How to setup and install Wireless network?
Serial wise easy steps to set up your home wireless network
You can use a wireless network to share Internet access, files, printers, and a lot more. Or you can use it to surf the Web while you’re sitting on your couch or in your garden. Plus, it’s easier to install than you think of it.
Note: For Windows Vista users, we always recommend installing Windows Vista Service Pack 1 before setting up your wireless network. For Windows XP users, we recommend installing Windows XP Service Pack 3. Although the service pack is not required for wireless networking, it does make things much easier and helps protect you against hackers, worms, and other Internet intruders.
1. Choosing your wireless equipment
The first step is to make sure that you have the equipment you require. While looking for products in stores or on the Internet, you might notice that you can choose equipment that supports three different wireless networking technologies: 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g. We recommend you 802.11g, because it gives you excellent performance and is compatible with almost everything.
Shopping list
- Wireless router
- Broadband Internet connection
- A computer with built-in wireless networking support or a wireless network adapter
A wireless router
The router does the work to convert the signals coming across your Internet connection into a wireless broadcast, sort of like a cordless phone base station. Be sure to get yourself a wireless router, and not a wireless access point.
A wireless network adapter
Network adapters do the work to connect your computer wirelessly to your wireless router. If you have got a newer computer you may already have the wireless capabilities built in. If this is the case (for example: If you have got it in-built), then you will not need a wireless network adapter. If you are going to purchase an adapter for a desktop computer, buy a USB wireless network adapter. If you have got a laptop with you, buy a PC card-based network adapter. Make sure that you have one adapter for each and every computer on your network.
Note: To make setup easy, choose a network adapter made by the same vendor that has made your wireless router. For example, if you find a good price on a Linksys router, you can choose a Linksys network adapter to go with it. To make shopping more easier, buy a bundle, such as those available from D-Link, Netgear, Linksys, Microsoft, and Buffalo. If you have a desktop computer, make sure that you have an available USB port to plug-in the wireless network adapter into it. If you don’t have any open USB ports, buy a hub to add additional ports into it.
2. Connect your wireless router
Since you’ll be temporarily disconnected from the Internet connection, print these instructions before you go ahead.
First of all, locate your cable modem or DSL modem and unplug it to turn it off.
Next, connect your wireless router to the modem. The modem should stay connected directly to the Internet. Later, after when you’ve hooked everything up, your computer will wirelessly connect to the router, and the router will send communications through your modem to the Internet.
Next, connect the router to your modem:
- If you currently have your computer connected directly to the modem: Unplug the network cable from the back of your computer, and plug it into the port Internet, WAN, or WLAN on the back of the router.
- If you don’t currently have a computer connected to the Internet: Plug one end of a network cable (included with the router) into the modem, and plug the other end of the network cable into the Internet, WAN, or WLAN port on the wireless router.
- If you currently have your computer connected to a router: Unplug the network cable which is connected to the Internet, WAN, or WLAN port from your current router, and plug this end of the cable into the Internet, WAN, or WLAN port on your wireless router. Then, unplug any other network cable, and plug it into the available ports on your wireless router. You no longer need your original router, because your new wireless router has replaced it.
Next, plug in and turn on your cable or your DSL modem. Wait for a few minutes to give it time to connect to the Internet, and then plug in and turn on your wireless router. After a minute, the Internet, WAN, or WLAN light on your wireless router should light up, indicating that it has been successfully connected to your modem.
3. Configure your wireless router
Using the network cable that came with the wireless router, you should temporarily connect your computer to one of the open network ports on your wireless router (any port that isn’t labeled Internet, WAN, or WLAN). If you need to, turn the computer on, it should automatically connect to the router.
Next, open the Internet Explorer and type in the address to configure your router.
You might be asked for a password. The address and password you use varies depending on what type of router you have, so refer to the instructions included with your router.
Internet Explorer will show the router’s configuration page. Most of the default settings should be fine, but you should configure mainly three things:
1. Your wireless network name, which is known as the SSID. This name initializes your network. You should choose something unique so that none of your neighbors will be using the same.
2. Wireless encryption or Wi-Fi Protected Access, which helps to protect your wireless network. For most routers, you will provide a passphrase that your router uses to make several keys. Make sure your passphrase is unique and a bit long (you don’t need to memorize it).
3. Your administrative password, which controls the wireless network. Just like any other password, it should not be a word that you can find in a dictionary, and it should be a combination of letters, numbers, or symbols. Be sure you can remember this password well, because you’ll need it if you ever have to change your router’s settings in future.
The exact steps you should follow to configure these settings will vary depending on the type of router you have. After each configuration setting, be sure to click Save Settings, Apply, or OK to save your changes that you have made.
Now, you should disconnect the network cable from the computer.
4. Connecting your computers to the wireless network
If your computer does not have the wireless network support built in, plug your network adapter into your USB port, and place the antenna on the top of your computer (in the case of a desktop computer), or insert the network adapter into an empty PC card slot (in the case of a laptop). Windows will automatically detect the new adapter, and may prompt you to insert the CD that came with the adapter. The on-screen instructions will guide you throughout the configuration process.
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