Getting the right Wireless Hardware for your needs:

Different wireless equipment have different standards, this is represented by the letters A, B, G or N following 802.11. When you look around in Shops or online, you may see wireless equipment with: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g or 802.11n. These letters indicate speed, range and compatibility.

Choosing the right letter allows you to buy equipment from different manufacturers to use together and get the right range for your wireless network.

Comparison table:

Standard                                        802.11a             802.11b         802.11g           802.11n (2007)

Maximum range (m)                          30                     45                   45                   50

Maximum Speed (Mbps)                    54                     11                   54                   540

Actual Typical Speed (Mbps)             25                      5                     20                  200

Device Compatibility                      802.11a only      802.11b,g       802.11b,g       802.11a,b,g,n

Obstacles like walls & floors           Poor                   Good              Good               Good

Suitable Application                       Home                 Home, Hotspot, Campuses, Airports, Libraries etc

Cost                                                 $$$                     $                      $$                 $$$$

Which Wireless Router? This depends on:

1.) Your Laptop Wireless Adaptor, if you have a laptop with a built in Adaptor, the standard should be displayed on a sticker on the laptop or in the manual, if these are not available, and you can always look up your laptop make on model online.

For example, if your laptop has 802,11b standards, finding a really cheap 802.11a wireless router on ebay is not going to work.

If your laptop does not have a built in adaptor you will need to buy a PCMCIA card Adaptor or a USB Adaptor. Again, please make note of the standard or better still, buy a multi-standard adaptor, so you can use it anywhere, at home or in a Wi-Fi Hotspot.

2.) Your Broadband connection type: If get your broadband thorough your cable box, you will need a standard wireless router for cable modems, if you get your Broadband through your phone line, you will need a DSL Wireless Router.

Check list for buying a Good Wireless Router:

• Built in Firewall
• Built in DHCP
• Online Base Station Management Tool
• Ethernet rather than USB connection
• Built in Print server so you can plug your printer in to the USB port of the Router to print or share your printer without being directly connected to it
• Detachable antenna, so you can upgrade it for more range or point it at a specific direction to bypass obstacles, or not use it at last to liit your range for security.
• MAC Filtering: to restrict who uses your network
• Encryption: WEP or WPA (for WinXP)
• Firmware upgrade so you can top up on security patches releases by the manufacturer

Tip: Do your homework, look up reviews about Routers online before buying.

1.) Broadband Modem Test

Before you setup your Wireless router, make sure your Cable or DSL Modem is working properly to start with, otherwise, the router will not work even if you have installed it correctly. Make sure you can connect to the internet using your existing modem at a good speed and have no problems with uploading or downloading files.

2.) Automatic Setup: Your wireless Router will come with instructions or a Set-up CD that will configure your PC automatically, however, if you have lost or do not the setup CD, here’s some general setup instructions that may work for you.

Tip: If you got a second hand or refurbished router, some have a reset point on the casing, don’t forget to press this for the recommended time e.g. 30s seconds or as stated in the manual, this is to clear out the old settings of the previous owner.

a.) Get your Mac address and make a note of it.

To look up the MAC address for WinXP, go to Start>Run, in the text box, type in cmd, and click OK

This will open up a command prompt that looks like:

Type in ipconfig/all and this lists the Physical address which is the 12 characters that you need to enter into your base station Mac filtering webage.

b.) Connect it together Connect the antenna (if your router comes with one) to the Router

1. Unplug the Ethernet cable from your laptop
2. Using the Ethernet cable that came with the Router, plug one end into the Router Internet Port, (which should be clearly labelled) and plug the other end into your Cable or DSL Modem.
3. Power up

Tip: New Routers should come with an Ethernet cable but if you have a hand me down Router with a missing cable, you can unplug your Broadband cable from your laptop and plug this into your Router.

c.) Logon to your Routers Base Management Webpage, In you Browser address box, type in this ip address  192.168.2.1 or 192.168.1.1 or it can be something else, this information should be on the router itself or in the manual, and comes with a default password e.g. admin, default etc.

Tip: If you can’t log in to your Routers Base Management Weppage, you may have to reset your router to clear out any previous passwords.

d.) Once you are logged in:

• Change your password from the default one provided, pick a good password that is hard for anyone else to guess and includes a mix of Alpha numeric characters as well as symbols. If you forget your password, you will have to reset you Router and start again.
• Set your Time Zone.
• Set your internet Connection Type, this should be automatic for most cable modems or DHCP, however for DSL Modems, its might be PPPoE
• Clone your MAC address so that your ISP can recognize your Laptop and allow you to connect Via the Wireless Router. Find the Clone MAC option and enter your MAC Address when prompted to.
• Name your Network, in the SSID box, enter a name of your choice, so that you can identify it for adding another PC or other devices later on.

Tip: Don’t forget to save your settings online, if you change or input new details on the Base Management Tool Webpage your old settings are only updated if you save them, leaving the webpage without saving means that you have not changed anything.

e.) Setup Security for your wireless connection, please see my other guide on How to Setup Wifi Security, for more info and tips..