Sams home wireless networking in a snap mar 2006 ISBN 0672327023

Not only do you do awaywith most network cabling, you also place an "intelligent" device, a wireless router, to act as the intermediary betweenyour wireless network and your broadband In

By Joe Habraken

Publisher: Sams Pub Date: March 15, 2006 Print ISBN-10: 0-672-32702-3 Print ISBN-13: 978-0-672-32702-5 Pages: 408

Table of Contents | Index

These days, nobody really wants to learn everything there is about their hardware and software And even if you did, who has the time to endlessly tinker and play with it until you figure everything out? You just want a book that will quickly show you how to set up

your home wireless network Home Wireless Networking in a Snap is designed specifically

for busy people like you.

This book covers the things that aren't already covered in the documentation that came with your equipment and the things you can't just figure out on your own It is organized into a series of well-organized, bite-sized, quickly accomplished tasks, that lets you zero right in on particular tasks you want to accomplish This hands-on approach to setting-up

a secure home wireless network will have your network up and running in no time.

By Joe Habraken

Publisher: Sams Pub Date: March 15, 2006 Print ISBN-10: 0-672-32702-3 Print ISBN-13: 978-0-672-32702-5 Pages: 408

Home Wireless Networking in a Snap

Copyright © 2006 by Sams Publishing

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as accurate as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied.The information provided is on an "as is" basis The author andthe publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to anyperson or entity with respect to any loss or damages arisingfrom the information contained in this book

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Joe Habraken is a best-selling author and information

technology and new media professional who has written morethan 25 books on networking, desktop operating systems, andcomputer software applications such as Microsoft Office andOpenOffice.org Joe serves as an assistant professor at theUniversity of New England, where he teaches a variety of

information technology and communication courses His recent

book titles include the Absolute Beginner's Guide to Networking (Fourth Edition), Skinning Microsoft Windows XP, and Novell Linux Desktop 9 User's Handbook.

It definitely takes a team to create a book and I have a number

of people to thank I would like to thank all the folks at Samswho had a hand in creating this book A big thanks to my

acquisitions editor, Betsy Brown, who pulled the editorial teamtogether for this book and managed the book-creation processfrom initial idea to published manuscript I would also like tothank Dallas Releford, the technical editor on the project, andAlice Martina Smith, the development editor Also a big thanksgoes out to Vanessa Evans and Ben Berg Last but not least, Iwould like to thank the project editor, George Nedeff And if I'veforgotten anyone else: Thank you!

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It is certainly not uncommon to have multiple computers in ahome or small office And most home and small office usershave dealt with the problems of connecting these computers sothat they can share files and other resources such as printersand a single high-speed Internet connection

Evidence of these forays into computer connectivity is oftenquite apparent in the form of network wires underfoot and

overhead A better solution is the creation of a wireless network

or WLAN (wireless local area network) Not only do you do awaywith most network cabling, you also place an "intelligent"

device, a wireless router, to act as the intermediary betweenyour wireless network and your broadband Internet connection

In this chapter, we take a look at how computers communicateand how wireless networking actually works We also discusswireless networking components and how you can get the mostout of your home or small office wireless network

Unless your home or small office has been hard-wired for a

local area network (meaning network wiring in the walls, wallnetwork ports, and a central switch or other connectivity device

in a closet), the reason to create a wireless home network isfairly self evident And while many homes and small offices mayhave started out with one shared computer that had a dial-upInternet connection, lower-cost computers and the availability

of extremely fast broadband Internet connections make the

creation of a home network highly desirable and affordable

Wireless networking provides an excellent alternative to wirednetworks and provides enough bandwidth (up to 54Mbps) forsharing printers and files, and even gaming on the network.Because the WLAN requires an access point for the variouswireless-enabled computers to communicate, the access pointcan consist of a wireless router that can also serve as an

intermediary between the WLAN and a broadband Internet

connection The router allows all the computers on the wirelessnetwork to share the same high-speed Internet connection

computers can access the network and take advantage of a

high-speed Internet connection where the WiFi router serves asthe intermediary between the home network and your Internetconnection

The costs related to creating a WLAN are actually quite

reasonable, especially where only a few computers will be

connected And most new notebook computers come with awireless network adapter as part of the base price

Note

Even if you have already networked your home or small officecomputers using network cabling, you might want to clear awaythe "spaghetti mess" of cables And if you have older networkconnectivity devices such as hubs and network adapters,

replacing these devices with newer WLAN devices will actuallyincrease the data rate on the network

It definitely makes sense to go wireless if you already have

multiple computers in a home or small office that are not

networked As already mentioned, networking allows you toshare files, printers, and the Internet connection When addingcomputers to your home or office, you certainly should considerbuying a new computer with a wireless network adapter

Even if you already have a "wired" home network, you can still

go WiFi and add new computers to the network by outfittingthem with WiFi network adapters Because most WiFi routersalso provide switch ports, you can connect wired computers

One last word about taking advantage of WiFi networking:

Although WiFi networking is easy to take advantage of, the factthat your data travels on WiFi radio frequencies means thatsecurity can be an issue for your network Other people can

"listen in" on your wireless communications unless you takesteps to secure your network It makes sense to use the

security features provided by WiFi-enabled devices such as

wireless routers For more information on WiFi security, see

About Basic Network Security

Before we take a look at how wireless networking actually

works, let's take a quick look at how computers communicate

on a network For computers to communicate on a network,there must be a network architecture in place that dictates howthe data moves from one computer and then over the wire (on

a cabled LAN) or wireless signal (on a WLAN)

The most widely embraced network architecture is Ethernet.The Ethernet standards define how an Ethernet network

adapter, Ethernet switch, Ethernet access point, and other

Ethernet devices transmit data on the network Data

transmission speed is measured in bits per second (bps) A bit

is one binary digit, either a 1 or a 0 (it is the smallest unit ofdata; 8 bits make up a byte) Ethernet provides data

transmission speeds in excess of a million bits per second

(Mbps) In terms of networking, bandwidth is considered thenumber of bits that can be sent across the network medium(such as the wired or wireless network) at a given time So, theterms data transmission speed and bandwidth are often usedinterchangeably

Note

Ethernet got its start in 1972 at the Xerox Palo Alto ResearchCenter (PARC) Xerox released a commercial version of Ethernet

in 1975 that provided a transmission speed of 3Mbps Ethernethas matured to the point where today we have gigabit Ethernetthat provides a huge amount of bandwidth Wireless Ethernetnetworks can provide up to 54Mbps of bandwidth, which is

greater than what some hard-wired LANs can deliver

Computers must contend for transmission time on the networkmedium To receive data, computers just sit and wait, listening

to the network When they sense that a particular transmission

is meant for them, they receive it on their network adapter

Ethernet takes care of the movement of data at the hardwarelevel But users like us deal with software Software that

provides our method of communication with the computer's

hardware For our various computer software applications totalk over the network, there must be some software standards.These standards are communication protocols A protocol isreally software code that provides the rules for how computerscommunicate over the Ethernet hardware

Key Term

Protocol A set of software rules that dictate how computers

and other devices communicate over a network architecturesuch as Ethernet

The only network protocol we really need to discuss is the

TCP/IP network protocol stack (it's a stack because it contains

a number of protocols that have different jobs) A protocol stacksuch as TCP/IP must provide an address system and also takecare of converting data we create in our software applications to

To make a long story short, TCP/IP takes care of the data

conversion process and also provides the addressing system forcomputers and other devices on the network The addressingsystem consists of IP addresses A unique IP address is

assigned to each device on the network Each piece of data sentover the network is labeled with the IP addresses of the sendingdevice and the receiving device, allowing for the movement ofdata from point A to point B

Computers and devices on a TCP/IP network can have their IPaddresses configured manually or dynamically To manually

configure a computer with a static IP address (meaning an

address that never changes), you configure the computer with a

unique IP address and an accompanying subnet mask (the

subnet mask helps other computers determine which part of theaddress is network information and which part is specific deviceinformation)

The alternative to manually configuring devices with an IP

address and subnet mask is to use a DHCP (Dynamic Host

Configuration Protocol) server on the network The DHCP serverleases IP addresses to computers and other devices on the

network Wireless routers (discussed in several chapters in thisbook) can act as DHCP servers, so you won't have to assign IPaddresses to all the computers on your wireless networkthe

router does that automatically and behind the scenes

In Windows XP (both the Home and Professional versions), the

IP address is configured in the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

Properties dialog box You can either configure a Windows XP

wireless router)

Computers running Windows XP can be configured with static IPaddresses or configured to accept an IP address from a DHCPserver

Note

We discuss IP configuration and other network settings in

Configure TCP/IP Settings

hardware level The wireless standards used for WLANs areactually Ethernet standards We discuss wireless Ethernet in

"Understanding Wireless Networking Standards," later in thischapter

Now that you have a feel for how computers and other devicestalk on a network, we can take a look at how wireless

networking actually works Wireless network connections takeadvantage of radio signals and infrared light (these connectionsare limited in range) WiFi connections between WiFi-enabledcomputers and other WiFi devices such as wireless routers have

a maximum range of around 300 feet

Note

Other wireless and longer-distance communication strategies(such as those used by cell phones that take place through

cellular telephone technology) can provide greater range This isbecause a cell phone can connect to a cellular antenna that ismiles away from the phone Some Internet service providers(that also happen to be cellular phone companies) such as

Verizon and even Google are looking at technology that offers ahigh-speed wireless network (which is being called WiFi but

differs from the home WiFi we are discussing here) This cellulartechnology can be accessed from nearly anywhere in a

geographic location (such as a city) and can also be used toaccess the Internet So, the physically wired high-speed

Internet connections we take advantage of through DSL andcable modems might be slowly replaced by this WiFi-on-steroidstechnology that is beginning to roll out in major metropolitanareas

In terms of home and small office networking, the Ethernet

WLAN hardware available takes advantage of radio connectivity.The equipment operates in the part of the frequency range that

Note

Wireless networking equipment operates in the same frequencyrange as analog and digital home telephones and other devices

The only difference between a (wired) Ethernet LAN and anEthernet WLAN is that the WLAN sends data over radio wavesrather than through network cables A WLAN is still an Ethernetnetwork, plain and simple However, wireless Ethernet has itsown set of standards that have been developed by the IEEE(the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a

worldwide standards organization) Let's take a look at the

wireless Ethernet standards

Understanding Wireless Networking Standards

The IEEE has created a set of standards for networking that fallunder the IEEE 802 specifications (a series of engineering

specifications for devices) The standard for wireless Ethernet isdesignated as 802.11 Three types of 802.11 standards arecurrently in use for wireless networking:

Note

The 802.11 wireless standards are also often referred to as

WiFi You will often see 802.11 hardware labeled as "WiFi

devices." It's not a different wireless standard, just a nickname

54Mbps of bandwidth and operates in the 5GHz band of theusable (public) radio spectrum 802.11a is just starting tomake its way into the home networking marketplace, andwireless equipment vendors such as Linksys have begun toroll out products using this specification Oddly enough,WiFi 802.11b and 802.11g were available WiFi standardsbefore 802.11a was implemented

802.11b This specification provides up to 11Mbps of

throughput and operates in the 2.4GHz band 802.11b wasthe first wireless Ethernet specification available (in 1999).The speed of a computer connected to a 802.11b accesspoint decreases the further the computer is from the accesspoint The 802.11b standard does not provide the type ofrange you get from 802.11g A distance of 100 feet or morebetween the access point and the WiFi-enabled computertypically does not provide an adequate signal strength

802.11g This specification provides bandwidth between 20

and 54Mbps in the 2.4GHz band It is currently the fastestgrowing implementation of wireless networking for homenetworks and small LANs This specification can providegood connections between access points and WiFi-enabledcomputers that are up to 300 feet apart

Note

You probably wonder what the 802.11 numbering is all about interms of the wireless Ethernet standards The IEEE provides thespecifications for all types of networking standards For

example, 802.3 is the specification for Ethernet LANs (meaningwired LANs)

802.11b products are starting to disappear from stores and youwill find that most 802.11b hardware is on sale If you can dealwith the slower data rate that 802.11b provides, you can puttogether a wireless home network for practically a song

However, you certainly won't get the performance or range youcan get from 802.11g devices

Note

The 802.11 wireless standards aren't the only wireless

standards out there Another wireless standard is called

Bluetooth Bluetooth is gaining momentum in the cellular phoneindustry and is used for a variety of peripheral devices such ashands-free devices for cell phones Toyota has even built

Key Terms

WiFi router A device that provides a connection for a home

network to a high-speed Internet connection (which is, in turn,provided by a device such as a cable modem) The WiFi routeralso provides an access point through which WiFi-enabled

computers can connect to the network Computers with

traditional wired network adapters can also be connected to theWiFi router through to the network switch built in to most WiFirouters The WiFi router is an intelligent device in that it can beconfigured to make decisions about the type of access that can

be made to the high-speed Internet connection and what type

of data traffic can be allowed through the router onto the localarea network

Network adapter A device that allows a computer to

participate in the network The network adapter takes the datafrom the computer and prepares it for transmission over a

network medium such as network cabling or WiFi radio signals

Because the wireless devices made by these companies

different vendors on my wireless network, and I have not

experienced any problems in terms of compatibility

If you are starting from scratch in terms of purchasing yourWiFi hardware, you might want to purchase a wireless routerand WiFi network adapters from the same manufacturer Theonly reason I say this (and I don't totally believe the

complaints) is because you can find some chatter on the Webrelated to incompatibility problems when using devices fromdifferent WiFi vendors Just do a search on the Web for "WiFihardware incompatibility" and make your own judgment aboutthe posted complaints

When you purchase your WiFi hardware, cost might or mightnot be an issue However, we all certainly like to get a bargain,

school specials) or "package" discounts It's not uncommon for

so you should take advantage of sales (jump on those back-to-a manufacturer to package a wireless router and at least oneWiFi network adapter together and discount the price so that it

is lower than the cost of buying the items separately Whetheryou like to shop on the Web or like to read the hardware box,you will find that there are a huge number of web stores andbrick-and-mortar stores in your town that stock consumer

electronic products such as WiFi devices

In terms of sorting out the best WiFi devices for your wirelessnetwork, you need to do a little research Each of the WiFi

vendors has put its own spin on the 802.11 standards

For example, Netgear has developed MIMO, a wireless strategythat makes use of multiple antennas MIMO devices are

completely compatible with the WiFi standards 802.11g and802.11b but are advertised as providing greater coverage,

range, and speed than standard WiFi (meaning 802.11g) Thecost for a MIMO wireless router is more than that of a standard

advertised performance boost Remember that MIMO is still animplementation of 802.11g; it's the multiple antennas (the

MIMO) that provide better connectivity between WiFi computersand the router

Linksys has 802.11g compatible devices that take advantage ofLinksys's proprietary SpeedBooster technology SpeedBoosterprovides increased network performance Again, as with

Netgear MIMO devices, Linksys SpeedBooster-enabled routersare more expensive than vanilla-flavored 802.11g WiFi wirelessrouters (which are also sold by Linksys) We are talking about a

$20 differential (at most retail stores) between a regular

Linksys 802.11g router and a SpeedBooster 802.11g router, soyou must determine whether the potential speed boost is worththe price differential

products

The bottom line is that there are a lot of different WiFi products

on the market You will have to do a little reading, a little

comparison shopping, and then some decision-making to

devices and other items you will need to create your home orsmall office WLAN

Wireless Router

I am assuming that you are creating a WLAN that will share ahigh-speed Internet connection and have both wireless andwired computers participating on the network You only need a

single device, a wireless router, to realize all these different

types of connections

The wireless router typically contains the following features andfunctionality:

Wireless access point The access point is the connection

point to the WLAN for wireless computers and other

devices Most wireless routers now available support both802.11g and 802.11b wireless clients

Ethernet switch The switch allows you to connect your

wired network computers to the wireless router Most

wireless routers for home and small office use provide fourEthernet LAN ports In most cases, you can also connect adedicated switch to the router if you need more LAN ports

Broadband connector The router also serves as the

network's connection to your broadband device such as acable modem or DSL router This means the whole networkhas access to the Internet Most wireless routers also helpprotect the network from intrusion from the Internet byproviding a firewall

As I have said before, a number of manufacturers sell wirelessrouters Read the specifications for the available routers, and

router This should help you select the correct router for yourhome network (and there is certainly more than one that willwork, so take price into account)

The Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband Router is one

example of a wireless router (photo courtesy of Linksys)

Tip

Although 802.11b wireless routers and WiFi adapters are dirtcheap right now, I suggest that you go with 802.11g devices foryour network You will appreciate the additional bandwidth

provided by these upgraded devices

WiFi Network Adapters

network Most new notebook computers come outfitted with aWiFi adapter (in almost all cases a 802.11g adapter) that alsoprovides a port for a wired LAN connection

If you need to upgrade existing computers to WiFi, you havetwo options: You can install a WiFi adapter in an expansion slot

on the computer (both desktop and notebook computers haveexpansion slots, although they differ greatly) or you can buy aWiFi USB adapter and plug it into an open USB port on the

computer (either a desktop or notebook computer)

Note

It has been my experience that the performance provided by aWiFi (802.11g) USB adapter is equal to the performance

provided by a WiFi adapter installed in a computer's expansionslot However, don't take my word for it; it's your network Youcan search and find any number of articles on the Web that

if necessary) PC card adapters are very easy to install becauseit's really just a matter of sliding them into the open slot on thenotebook computer

You will also need some network cables so that you can attachyour broadband Internet device to the wireless router and

connect any wired computers to the wireless router's LAN ports.Ethernet network cables are UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair)

Category 5 (CAT 5) cables with four pairs of twisted wires insidethe plastic cable covering These cables are terminated by RJ-

45 plugs You might hear these types of cables referred to as

Ethernet cables or as CAT 5 cables.

Although CAT 5 cables might look like regular telephone wire,they certainly aren't the same thing; just compare the RJ-45plug on a CAT 5 cable with the RJ-11 plug on a telephone cable.The RJ-45 is bigger

You can upgrade a desktop computer for WiFi by installing a PCIadapter such as the Netgear WG311 54 Mbps PCI adapter

(photo courtesy of Netgear)

You will need a CAT 5 cable to connect your wireless router toyour broadband device This cable is often included with the

"wired" PCs to the router's LAN ports

Note

speed corporate networks such as Gigabit Ethernet (which

A "newer" Ethernet cable type called CAT 6 is used on high-requires expensive network cards and network devices such asswitches) You don't need CAT 6 cables for your WiFi network.CAT 5 cables will work just fine

Any store or website that sells WiFi hardware will also typicallysell CAT 5 cables Make sure that you buy the correct lengthsfor your wiring needs Pace off or measure the distance

between the computer and the router so that you buy a cablethat is a correct length In some cases, you might only be able

side to using a 50-foot cable when a 10-foot cable would havesufficed (other than the excess wire laying around) The limitfor CAT 5 cable (because of impedance on the wire) is 328 feet

Just to give you some perspective on the use of wireless

networking hardware in the home, almost 7 million WiFi deviceswere sold to home computer users in 2004 So while you

certainly aren't on the cutting edge in terms of adopting

wireless technology, you can rest assured that the standardshave been tested and used successfully by a huge number ofhome and small office computer users just like yourself

After you have set up your wireless network (as detailed in thisbook), you will want to share printers, files, and other networkresources, particularly that high-speed Internet connection

Install the Router and Access Router Configuration

provide you with the necessary steps for connecting the

wireless router to your Internet connection About Sharing Network Resources provides details on how to share printersand files on the network

To get the most out of your home WiFi network, you will want tomake sure that you create a secure network that negates thepossibility of security breaches from outside the network

Because WiFi uses radio signals for data transfer, unscrupulousfolks can eavesdrop on your network and actually view data.And we have all read about the different types of attacks thatcan be launched over the Internet About Basic Network Security is a must read You won't get the most out of yourWiFi hardware if you are constantly experiencing intrusions onthe network

Outfitting your home or small business with a WiFi network isdefinitely a smart move It not only makes it easier for users onthe network to collaborate, but the network can also be used formultiplayer gaming and other recreational pursuits

The two most common types of broadband connections used inhomes and small offices are DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) andcable broadband DSL offers simultaneous voice and data

communication over regular phone lines With DSL, you can talk

on the phone and access the Internet at the same timefrom asingle phone line

To sign up for DSL, talk to your local telephone provider

(typically one of the Baby Bells) In many cases, the phone

company provides the DSL router, which connects to the phoneline coming into your home You then connect your WiFi router

to the DSL router using a traditional network cable to make theconnection to the Internet

A DSL router such as the Cisco 675 ADSL router is used as theInternet connectivity device for a home-based DSL connection

Another common high-speed Internet service is cable

broadband Cable broadband is provided by your cable

television company Data is moved on the same cabling as yourtelevision signal Because cable broadband has different

channels, one channel can be used for upstream data

communication and a separate channel can be used for

downstream data communication As with DSL, the connectionspeeds and cost vary from cable company to cable company.Speeds for home cable broadband implementations can be

range from 500700Kbps downstream and 128256Kbps

upstream (faster data rates can be attained, but in most casesyou might have to pay more for the faster data rate)

When you sign up for cable broadband, your service providerwill typically provide you with a cable modem (at no cost) Thedevice isn't really a modem but is designed to connect to the

It makes sense to take advantage of the broadband service thatprovides you with the most bang for your buck in terms of

bandwidth speed for a monthly fee Some broadband servicesalso charge you for the broadband device that is installed inyour home, and there might also be startup fees As with all theWiFi equipment discussed in this chapter, you should researchthe various broadband service providers and select the one that

works the best for you.

network), and accessing the Windows Control Panel