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October 30, 2003 | Paul Thurrott | Feature Articles
November Spotlight on Wireless Technology: How to Set Up a Wireless Network

Wireless networking is hotter than ever today, thanks to falling pricing, better security, and a new generation of products that have been engineered for simplicity and ease of use. If you’ve held off from adding a wireless network to your home, home office, or small business, it's time to reevaluate that decision.

Why Wireless?

A wireless network is any network in which two or more computers can communicate wirelessly. You can configure a wireless-only network or a more versatile network in which some computers are connected via Ethernet cabling (which is generally faster than wireless) and some are connected wirelessly (which is more convenient and mobile than Ethernet). For the purposes of this discussion, wireless networking refers to Wi-Fi (“wireless fidelity”) technologies, such as 802.11b and 802.11g, and not competing and complementary technologies such as Bluetooth, infra-red (IR), and so on.

Wi-Fi networks are growing in popularity both within private homes and offices, and in public areas such as libraries, cafes, schools, airports, and other places. That's because Wi-Fi is a well-established wireless standard, with full support from major OSs such as Windows XP, Mac OS X, and Linux, and from the major networking hardware makers. In a home or home office, wireless-equipped notebook computers and Tablet PCs can be used virtually anywhere in the home, and even in the yard, depending on the size of the building and the placement of wireless hardware (we'll discuss this in more detail below). The resulting freedom can be liberating: Imagine answering email over breakfast from the kitchen, or browsing the Web from bed, and you'll get the idea. Once your PC is no longer tethered to a cable, your computing experience becomes more personal and enjoyable.

Wireless is also inexpensive. To correctly wire a home for Ethernet would require a serious commitment of time, effort, and cost. Wireless networks, meanwhile, can be created quickly and cheaply, without any need for starting a construction project. Wireless is also highly flexible. If you already have a wired Ethernet network in your home office, for example, you can simply add a wireless access point (AP) to your existing network; computers in the office could continue to use the wired network, whereas mobile computers and PCs in other parts of your home could be connected wirelessly.

Which Wireless?

Today, the most popular wireless standard is 802.11b, an 11Mbps shared bandwidth solution. But despite its bandwidth rating, 802.11b networks are almost always quite a bit slower than 11Mbps networks, averaging instead about 4Mbps to 5Mbps or less bandwidth with many users. Distance is also a factor: As you move further away from a Wi-Fi wireless AP, or pass behind obstructions, your signal to the AP's radio becomes weaker, lowering your bandwidth. This situation affects all wireless networks, but it's particularly acute on an 802.11b network because of the slow speed of the network even in a best-case scenario.

That said, 802.11b is fine for many tasks, including email, Web browsing, light file sharing, streaming music, printer sharing, and so on. But 802.11b becomes less viable when heavy file sharing, video streaming, game playing, or other high bandwidth tasks are required.

Several competing standards emerged to supplant 802.11b, but it’s now clear that 802.11g, or Wireless-G as it’s often called, will be the winner. Wireless-G runs at 54Mbps (about 20Mbps to 25Mbps in the real world), offering about 5 times the performance of 802.11b. Best of all, Wireless-G is backward-compatible with 802.11b, meaning that Wireless-G and 802.11b hardware can interoperate. There are issues with this, however: A Wireless-G networking adapter can connect to an 802.11b network only at that network’s 11Mbps speeds. And if you use an 802.11b-equipped device to access a Wireless-G network, the effective bandwidth for all users--including those with Wireless-G cards--drops to just 11Mbps.

To counter this problem, some Wireless-G hardware includes a feature that locks out 802.11b hardware, ensuring that the wireless network runs only at the fastest possible speed. This is a great solution if backward compatibility isn’t an issue.

Setting Up a Basic Home Network

Although you can connect two or more computers wirelessly without sharing an Internet connection, let’s assume that part of the reason you want a network at all is to share a broadband Internet connection. Most broadband connections in the US are obtained through cable, telephone, or satellite communications companies, and although the specific details can vary, each of these technologies involves a modem of some sort, such as a cable modem or DSL modem. This device connects to the outside world through a coaxial cable, and will typically supply 300Kbps to 3Mbps of connection speed. The modem connects to your PC or home network through Ethernet cabling or a similar technology; some modems use a USB connection, for example.

If you have only one PC, the Ethernet cable from the cable or DSL modem will connect directly to an Ethernet port on your PC, and you’re good to go: Simply boot up the PC and you should be online. To create a home network, you need to add a middle-man device, called a router, between the cable modem and your PC. A router typically includes one wide area network (WAN) Ethernet port, which you might think of as the OUT port. This port connects to the cable modem. It will also include one or more local area network (LAN) Ethernet ports, for adding one or more PCs to the home network. In the single PC example used above, you would plug the Ethernet cable from the cable modem into the router’s WAN port and string another Ethernet cable between a LAN port on the router and your PC’s Ethernet port.

If the wiring is correct, you should be able to turn on your PC and be online. But a not-so-subtle difference exists between a direct connection from a PC to a cable modem and the simple home network I’ve described. To access the Internet in the direct connect model, your Internet access provider (the cable, telephone, or satellite company) must give you an Internet protocol (IP) address, a unique identifier that takes the form of 123.456.789.012. This address could be static (meaning it never changes) or dynamic, which means the access provider is using a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server to assign you a (relatively) random IP address each time you turn your computer on and connects for the first time. Either way, your IP address is your face to the Internet, and a way in which remote hosts can uniquely identify you.

When you add a router to the mix, your access provider assigns an IP address to the router and not to your PC. The access provider uses this approach because you usually can have only one IP address per Internet connection (although some access providers accommodate more). But in a home network, you probably want to let two or more machines access the Internet simultaneously, and you don’t want to have each machine kick the other offline every time it loads a Web page. To get around this problem, routers support a technology called Network Address Translation (NAT), through which the device presents a single IP address to the outside world, but supplies machines on the home network unique internet IP addresses. The router literally translates requests from the outside world and routes them to the correct PC as needed. This approach lets you share your Internet connection among two or more PCs. And, as you might expect, the router also includes a mini DHCP server of its own so that it can hand out IP addresses just as your access provider does.

Well, not exactly. The router’s DHCP server is usually configured to work with special ranges of IP addresses that are reserved for private use. These IPs usually start with 192.168, although other ranges are available as well (a typical private IP address is 192.168.0.23, for example).

If you have only one PC, adding a router to the mix won’t change your life much. But if the router has two or more LAN ports, you can easily add more PCs to your new home network. And that’s when things get interesting: Not only can you share an Internet connection now, but you can also share files, printers, and other network resources. We'll look at some of these uses below, but first a burning question remains: How do we add wireless access to our home network?

Adding Wireless Access to the Network

Depending on the type of router you purchase, you might need to add wireless access separately. However, most network routers sold today include an integrated wireless access point, and as such, they are often marketed under different names. For example, you might see networking products called base stations; these are typically devices that combine router and wireless AP functionality in a single box, offering both Ethernet and wireless access to the Internet and local network.

If you’ve already implemented wired networks, many networking hardware makers now offer dedicated wireless AP devices that you can add to your existing network. But if you’re starting today, get a base station and save yourself some complexity. With either approach, the router and wireless AP are logically, if not physically, separate items. Even in an integrated base station, you can think of these components as separate devices.

To add a wireless AP to an existing wired network, simply use an Ethernet cable to plug in the device to one of the LAN ports on your router. (Users with integrated devices can skip this step.) Then, use your device manufacturer’s instructions to configure the wireless AP and install wireless adapters on each of the machines that will access the network wirelessly. The specific instructions will vary by device, but connecting an AP to an existing wired network will likely be a simple task, especially in Windows XP or Mac OS X.

Securing the Network

One aspect of wireless networking that you shouldn’t take for granted is security. Most of the wireless networks set up in homes are unsecured, open to attack from the outside world. The reasons for this sad state of affairs are somewhat complex. First, many home users don’t realize that wireless technology is inherently unsecure and that hackers with wireless “sniffers” could access their home network from a car on the street outside their home by using a wireless-equipped notebook computer. Second, even when users understand the risks, wireless security has been fairly hard to implement, causing many people to simply give up and leave their networks open. The original 802.11b wireless security standard, Wired Equivalency Protocol (WEP), was somewhat of a joke in security circles, and dedicated hackers can break it fairly easily. But WEP is better than nothing, and you can and should enable it on all 802.11b-based wireless networks.

A newer security method, dubbed Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), has become available with Wireless-G products and has, in some cases, been extended to 802.11b equipment as well. Currently making the rounds with the IEEE standards body, WPA answers all of the problems with WEP and for the first time gives home networks a viable security infrastructure. WPA automatically changes its rigorously created encryption keys, on the fly and at short intervals, preventing hackers from breaking the encryption and hacking the network. Also, WPA uses an 8- to 63-character pass phrase (like a password that can also include spaces and special characters) to secure the wireless network. You must enter the same pass phrase in both the wireless AP and in the configuration dialog for the Wireless-G card of any PC connecting to the network. WPA is a simple system to set up and use, and yet it supplies excellent security defenses.

Network base stations and routers also offer other security options that you need to investigate. For example, most of these devices include hardware firewalls, which you can configure to block traffic coming in and out of your home network. Network traffic can be blocked by port, which is basically a channel through which information flows. Web traffic travels on port 80 and email travels on port 25. Router manufacturers typically enable firewalls by default. Also, Windows XP and Mac OS X machines include software firewalls that can provide inbound firewall protection at the machine level.

Armed with this basic wireless networking information, you’ll can dive into the wireless world and experience the benefits of using your home technology anytime and anywhere. The article “Quick Looks at Wireless Networking Products” at http://www.connectedhomemag.com/Networking/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=27049 provides a brief overview of a few available wireless networking products.

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Reader Comments

has anyone ever successfully shared a dial-up internet connection with a wireless network?

Jay Bringenberg -November 5, 2003

Yep, I have, as weird as it sounds! We can only get dial up here in KS, so via my always on dial up AOL (heh) we use the wireless network to make it happen.

It's slow, due to the dial-up, but it works.

Dangerous Dave -November 17, 2003

Why would u want to wirelessly connect via 56k????????????????????

Snail Dial Up -November 25, 2003

Some people may not have the option to get broadband or it simply may not be affordable. If either of those are the case and the person has two or more computers and doesnt want to hard-wire a network or phone lines, then wireless is the alternative. I am one of those people who cannot get 'afforable' broadband. I live 1 mile off the main highway in the middle of a field and the cable company wont even talk to us. I dont mind too much because I've traded DSL or cable modem for peace and quiet. My only alternative is satellite modem and that's just too expensive for my tastes. I have a desktop PC and just recently purchased a laptop for business. Connecting wirelessly is attractive to me - even if it's through dial-up. Less wires, not having to locate a phone jack and not having to physically plug and unplug the phone line is nice. It's great to pull out my laptop anwhere in the house and surf the net. I may have to wait a few seconds for the laptop to tell my desktop to connect, but once it does, my laptop and I dont know the difference!

JayJay -February 21, 2004

how do you setup a wireless dialup? I'm on win98Se trying to share to a laptop on XP

Zero -March 1, 2004

I need to set up a wireless system as described by jayJay and would love to know what equipment was used and how to set it up. Any feedback would be great! Thanks!

Russ -April 8, 2004

i m also very curious about how to set up a wireless connection on a dialup..i would really appreciate if anyone could assist me in this matter.. on my mail address fahadmirza20@hotmail.com

Fahad -April 16, 2004

i have setup wireless dialup (no cable/DSL at my location in Maine). although i did not do this, i believe one way to is buy an Apple Airport with the internal modem option. i believe an admin utility for windows is available on the Apple site. otherwise you need to find a wireless router with a DB9/COM port on it. they are few & far between - i have a Netgear FWG114P which is working great for me. you attach an external modem to the router COM port; because the router does not detect any cable/dsl connection it fails over to the backup dialup modem and Viola! you have wireless dialup. yes it is slow, but i don't have wires strung thru the house.

CB -April 16, 2004

elo every1, i need a little favour i want to set up a wireless network between two computers- 1 in my house n the other one door away... i think i have a basic idea how to do it but would greatly appreciate it if anyone could tell me exactly how to do it..n what sort of things would i need... thanks

by the way where can i find a 'repeater' thanks folks

tariq -April 27, 2004

this is my email address: s318750@student.osfc.ac.uk plz email me about the above questions thanks

tariq -April 27, 2004

Hello, I currently have dsl access. I need a favour of setting a wireless network between my laptop and deskstop. I don't know exactly how to do it and what kind of things i will need to have. I would greatly appreciate to anyone could let me know. Please contact me at bz2t@yahoo.com. Thanks

boyzty -May 10, 2004

boyzty,

Run a crossover cable from your dsl modem to the WAN port on a wireless router. Then run a wire from a lan port to your desktop or notebook. access the router via it's ip. Generally you can open your browser and type in the specified ip. usually it is like 192.168.0.1, 192.168.2.1, 192.168.1.1...anyways that will get you into the router config utility. You need to enter your wan information. According to whether or not your isp provides dhcp assignment you may need to enter your isp provided static ip address subnet mask and gateway along with the dns servers. Check the channel and name of your network. Then install a wireless card in your devices and set up their gateway to the router's ip if you are using static and not dhcp assignment. If using static with a router that has an ip of 192.168.0.1 It would look like this; IP: 192.168.0.2 Subnet:255.255.255.0 Gateway: 192.168.0.1

Anyways that should give you a general idea and get you started

Daniel -May 21, 2004

I still have no idea on how to set-up dial-up wireless networking. Like the requirements, the setup in windows, the kind of router and ISP that i'll gonna use. can i use AOL in this kind of setup?

superjerry78 -July 11, 2004

recently i have purchased Toshiba Laptop Satellite (Wireless). Can anyone tell me how to connect to internet thru my mobile phone which has a bluetooth feature (NOKIA).

thanks

rohan -August 9, 2004

I have read the articles but do not see anything explaining what I am trying to do. I have bought an apple airport extreme base station. I have been attempting to set it up for a wirless dialup connection. I up to now, have been unsuccessful. The airport extreme base station that I bought, is said to be compatible with windows XP, which is what I have. I can connect to the airport, but have been unable to connect to the internet. I don't know for sure if the dial up modem in the apple is dialing the AOL number and connecting or not, since it does not have a speeker that you can hear when it dials up. I would appreciate any help you could give me is setting this thing up. I have used the help line but still I have been unsuccessful in setting this up. I paid $200.00 and have to somehow get it to work.

Tony Anderson -August 26, 2004

i have a wireless network at home...the main gateway computer is a desktop running on windows xp professional...but the laptop runs on windows xp home...i am not able to connect to hotmail.com site from the laptop ...i can connect fromn the main gateway computer to the same site...the laptop opens every other site...could u please tell me wat the problem is...

vijay -September 6, 2004

help im trying to setup up a wireless network. my smc wireless card in my laptop say's that it picks up the router but i can get online or start a network between pc' and laptop . the router is linksys g broadband router and the laptop has a smc wireless card......thanks for any help.im a noobie when it comes to networks?

FrEEEk -October 2, 2004

Hi, I have a netgear wireless 802.11b router. I don't know why I could connect to the internet when I had Comcast as my internet provider. But then, later I switched to dsl from Comcast, and I couldn't use the router to connect online with my two PCs at home. Can anyone tell me what should I do?

mnssta -December 2, 2004

Usually, you plug a wireless access point into a cable modem and then everyone can share the cable modem. Trouble is, to use a "cable modem", you need cable TV and cable modem service and that's kinda expensive. However I found a page at http://aurora.wells.edu/wmccracken which describes how to use a wireless access point using only a dialup Internet service and some free software.

TomCat -December 20, 2004

I have two AOL dialup computers. The phone jack for the second computer only goes as fast as 28K because the jack is an extension jack. The first computer goes as fast as it is supposed to go, 56K, because of a good jack. There's no DSL or cable available in my area of upstate NY. If I set up a wireless neetwork, any chance I could at least get the second computer to go as fast as the first??

BOBBY -December 31, 2004

Airport Extreme is not compatible with Windows for dialing AOL as far as I know. It is compatible with XP or 2000 if you have a broadband connection like cable or DSL.

It is surprising that with all the dial-up AOL PC users today there is no solution for a wireless PC laptop. There is no DSL or cable broadband possible at my friends house and satellite is way too expensive for his simple email needs.

Bobby, the second computer would go faster (as fast as a 56K modem connects) IF you can find a wireless solution for PC. If you are on a Mac it is easy since the base station has a 56K modem built in that will connect with AOL and provide wired connection to the first computer (assuming it has ethernet) and a wireless connection to the second computer.

A Netgear FWG114P wireless access point with an external modem may be the only answer for a PC to dial-up AOL wirelessly. Anybody have a better solution?

RichB -January 6, 2005

I WOULD LOVE FOR MY COMPUTER TO LOAD FASTER AND I WOULD LIKE IF YOU DID NOT HAVE TO USE YOUR PHONE LINE TO GET ON YOUR COMPUTER.

JUAN -January 15, 2005

Nebo Wireless has an interesting Wireless Link for dialup Internet users. I own one and I like it. The product works similar to a cordless telephone. Anywhere in the USA or Canada that you can access dialup Internet service with wires from your computer to a standard telephone jack, you can access your dialup Internet service without wires from your computer to the same telephone jack when using the Nebo Wireless Link but you need to use a standard telephone jack that has local telephone service. For optimum performance of the dialup Internet service, you should operate the computer within 300 feet of the telephone jack equipped with the Nebo Wireless Link. You can also use the computer upstairs, downstairs or outside your home within 300 feet of the telephone jack but that is assuming you don't have steel flooring or walls. In other words, metal can affect the quality of the Internet service. In "free space" this product could work over 1000 feet from a telephone jack. Please refer to http://nebowireless.com/tech.html if you want further information.

DASirv -January 25, 2005

I just bought a netgear WRG614. The problem is I have a dial up modem and it's made for dsl/broadband. Is there ANY way to use this for a dial up? PLEASE help!

ktg -February 1, 2005

I just bought a netgear WRG614. The problem is I have a dial up modem and it's made for dsl/broadband. Is there ANY way to use this for a dial up? PLEASE help!

ktg -February 1, 2005

Hi! I have a pc and a laptop connected to a router via wireless. How do I perform file sharing between these two (using a buffalo router). Would greatly appreciate your help. :-)

chunks -February 7, 2005

I have a PC with a SpeadStream DSL modum. I also have an Emac in another room that I would like to set up a wireless internet connection to with the DSL modum. how can I do this? Thanks -rob

Rob -February 10, 2005

@KTG: The official word from NetGear is that you cannot use the WRG614 for wireless dialup. After trying to do it myself with my WRG614 for almost a week now, I have to say that they are right! There does not appear to be a way to turn off the routing and just use the switch/hub and the wireless access point. It always wants to look to the broadband connection for any internet access. Sorry!

Chris -February 17, 2005

My wireless internt used to work, but it just stopped working one day and i don't know why. It says that the wireless internt connection strengh is excellent, but I still can't figure out how to connect it.

krys -March 2, 2005

I got my Nebo Wireless today I am so happy. Wish I could get dsl or cable in my area but no can do and dish internet is way to freaking high. Sitting here outside on the internet wireless's in a rural area this is very nice.

Geeke -March 17, 2005

Your Comments (required):

Mary Abee -March 17, 2005

Your Comments (required):

Mary Abee -March 17, 2005

Is there a way to set-up my computer to be run from a dish internet? If so, please explain how and who do I contact.

Thank You, Mary Abee

Mary Abee -March 18, 2005

Is there a way to set-up my computer to be run from a dish internet? If so, please explain how and who do I contact.

Thank You, Mary Abee

Mary Abee -March 18, 2005

How do you setup 2 laptops with wireless connection

Sharma -March 29, 2005

I would likt to consider purcaseing a Nebo wirless but have some questions: I have one telephone jack that is solely used for the internet. I am using a dial-up modem. Running windows XP. I purchased a Toshiba satalite notebook that has 802.11g and I am wondering if I can access the internet with the notebook without having to disconnecting the desktop from the jack. Can I put a splitter on the jack and work the notebook wirelessly. I am not trying to have both computers on the internet at the same time mind you. Just wanting to use the notebook aroung the house without having to turn on my desktop. Can you answer this question! Thank you in advance

Tony

Tony -April 2, 2005

There is a built-in splitter in the Nebo Wireless Link. It has everything you need to set up a wireless connection.

Ernie -April 20, 2005

I have a problem i'm wondering if you can help. I have a Ibm thinkpad R50 Its got a wireless card i think its called Intel Pro wireless LAN 2100 3b mini pci adapter i've connected to the internet before with and worked fine. Today i was at starbucks i connected to a wireless network it said i was connected and had 11mps and the signal was good except i could't surf the internet it said page cannot be displayed Bla bla bla. I thought it was a firewall at first so i disabled them but still could's the status menu said i had sent like 200 packets and recieved none so i thought that must be the problem but i don't know how to fix can u plz help!!!! thanks.

Naoise -April 25, 2005

hello pleaase can you sent the game and ur site is good

is good -May 8, 2005

From what I can see, there is no one able to answer the question of using 802.11 to connect a mobile computer on the 802.11 to the host computer using dialup. Is there anyone that has had success? If so how do you set it up. I have not purchased a router yet, but am concidering it. I have no DSL / cable modem in our area and do not ever expect it. I have a laptop with 802.11 and a desktop computer, and would like to set the desktop as a host so that I can connect to the dialup account through the 802.11 when I am in other locations around the home. Adding multiple phone lines around the home is not practical. Can anyone help.

Todd -May 11, 2005

Recently we have purchased Sierra Wireless Aircard 555 modem (PCMCA card)from Reliance and installed in laptop and browsing internet and working fine.

But we are having our own server and there Dlink 56k external modem is connected for Dialup to collect e-mail. People are dialing to our server and downloading the mails.

But from the laptop using this wireless modem I can't dialup to our server. Error is 777.

Pls give me the solution that how can i dialup to ourserver using this wireless modem (PCMCA card).

hareesh -May 12, 2005

I just received my Nebo wireless set-up for dial-up. We can only get dial-up where we live, so I was going bonkers being tethered in the basement. I hooked it up and "I'm wireless!" I can't say enough about this simple teachnology. Sometimes "pop-ups" are helpful!

karen wagner -May 18, 2005

ur mum

ur mum -June 16, 2005

I just got started with wireless, so I kinda know what I'm doing I think. Anyways...I have a linksys broadband router G, a laptop with a notebook adapter wireless G, another pc with a PCI Adapter Wireless G too (but with speedBooster) and another pc pluged in directly from my router. The laptop and one of the pcs both have Windows Xp..but one is home and the other is Professional and the 3rd has Win98 I want to be able to have internet access on all of them and to share files and printers too, but have no idea how, do I have all the things I need? I was just fooling around with it today and found out that I can't be on on 2 computers at once cause one will get disconneted all the time. Could you plz help me to setup my network if its possible with what I have..THANKS!!!

lost -June 27, 2005

Hello Everybody, i have a toshiba statellite laptop with wireless function inside. when ever i go to internet cafe for connecting internet, i can not connect to the access point at there, althrought i let the ip in obtain. I use ConfigFree program to connnect and it found an error that the wireless communication switch is not turned on. I see there a wireless icon the F8 key, and there a light with wireless icon on face of laptop (it is not lighting). I think if the light is on means of the wireless switch is on?!! So i'd tried press the F8, then ctr+F8, alt+F8, Fn+F8... but the light with wireless icon on it still nothing. Can anyone here help me solving this problem. Thanks in advance.

pavata -July 28, 2005

Hi! I was wondering what can I do with my wireless networking troubleshooting? I have a PC computer that has no Ethernet port where I can plug the Ethernet cable to the router. Currently I just plug a USB cable to the DSL modem and have internet access. But I just brought a labtop and would like to have wireless Internet connection on it. I brought a Netgear router and a Netgear wireless PC card for my labtop, but when I tried to connect to my house connection. But it won't work. I have read many articles and books but they all require a Ethernet cable to be plug to the PC which I can't do since I don't have a port for that. What should I do? Hope you can solve this problem for me. Thank you so much!!!

Melody -August 26, 2005

Re: pavata -July 28, 2005

hi pavata, have you resolved your "wireless-toshiba laptop"problem? I have the same issue and would appreciate if you can let me know how to make it work.

Thanks in advance,

Bill.

bill -October 9, 2005

perhaps i should've bought an idiots book to hooking up wireless internet. i have found out the HARD way that there's really no wireless for me..in short: i have a cable outlet occupied by the tv and wanted my cumputer sot sit opposite wall, same room as the tv..my point was to not have cable running across my floor...well, thee's no other alternative..the ethernet cable has to be plugged into the computer modem, so it's really not wireless because the whole experience is dependant upon that connection...MAN i'm miffed!! I know this was not about the article, but i had to get that out man!....LOL

JT -December 4, 2005

All the people above didn't really tell about how to built a dial-up wireless connection. So much I wish someone may post the method to make my life easier. However, so lucky, I purchased a CompUsa Brand 54Mbps WirelessG Mini USB Adapter. This unit works s a Wireless Access Point Via Software Mode. I just had o make the SSID and channel to be the same for all the computers I want to connect wirelessly.

I guess we just need to buy a product which can act as anAccess Point, then the dial-up wireless can be set up in seconds.

ming -December 9, 2005

on the toshiba there is a wi-fi on/off button on the leading edge of the lap top

eric -January 3, 2006

I want to connect to our office network through my wireless connection, i bought a wireless router we have the other computers hooked through the cables. I want to be able to share documents with them, and access their files..Is this possible?

ryan -February 6, 2006

hello... i need help... aprreciate for ur help pros.. :P

can anyone assist me or give me anysite that i can learn to set up internet n networking for building using AP. what router should i use.. what kind of AP.. what type of cable should i use.. i need all the detail since im not that good in this matter.. help plz...

wan -February 8, 2006

The post on Feb 21, 2005 - can anyone elaberate on this. i am new to the network world and have been trying to set up a desktop and laptop to share an internet connection. the workstation i have a netgear router and the laptop has a wireless card internally. any help is appreciated. please email me at amandagilbert@verizon.net

Mandy -February 27, 2006

It is good but it has not solved my problem, thus my question is for UCOM 8PORT 10/100MBPS ETHRNET BROADBAND ROUTER (URS-982)

thus kindle tell the rj45 compostion as in - cross over for the WAN port and Straight Cabling for the LAN or otherwise and what is the actual ip address of this UCOM

uma -March 14, 2006

Guy that has a computer without ethernet port and a wireless router he isn't able to configure: Take wireless router to a friends house, to the shop where you bought it, to any shop, to your workplace, etc. - anywhere you can access a computer with an ethernet port.

Connect router to computer with cable. Setup router, make note of settings. Have your laptop with you, check you can connect. If not the settings are wrong so change them.

Once you are able to connect successfully, make a note of the settings and keep this safe. You will now be able to login to your router wirelessly. However, if you make a change to the settings that disconnects your wireless computer (which is very possible to do) then you will have to go find a computer with an ethernet port again so you can reset the settings wired.

Hope this helps,

Dave

David -April 15, 2006

Hey i am currently trying to set up a wireless network between my computer and a friends 2 houses away, is this possible? If so can you plz tell me what I need for this to work? Thanks in advance Matt.

Matt -April 26, 2006

Am very interested in what someone tells Matt abt setting up a wirelessnetwork between houses some distance apart. Our phone lines are terrible, we are isolated, want to do satellite to internet. Connect 4 macs, longest distance between 4 houses at end of this road, about 400 feet. Lots of big trees.

kelly -June 6, 2006

how can i access the router when iam outside the working station,, is it the ip address of the router..

djerick -July 5, 2006

good luv it now set me up

good luv it now set me up -July 21, 2006

hey, i have just got cable connected through foxtel. it has wi-fi and one computer connects through its USB port. my toshiba satellite laptop is wireless compatible and we were told that we didnt need to buy a PC card or USB port thing to connect, just to enter in a WEP key and it would be able to connect wirelessly..but im not sure how to do that, i dont know where im meant to enter in the WEP key or anything.. does anyone know anything about this? thanks

nattalie -July 27, 2006

For those asking about the WRG614 (Netgear); I have a printer set up wirelessly (no broadband connection), and was able to set up the system without traveling to anyone else's house. I have Windows XP Pro, and I don't know if this makes a difference, but I also have Apache Web Server 2.0 installed. You may want to set a system restore point before proceeding. Even if you usually have system restore turned off, turn it on (it will automatically set a restore point.) The first time I tried to setup the router I used the CD and wizard, and it deleted the driver for windows to automatically detect wireless connections! Not being able to find how to fix it online, I restored. After I was ready...

First I viewed available wireless networks, and chose to have windows set up a wireless server (menu option while viewing available networks). Be SURE to save the settings it gives you (ie, ssid, network key, etc) as you will need them when you manually set up the router.

There should be a default address on the bottom of the router, something like 192.168.1.1. Connect the router to your computer with the ethernet cable. Enter the default address into your browser, making sure that your dial-up connection is active. When you plug in the ethernet cable, Windows should recognize it and add a "Residential Gateway" to your Network Places. Right-click and "Invoke." Then go to Network Connections and check the properties to find out what IP Address your router assigned your computer. Skip the Setup Wizard. Your page should load on Basic Settings. Your internet connections DOES NOT require a login. Do not enter an account name or a domain name. Use a static IP address, assigning it as the one you got from Network Connections. (Also pull the subnet mask and Gateway IP Address from the properties. Assign the primary and secondary DNS servers to the address given under DNS Server.) Scroll to the bottom and select "Use this MAC address." Put in the code from the Physical Address in the properties of your LAN in Network Connections. Test the settings first. Do not Apply them without first testing.

Next click on "Wireless Settings" under the Setup menu (as opposed to the "Wireless Settings" under the advanced menu, which we will view in a moment). Type in the EXACT SSID that you entered in the windows wizard, and the same security settings it fed you. Apply.

At this point, I would look at the options under the maintenance menu, especially "Router Status." I printed off a copy of most everything once I knew that the connection worked, so that if in my experimenting I had to start over, I would know what I had. Also think of changing your password.

"Wireless Settings" under the advanced menu: I tried disabling SSID after I got everything working and lost my wireless connection -- which meant I had to connect via ethernet cable again and go back and change it. Not bad to fix, but annoying. At the same time I had turned off UPnP, but switched it back on at the same time. Tomorrow, when I haven't spent the last 7 hours getting the thing to work with a dial-up, I'm going to experiment and see what settings work. Hope this helps someone, and hopefully I can figure out next how to get the dial-up wireless. Ha!

(Oh, the USB Mini-print server installed without a hitch, and I can print wirelessly through the network on my Samsung ML-2010. So if you're considering pitching in extra for a networked printer, consider the mini server.)

obstinatesnooper -August 15, 2006

Ok, so my lil brother just got DSL on this desktop and labtop...my older brother has it on his desktop also...how in the world do i get it on my labtop?? is there anything i need to buy...oh yea..we all live in the same house!

Nicole -December 5, 2006

What I have is two separate copmputers, a notebook & a desktop, each with their own wireless card, sharing connection through the wireless router; what I'd like to try to do is to interface these two machines via the router (don't have access to the router itself) so that the notebook can share the printer connected to the desktop.

Is this possible? If so, how?

Mike B. -December 23, 2006

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