Wireless all- In-One for Dummies- P7 docx

If all goes well, instead of “Huh?” your response by the end of this chapter will be “Duh!” These are times when I would want to bridge two or more networks: ✦ You’re adding a wireless n

Chapter 3: Creating Bridges

In This Chapter

✓ Bridging two or more networks

✓ Building the bridge with hardware

✓ Doing what you wish with a bridge

No, this isn’t a chapter on civil engineering And I’m not going to tell

you how to build a bridge on the River Kwai, although I may in an upcoming sequel (Naturally, I’ll be playing William Holden’s part after I shed a few pounds.) Instead, this chapter is about bridging two or more networks

Huh? A bridge is software or hardware that connects two or more different networks together

Huh is exactly what I said when I first learned about creating a bridge between, say, a wired Ethernet network and a wireless network What is it? Why do I need it? Is the Big Bang overrated?

If all goes well, instead of “Huh?” your response by the end of this chapter will be “Duh!” These are times when I would want to bridge two or more networks:

✦ You’re adding a wireless network and want it to piggyback on an ing wired Ethernet network The wireless network has access to the same things — hardware and data — as the wired network does

in business environments, but it could occur in a home, too The wired networks are physically separated and the most convenient way to con-nect them is by creating a bridge

✦ You want to extend the range of a wireless network By bridging two wireless access points, you can expand the signal range without laying any wires

You can use a wireless access point as a bridge, if the access point’s ware is equipped to handle the task Not all wireless access points can be used as a bridge; it must specifically say it can be used as one

hard-160 Bridging with Windows Vista

Bridging with Windows Vista

Windows Vista makes it easy to create a bridge between two or more works connected to the same computer

net-You need a network adapter, which serves as a communications point between your computer and the network, for each network you want to bridge If you’re bridging a wired network with a wireless network, your com-puter needs two adapter cards: one for the wired network and one for the wireless network

Creating a bridge

Use the following steps to bridge two networks in Windows Vista:

1 Click Start.

The Start menu appears

2 Click Network and Sharing Center; click Manage network connections from the Tasks list.

The Network Connections dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 3-1

Be sure not to click Network from the Start menu; it opens the Network page (I know, it gets confusing!)

3 Select the networks you want to bridge.

The networks you select are highlighted You can select multiple nections by holding down the Ctrl key as you click each network

con-Figure 3-1:

Network

Connections

dialog box

Book III Chapter 3

Bridging with Windows Vista

4 Right-click one of the highlighted networks and select Bridge

Connections, as shown in Figure 3-2.

162 Bridging with Windows Vista

Adding a network to a bridge

You can easily add a network to an existing network bridge Just follow these steps:

1 Click Start.

The Start menu appears

2 Click Network and Sharing Center; click Manage network connections from the Tasks list.

The Network Connections dialog box appears

3 Right-click the network you want to add to the bridge and select Add

to Bridge.

Windows Vista adds the network to the bridge The Status column in the Network Connections column shows Bridged once the network has been added to the bridge, and it also appears in the Network Bridge section of the page

Removing a network from a bridge

Maybe you’ve added a bridge by mistake, or maybe you’re ready to burn a bridge or two Follow these steps to get rid of a network from a bridge:

1 Click Start.

The Start menu appears

Book III Chapter 3

Bridging with Windows Vista

2 Click Network and Sharing Center; click Manage network connections

from the Tasks list.

The Network Connections dialog box appears

3 Right-click the network you want to remove from the network and

select Remove from Bridge, as shown in Figure 3-5.

Windows Vista removes the network from the bridge

The Start menu appears

2 Click Network and Sharing Center; click Manage network connections

from the Tasks list.

The Network Connections dialog box appears,

3 Right-click the network bridge and select Delete, as shown in

Figure 3-6.

Windows Vista deletes the network bridge

164 Bridging with Windows Vista

Bridging with Windows Vista 160

Chapter 4: Configuring Printers

In This Chapter

✓ Sharing a printer on your network

✓ Adding a network printer

✓ Switching the default printer

and your multimedia files You also can do things like share a printer among all the computers on your wireless network I don’t need to tell you how helpful that can be these days, especially when more and more house-holds are using multiple computers

In this chapter, I explain how to set up printer sharing across a network, as well as how to add a new printer and change the default printer

Learning to Share

You can add and select printers that you will use over your wireless work For instance, you might be sharing a laser printer on your network and want to add a color inkjet printer that’s connected to another computer

net-to your network Here’s how net-to share a local printer on your entire network:

1 Click Start.

The Start menu appears

2 Click Control Panel.

The Control Panel appears

3 Click Printer in the Hardware and Sound section.

4 Do one of the following:

5 Select the Share This Printer button.

be used For example, the uses of slashes or other special characters

are not allowed If you use an illegal character, don’t worry about it,

Windows shows you the error of your ways It is then up to you to rect it It’s important to learn from one’s mistakes

You’re all done here Move along, move along

Book III Chapter 4

Feeling Selfish and Turning Off Sharing

Just as you giveth, you can taketh It may occasionally be a good idea to turn

off your printer sharing For example, if you know that you’re running a bit

low on ink or paper (and hey, those cost a lot of money these days!), you may

want to limit access to your printer If you know that you’re going to be tying

up the printer for a few hours and can’t bear the thought of anyone

encroach-ing on your territory (or simply slidencroach-ing in a quick print job), then you may

want to pick up your marbles and go home, or simply un-share your printer

If, after setting up printer sharing on your network, you decide that you no

longer want to share the printer, you can easily switch it off Just follow

these steps:

1 Click Start.

The Start menu appears

2 Click Control Panel.

The Control Panel appears

3 Click Printer in the Hardware and Sound section.

4 Do one of the following:

168 Adding a Network Printer

5 Deselect the Share This Printer button.

6 Click OK.

The sharing symbol disappears from the printer’s icon That’s it for switching off printer sharing If you want to add a network printer, mosey on over to the next section, please

Adding a Network Printer

Windows Vista usually installs printers for you automatically if you’re necting the printer directly to your PC; if you’ve been around computers since the Windows XP (or even Windows 95) days, then you likely know this

con-Of course, this might not be enough There are other computers out there just waiting for you to print your prose If you want to add the ability to use

a printer that’s connected to another computer on your network, rather than one connected directly to your computer, you need to follow these instruc-tions for each printer you want to add

Sharing must be enabled before you can add a network printer You must enable sharing from the computer that connects to the printer you want to share

To add a new network printer, follow these steps:

1 Click Start.

The Start menu appears

2 Click Control Panel.

The Control Panel appears

3 Click Printer in the Hardware and Sound section.

4 Click Add a Printer from the menu just under the file menu.

The Add Printer wizard appears

5 Click Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer.

The list of available printers appears, as shown in Figure 4-3

6 Select a printer and go to Step 7; otherwise, if you cannot find the printer you want, click The Printer I Want Isn’t Listed option and carry on.

7 Do one of the following:

Feeling Selfish and Turning Off Sharing 167

Adding a Network Printer 168

Changing the Default Printer 170

Book III Chapter 4

8 Wait for the newly selected printer to go ahead and configure, and

think of a new name for your printer.

9 Type the name in the dialog box shown in Figure 4-4 (or leave the

default name, it’s really up to you!) and then click Next.

The congratulatory message appears, letting you know that your network printer is now installed

170 Changing the Default Printer

10 Do one of the following:

wizard

really works!

You just added a network printer to your personal computing arsenal!

Changing the Default Printer

You can change the printer that Windows Vista uses as its default printer The default printer is the one where your print jobs automatically go Although you can always choose another printer on the network (if there is one), doing noth-ing means your default printer handles the job

Usually, your default printer is your local printer (the one hooked up to your computer), but you can choose to make a network printer the default printer Of course, you may want to look twice and make sure that you’re online; otherwise it’s likely that your network printers won’t appear Here’s how you do it:

1 Click Start.

The Start menu appears

2 Click Control Panel.

The Control Panel appears

3 Click Printer in the Hardware and Sound section.

4 Right-click the printer you want to have as your default printer.

5 Select Set as Default Printer.

A white check mark on a green circle appears on the printer icon It cates that the printer is now the default printer, as shown in Figure 4-5 You’re done

indi-Figure 4-5:

This

printer’s

your default

Chapter 5: Confirming

Your Network Works

In This Chapter

✓ Checking your signal strength

✓ Monitoring your network’s activity

✓ Avoiding possible signal obstacles

✓ Handling interference

up a wireless network You may want to yell from the rooftops, or wherever you can find the tallest antennae that your new wireless network

is running without any problems Hold that thought: First check on your network’s health That includes viewing the signal strength as well as moni-toring its activity (that is, the network traffic) After all, what’s the point of having a wireless network if it is an underachiever?

Flexing Your Signal Strength

You’ll be happy to know of a simple way to view the strength of your less network’s signal This method doesn’t provide a great deal of informa-tion, but it’s enough to know whether you ought to move your wireless router closer to your computers Sometimes that’s all you really need to know Don’t forget — a wireless connection is always weaker than a tradi-tional, wired connection In other words, you’ll experience slower download speeds than a wired connection That’s why it’s important to make sure your signal strength is as strong as possible, to guarantee the best possible results from your wireless network

wire-You should check your signal strength at two different times:

Moving components just a few feet from their original positions may cause signal strength to drop In that case you can scurry about, putting everything back in place Then, with thinking cap firmly applied, you can reconsider

172 Flexing Your Signal Strength

where you’ll move your equipment You also have to take in to account the realities of where you installed your network; for example, the layout of your house if this is a home network For example, I live in a building from the early 1800s; the walls are quite thick, so if I put my laptop on my desk, next to the wall, I don’t get a very good signal If I move my laptop just a few feet behind

me, the signal jumps to full strength

Windows Vista has several built-in tools for testing your network I discuss these in Book IV, Chapter 3

To view a simple but helpful visual, just follow these steps:

1 Right-click the network icon in the Windows Vista notification area.

A pop-up menu appears

2 Identify the desired network.

Next to the network connection is a small bar graph that provides a quick look at the strength of your wireless network’s signal, as shown

in Figure 5-1 If four or five bars are highlighted, you’re enjoying robust signal reception This is much easier than in past versions of Windows, where you actually had a procedure to work your way through simply to see if you had a decent connection or not

wire-3 When you’re done viewing your signal strength, move your mouse away from the pop-up menu.

You can also find out the strength of your network using a more intensive way The Network and Sharing Center, shown in Figure 5-2, opens and tells the strength with text Here’s how that text breaks down compared

procedure-to the bar graph:

✦ Excellent: Your network is just full of energy This is equivalent to four

or five bars

Book III Chapter 5

Monitoring Your Network

✦ Good: Your network is doing a fine job This is equivalent to three bars.

✦ Fair: Your network is doing an OK job, but it’s not living up to its

poten-tial This is equivalent to two bars

✦ Poor: Your network is an underachiever You may want to start shifting

things, because you likely only have one bar

A more sophisticated way of measuring signal strength is discussed a little

later in this chapter Using a third-party software program, you can get a

pretty accurate read on the strength of nearby Wi-Fi access points

Monitoring Your Network

After you’ve decided which wireless networks you want to connect to, some

Windows Vista tools can monitor those networks One of these tools is in

the same dialog box that shows your signal strength Another is a real-time

graphical network monitor that’s part of Windows Task Manager In the

fol-lowing sections you learn how to use these tools Most people use these

tools simply to establish that their network is up and running properly For

example, if your network seems a bit sluggish, these tools will show you

whether or not data is getting in or out

Viewing your network’s activity

In the Wireless Network Connection Status dialog box, you can see how

much data is moving in and out of a PC over your wireless network

174 Monitoring Your Network

Here’s how you view it:

1 Confirm that your wireless network is enabled.

If it’s not, enable it If you’re also running a wired network, disable it If you’re using a laptop computer, it may be as simple as flipping a switch

2 Right-click the network icon in Windows Vista notification area.

A pop-up menu appears

3 Select Network and Sharing Center.

The Network and Sharing Center appears

4 Click View status on the Connection row of your wireless connection.

Select the General tab if it’s not already selected

5 The Wireless Connection Status window appears.

In the Activity area you can monitor bytes sent and received, as shown

in Figure 5-3 If there’s a number below Sent but a zero is beneath Received, your wireless network may not be working properly If there are at least three-digit numbers under both Sent and Received, your net-work should work

Viewing a real-time networking graph

To monitor your wireless network, just follow these steps: