead of the game and did this earlier, don’t worry, things can still work!

5 Plug your USB wireless adapter in now If you need help, see the next section, “Plug in the adapter.”

Understanding legal restrictions

Despite the various 802.11 standards being

agreed upon internationally, some federal

gov-ernments have slightly different limits on which

frequencies can be used As a result you get

some oddities where some of the higher 2.4

GHz frequencies are legal in Japan, but not

the United States, so they get a couple of extra channels than us

If you’re prompted with a legal message like the above, it’s best just to fill in the proper country and rely on the software you just installed to know which frequencies can be used

Book II Chapter 5

At this point your wireless card is installed and ready to go If you continue

along with the wizard, you’ll be able to get online right away I’m going to

stop here and pick it up again in Chapter 6, though

Plug in the adapter

Identify the USB port on the back of your computer and plug in the USB

adapter (or the cable, if you’re using the cable.) It should take only slight

pressure, so if it’s not going in right, try flipping the adapter over If you

think pliers might solve your problem, you’re probably wrong

Figure 5-6 shows me plugging in the cable to a USB port on my desktop

Your computer will probably emit a satisfying beep indicating the adapter

was inserted correctly, and then you’re off to the races The next chapter

tells you how to log in to your wireless network

Using USB

USB is a pretty nice technology You can pull the adapter from one computer

and move it to another if you want, or only have it plugged in when you need

to use wireless (like any peripheral, a USB wireless adapter uses power even

when you’re not using it)

Keep in mind that if you move the adapter from one computer to another,

you need to install the drivers on both computers, but only once The

con-figuration is stored on the computer, not the adapter, so you’ll have to set

up the wireless networks separately

76 People Can’t Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms

Figure 5-6:

Plug in the

USB cable

Finally, be careful! Although the adapter is pretty resilient, after you plug

it into the computer it’s not too happy being pulled at or bent If there’s a downside to USB, it’s that it sticks out of the side of your computer People who worry about bashing their adapter might be wise to use the desktop adapter and stick it to their monitor; the worst that happens is the cable breaks

People Can’t Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms

Laptop users have another option called PCMCIA cards, PC Cards, or ExpressCards PCMCIA stands for the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, though I always remember it as “People can’t memorize computer industry acronyms.”

ExpressCards are the newer standard, and replace PC Cards Depending on how old your computer is, you may have one of each or only ExpressCard slots Either way, these cards slide inside the base of your laptop, leaving only an antenna sticking out

Book II Chapter 5

People Can’t Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms

PC Cards might also be a good choice for older laptops with the slower USB

1.1 ports, which run a lot slower than the PC Card interface

The D-Link DWL-G630 card I’m using here follows a similar setup process to

the other hardware we’ve looked at

1 Make sure your PC Card isn’t plugged in Just like the USB installation

procedure, you install the drivers before the card.

2 Start the installation program by inserting the CD that came with the

card into your CD drive.

of plastic inside the slot which is designed to prevent you from ging the wrong type of card) A hardware detection dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 5-9

plug-5 Select Cancel to return back to the manufacturer’s installation process.

You may see a screen like the one shown in Figure 5-10 that indicates that the driver hasn’t passed logo testing

6 You are using the manufacturer’s driver, so you can safely select

Continue Anyway.

7 Wait while your computer installs the software.

8 After the installation quits, click the Exit button to exit the process.

9 Reboot your computer with the wireless card still inside.

78 People Can’t Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms

Book II Chapter 5

Cracking Open That Case!

PCI Cards are a reliable way of getting a desktop onto the wireless network

To add a new card to your machine’s motherboard, you must open up your

PC After everything’s closed up, the network card becomes a permanent

part of your computer The PCI Card has no risk of getting unhooked

acci-dentally, lost, or having coffee spilled on it Well, maybe you’re not safe from

the coffee, but I think you get my drift

Going over some ground rules

You’re going to be opening up your computer and working inside it I’d

sug-gest it’s turned off while you do that No, actually, I insist that your computer

is turned off while you work inside it Humans and electricity don’t mix well

Like a fuzzy cat, you’re a natural collector of electric charge in the form of

electrons Collect enough electrons by shuffling your feet on carpet, rubbing a

sweater against other items, or just picking a bad day to work, and you can turn

those excess electrons into lightning bolts known as static electric shocks

Those lightning bolts find their way to ground through the most efficient

path possible, and all those electronics in your case provide such a path

The problem is that your computer is made to run on 12 volts, and those

shocks that you’re throwing around like Zeus run in the tens of thousands

Shock the wrong part and you’ll be an unhappy computer owner

Fortunately, protecting yourself while working inside your computer is quite

easy Follow these suggestions:

✦ Don’t wear a heavy sweater, sweat pants, or dangly jewelry

✦ Keep all parts in their protective bags until you need them

80 Cracking Open That Case!

✦ Keep a hand on the computer case at all times to ground yourself

✦ Get your tools ready in advance so that you’re not building up charge as you run around the house

✦ Hold on to cards by the edges and don’t touch the contacts or

components

Also, keep a small dish handy to hold any screws you might have to remove That’s got nothing to do with static electricity — those screws are small!

Installing the drivers

Just like the other devices we installed, you want to install the CD that came with the card before actually installing the card It’s remarkably similar to the USB and PC Card procedure; in fact, it’s so similar that I’m just going to point you back to Step 2 in the previous section instead of reproducing it here

Opening the case

Unplug everything from your computer’s case and put it on your desk The goal here is to separate the lid from the rest of the computer so that you can access the components inside

Every computer is different, though Rest the computer on its feet and have the buttons facing you Look on the sides of the computer for buttons that you can push in to release the top Push these in while rotating the lid upward, and it should open like a clam

Failing that, look at the back of your computer for screws that hold the lid to the rest of the chassis Some computers require that you turn a thumbscrew

to release the lid, which slides back to reveal the parts inside

Figure 5-11 is what my computer looks like The button visible on the side releases the back of the cover, which swings upward to reveal the inside

Accessing the PCI slots

Figure 5-12 shows the edge of the wireless card This is a standard PCI card (Peripheral Component Interconnect) that you can use to expand your com-puter

1 Peer into you open computer case and look for some slots that would fit this card.

You should see between two and five in parallel against the back edge of your computer Some computer designs have a riser board that comes out of the computer’s motherboard at a 90 degree angle

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82 Cracking Open That Case!

When properly plugged in, one edge of the PCI card shows to the side of the computer through one of these openings Take a moment to figure out which PCI slot you’re going to use and which opening on the case corresponds to that slot The two don’t line up perfectly, though,

out-so you can use your card as a guide to figure out which port is to be used

3 Depending on your computer, you might have to undo a screw on the case to allow the card to go in You replace the screw later to hold the

card down You may also have to punch out part of the case to make room for the card — be careful! Other computers might use a clamp mechanism to hold down all the PCI cards at once

4 Gently line up the PCI card with the slot, and then make sure it’s straight against the case so that the connectors on the card show through the outside.

Figure 5-14 shows the card all ready to go

Book II Chapter 5

6 Screw the card down to the case or replace the clamp as appropriate.

Take a last look for forgotten tools and replace the top of the case

Attaching the antenna

You will see some connectors protruding from your wireless card when

looking at the back of your computer, as in Figure 5-15 Screw the

connec-tors from the antenna onto those connecconnec-tors Make sure they fit snuggly,

but hand-tighten only, please Your card might indicate which cables go to

which ports, so follow those directions In the Linksys PCI card I’m using,

the middle port is marked in blue, but it corresponds to a blue tag on the

antenna cable The other two ports can go in any order