wireless-networking-guide - Computers - Networks

Wireless networking has been in the mainstream for the last few years, it's appeal is the flexibility it offers in terms of no wires, being able to connect to the internet from literally anywhere in your house, garden or where the range of the wireless router/modem permits a decent enough signal.Just how do we go about connecting to the internet wirelessly? A wireless network needs to have two components a Wireless Router/Modem to share the internet connection a suitable Wireless card in your laptop or desktop Just about every new laptop has a wireless card built in, the actual type is the mini PCIBut what if you have an older laptop that does not have a wireless network card built in?Luckily though there is a number of options available to us to make virtually any desktop or laptop computer wireless. The best type of wireless card, which is suitable only for laptops, to install is the mini PCI type, you will need to make sure your computer has a mini PCI slot to accommoda te this type of card, and then you will need to either remove the keyboard or small panel on the bottom, but once fitted its totally unobtrusive.Now we have the USB wireless card known as a dongle, it resembles a memory stick or pen drive. This type of network cards is perhaps the easiest to install, just run the software install plug in the USB wireless card and your ready to connect to your wireless network. The disadvantage of this type of network card is, it sticks out and can be easy to catch, it must also be removed if you need to travel with the laptop. Make sure the laptop has USB2 type ports as opposed to USB1 which is much slower.If your using a desktop pc, the most common type of wifi card is a PCI type card, you will need to install the cards software, switch off the computer, open up your computer to install the wireless card, but it really is just a case of removing the case, removing the blanking plate, fitting the card and putting the case back on, once done power it on and it will install itself.Lastly we have the PCMCIA type of wifi network card, although PCMCIA ports are pretty much redundant just about every laptop has one of two of this type of long horizontal port, if your short of USB ports this could be just what your looking for, maybe not as obtrusive as the USB type, but it still needs to be removed when travelling with your laptop though.There is now a real abundance of wireless network cards on the market and as such this has really pushed down prices, decent cards can now be picked up for less than 20 pounds, when I mention decent I mean a card using the faster 802.11g and not the much slower 802.11bInstallingWhen installing a wifi network card, make sure that you read the manuals prior to installing, most cards need to have the software installed before the wifi card is connected or plugged in, otherwise the software drivers may fail to load or Windows will attempt to locate a driver from elsewhere, giving driver or configuration issues which can be a hard to resolve it may mean removing the card again.Now your ready to connect, you should see a pop-up at the bottom right of the screen when a wireless network is in range of the card, click on the pop-up and you'll be able enter your pass key (if you have one set ) to connect to your wireless network.Notes Only use wireless networks your familiar with, especially if you need to disclose credit card details for any reason. If you setup your own wireless network you must ensure that you implement some form of ecurity, if your router is not protected, not only could anyone simply browse from your Wireless network, but if so inclined could be much more malicious, performing such actions as changing your routers password, preventing you from accessing your own internet, they can also see any computers or devices attached to your router and may try to gain access to these.Having a secure wireless network should be a very high priority, feel free to checkout more of our security pages at So please make sure any wireless connections are secure, feel free to checkout more on Wireless security, plus all of our other articles at computer-adviser.com

access point vs router