Let’s dive into something a little more complex. What if you have a wired network already, and you’re quite happy with the way it performs — you see no point in dismantling it and making it wireless when it works fine as it is. You’ve got this laptop, though, that you’d really like to use wirelessly. Basically, what you want to do is make a wireless connection to a wired network. This is often referred to as a network bridge.

As luck would have it, there’s a very easy way to do exactly what you want. It’s called a wireless access point.

Partly Wireless

If you’ve got a lot of computers (on an office network, for example) and you can’t switch them all over to wireless networking at once, installing a wireless router is a good way of doing it bit-by-bit. Once the router is part of the network, you could just remove one network wire per day or per week, replacing it with a wireless connection.

Hardware and Software Requirements

There are two kinds of wireless access points: software and hardware ones. Wireless access point software runs on one of the computers on the wired network, and lets wireless devices connect to the network through that computer (the computer must obviously be wireless-enabled).

You can get wireless access software easily — doing a web search will give you plenty of choices. Look for one that’s open source, as you will be able to download it straightaway for free without breaking any laws. Unfortunately, though, the wireless devices will only be connected to the network while the computer in question is turned on and connected itself.

Hardware access points, on the other hand, are standalone devices that can be plugged in anywhere on the network — you can either buy a dedicated access point, or convert an old computer to act as one and do nothing else. They connect to the wired network just as a normal computer would, except that they offer access to the network to any wireless receivers within range.

You can leave hardware access points connected to your network and turned on all the time, if you want. An advantage of dedicated devices is that they generally have a greater range, letting you use your wireless devices further away from the access point than you could with a software access point. Dedicated devices can be expensive, though — prices are roughly similar to wireless routers.

How Wireless Access Points Work

An access point sends requests for data on behalf of the wireless devices connected to it. In this way, it works a lot like a wireless router: basically, a wireless access point is to a wired LAN as a wireless router is to the Internet. The difference, though, is that the devices connected through an access point actually become part of the LAN — other computers on the LAN won’t distinguish between the wired computers and the wireless ones.

This is powerful, as it gives you the capability to dynamically extend your wired LAN, without wires. In theory, there shouldn’t be anything you can currently do over your wired network that you won’t be able to do over the wireless extension to it.

Configuring a Wireless Access Point

You can usually configure a wireless access point as easily as plugging it into a connection to your network, using the cable that should be included. Your network should see the access point and give it a networking (IP) address automatically. If you need to do any more configuration on your access point — for example, turning on wireless encryption — then you’ll need to open your access point’s settings.

You can do this by going to the router’s IP address in your web browser. If you’re not sure how to do this, refer to your access point’s manual (you might have better luck reading the online version, which will be updated with the latest problems people are having). While you’re playing with your access point’s settings, you might find it worth disabling DHCP (dynamic network addressing) and giving your access point a static address instead. This helps to keep your wired network more stable.

Researched, and Written by Tony Fitz of
EntireWeb
Paid Search Engine Inclusion for just $24 / Year.

Installing Multiple Wireless Access Points

1. Install one wireless Access Point to test range

2. Assign each wireless access point a unique IP address

3. Each wireless access point will have the Same SSID

4. All wireless access points will have the same encryption key

5. Point wireless antennas towards the center of the network

1. Finding your Wireless Range – Wireless access points will have a range of about 75-100ft inside, and outside (depending on your wireless antenna) miles. If you live in an older brick home your wireless signal range can be greatly reduced.. To find your wireless signal range and signal strength you will need to install one wireless access point in the middle of your work area and measure the signal. You can use a program called netstumbler to help you with this task. Once you have achived the necessary wireless signal overlap then you will be able to roam through out your work or business. Your wireless adapter software will choose the access point with the strongest signal but this will be transparent to the user

2. Unique IP -Next you will want to assign all your AP’s with a unique IP address not a dynamic IP address. Do not use the same IP adderess for each AP.

3. Configure AP’s – Configuring two or three wireleess access point is not very hard but when you have to configure more than that it can become time consuming. Thus some wireless routers will come with software that will allow you to configure one access point which will then configure all of your other access point for you.

4. Same SSID – Use the same SSID for each access point on your network. This will give you the ability to roam with out having to choose each network when you move.

5. Encryption /AuthenticationWireless Antennas – Choose which type of antenna you will need. Try to purchase directional antennas instead of using the default omni-directional antennas. Directional antennas will funnel your wireless signal towards your operational areas.

7. Placement – Try not to place your AP by outer walls. If you need to place your AP buy outside walls then try to use a reflector. This will help your signal stay inside your house as much as possible.

Join the most popular wireless networking newsletter on the internet at http://www.wirelessninja.com . Get the inside scoop on wireless communication for the home and work place.

Most if not all wireless access points and wireless routers come with the standard omni -directional rubber duck wireless antenna. Omnidirectional antennas used in the wrong situations are such a waste of money and can be a secuirity risk. Directional antennas can be used to focus your signal where it’s needed.

Reasons to use a directional antenna:

1. Save money- Long hallways are common in office buildings. Don’t try to use the defualt Ominidirectional antennas on a long hallway. You will have to purchase more equipment to extend the bubble of coverage. One directioal antenna with a 60 degree focused signal would be able to extend your coverage area twice as far

2. Security- When your wireless signal bleeds outside your operational area you will attract hackers, crackers, leeches, wardrivers and social engineers. The higher the DBI on the antenna the more focused your signal is, so if you have an 8dbi antenna your probably looking at a 60 degree cove or signal comming from your antenna. A 14dbi antenna might have a 30 degree focused signal that might not provide the width of coverage you need and it might send your signal to far.

3. Less Equipment – Cut down on your epuipment that you have to install and manage

4. Shoot Signals around corners – Take an access point, two panel directional antennas and a signal splitter ( The splitter will allow you to hook two antennas to one access point). Now you can mount the directional antennas on a corner mount, shooting the signal down two hallways at onced. This solution is very common and will save you money.

5. Distance – Omnidirectional antennas usally have half their signal wasted by walls. Directional antennas don’t have that waste they focus their signal in one direction thus extending your signal much farther that an Omni. There are two different types of directional antennas: directional and highly directional.

6. Smaller Profile – Omnidirectional antennas are hard to blend into an office enviroment or building. They stick out like a sore thumb and advertise your wireless network to everyone. Directional antennas like the panel type have a smaller profile and often look like lights or smoke detectors.

This articles purpose isn’t saying that there isn’t a purpose for omnidirectional antennas. What I”m saying is that most people don’t even think of changing their antennas after purchasing their wireless router or access point. My next article will discuss the advantages of combining directional antennas and Omnidirectional antennas

Join the most popular wireless networking newsletter on the internet http://www.wirelessninja.com If you are looking for some directional antennas to boost your signal try these out http://wirelessninja.com/?page_id=9

Installing Wireless Access Points: Errors

After you have performed your site survey, installed your access points, and configured your clientsyou will always find problems some where. Hopefully you can avoid some of the errors listed below.

1. Access Point Placement – Do not place access points in corners, by phones, large metal objects, behind posts, microwave ovens.

2. Antenna Diversity – Don’t have your access pont at full transmission power if it dosen’t need to. The most secure wireless network is one that nobody knows about. Often A medium sized business with a couple cheap access points will be broadcastin their signal for blocks.

3. Antenna Installation – Reduce you cable length as much as possible. Also check the maxium cable length for that antenna.

4. No dynamic IP addresses – Give all your wireless access points permanent IP addresses.

5. Same channel – Change your wireless access points to the same channel but don’t leave it at the default.

6. Quality vs Quantity – Spend the money on a good access points and antennas. You want as few access points in one area as possible.

7. Spend the Money on POE ( Power over ethernet)access points – With POE your not limited to where you can place your access points.

8. Firmware – Update your wireless access points firmware before you install it. You could fry your access point and have to uninstall, that sucks.

Join the most popular wireless networking newsletter on the internet. Get the inside scoop on wireless technology for the home and workplace. http://www.wirelessninja.com

BUYING A WIRELESS ROUTER

You might be asking what features should I look for in a wireless router. You will have to ask yourself some questions first.

1. Do you currently have a 802.11b or 802.11g wireless adapter?

2. Do you want to connect remotely to your office network?

3. Do you live in an apartment or house?

4. What security features are you looking for?

5. Do you have desktop computers to connect also?

If you currently have a 802.11g wireless adapter you will want to purchase a 802.11g wireless router so you can maximize your network speed at 54mbps. 802.11g adapters will also connect to 802.11b wireless routers but you will only have a network speed of 11mbps. This speed you still be fine for the majority of users, most public wireless access points use 802.11b.

Connecting securely to your home office will require a technology called a VPN or virtual private network. Most routers will claim to have the ability to use VPN’s but when you attempt to connect you receive nothing buy errors. So you will want to purchase a wireless router that will specifically designed for wireless and VPN technology. Once you have purchased your wireless router you need to get the latest firmware updates from the manufacture.

Wireless router security could fill up volumes so I will keep it as “simple” as possible. The following are some basic features that are on most routers:

1. Disabling SSID broadcasting

2. Change your default SSID

3. Enable WEP encryption

4. Enable MAC address filtering

If you enable the above you will discourage most “hackers” from even looking at your wieless network. There are too many wide open networks that don’t need any brainwork to get into.

The following are some of the more advanced Security features on newer routers with updated firmware.

1. WPA – WPA is the solution to all of WEP’s security flaws. WEP uses one key to for all network traffic. A hacker can exploit this by using a network analyzer to capture the key. WPA changes the key with every data frame so once a hacker captures the key it has already been changed by WPA. WPA uses tools such as TKIP and AES encryption.

2. WPA-PSK (Wireless Protected Area pre shared key) This is really easy to set up just copy your shared key to router and adapter and your set.

3. TKIP – The second best version of encryption for WPA

4. AES – This is the highest version of encryption for WPA

5. WPA -RADIUS uses a RADIUS server to authenticate users which adds another layer of security. Linksys does offer a service to for $5.00 month per user to use their RADIUS server. If you have no clue what you just read then don’t worry about it.

Wired security will include NAT ( Network Address Translation) this takes your public IP address and converts it into multiple private IP addresses. Some people consider this a firewall but it isn’t because it doesn’t block unwanted outgoing addresses.

Another newer feature is Called MIMO (Multi in Multi out) the basic concept of this your router or access point has more that just two antennas which enables your router to receive and send information at a greater rate. This creates signal reflections which could reduce dead spots in your network. Add on top of this SRX technology will automatically have your router switch to the clearest channel instead of staying on a channel with interference. The above will increase your range greatly and the increase the power of your signal.

Another router feature is POE (Power over Ethernet) this is a really good feature for business environment because you power your router through the Ethernet cable, which means you don’t need a power outlet.

One feature which is often over looked but one of the coolest features of a wireless router or access point is the ability of act as a wireless bridge. If you have a huge ware house and you need to connect computers on either end of the warehouse you can use a wireless bridge to connect both ends with out running wires.

The main things to remember are: 802.11g is faster than 802.11b, enable the basic security features and finally choose the router that will fit your needs.

Join the most popular wireless networking newsletter on planet. Receive the inside scoop on wireless technolgy for the work place and home http://www.wirelessninja.com

Most wireless antenna and wireless access point manufactures usually say the higher the better went mounting. This is true but you must take in account: coverage area, height of the building, type of antenna and weather.

Wireless Antenna – First you need to decide what type of antenna you are going to use. If you are going to use a directional antenna then you will be able to tilt it downward if needed to cover you needed area. But if you mount the antenna two high you will have a dead zone between the building or ceiling to the ground level. You will not want to tilt a omni directional antenna downward because you will be sending half of your signal up in the sky.

Another common scenario is to use a Omni directional antenna in conjunction with your directional antenna to avoid dead spots.
When choosing a directional antenna make sure it’s radiation pattern suits your needs. If you need to give a long hallway wireless coverage then you will need to ensure it’s radiation pattern doesn’t leave dead spots.

One 8dbi directional antenna could have a signal pattern of 60 degrees horizontal and vertical and a 14dbi could have a 30 degree signal pattern. If you used 14dbi directional antenna the room closest to the wireless access point could end up being dead spots.

Coverage Area – The most important thing is that you can provide a constant secure signal with out it costing too much money. That is really how you decide how to place your access points. Usually the higher the better because the height lets gives more options. Just take in account that you are not leaving dead spots close to the access point / antenna.

Join the most popular wireless networking news letter on the internet at http://www.wirelessninja.com

PoE gives you the freedom of installing wireless access points anywhere a ethernet cable will go. Before power over Ethernet was available a wireless access point always had to be near a power outlet to give it power. This meant more money and usually bad placement.

PoE uses a device called a power injector to transfer the correct amount of power required to run the wireless access point. PoE uses the two unused wireless in a Ethernet cable to run the power. Gigabit Ethernet uses all the wires in an Ethernet cable thus PoE is not available for Gigabit Ethernet. Each client device that meets the standards of the PoE 802.3af amendment will be assigned a power class of 0-3 which will mandate how many watts they need. Often your wireless access point will be managed by a switch that will double as a PoE injector.

Wireless access point placement is a major key for good security, both physical and wireless. If you are using a Fat access point which is located near a common power outlet or easily in reach of employees all it takes is a paper clip to reset the access point and your network has been hacked. Also placement is a major concern because if you install a wireless access point on the perimeter walls of you office you have just sent half you signal out side to the war driver passing by.

Remember when coming up with your wireless network budget do not let anyone say we don’t need PoE. Compromising on placement of your access points will cost you security and money in the long run.

1. Do not name your SSID your last name or first name

2. Do not have your pass phrase your last name of first name

3. Don’t leave your wireless channel at six, change it to 2 or 11

4. Don’t leave your wireless network open enable some sort of encryption

5. Place your wireless router in the middle of your home not next to a wall

6. Don’t place your wireless router next to large heavy objects

7. Configure your laptop not to automatically connect to a wireless networks named “linksys”

8. Don’t leave your passphase the same and change it every couple months

9. Don’t use only WEP encryption, enable WPA2 and your wireless network will be a lot safer.

10. Don’t use AES wireless encryption for wireless gamming it does slow your network down.

11. Don’t start configuring your wireless network until you have upgraded your wireless router firmware

12. Don’t purchase anything but wireless MIMO routers for home networks, MIMO routers will give you better coverage.

13. Don’t leave your transmit power at the default transmission level. If you need a strong signal turn it up, if you don’t turn it down to the minimum

14. Don’t place your wireless router in the lowest spot in your house. Place it as high as possible to give you the best coverage.

15. Don’t have your wireless antennas pointed in the wrong direction. Meaning your signal does not emit from the points, they emit from the sides.

16. Don’t expect to achieve those 108 mbps speeds that are advertised with MIMO routers.those speeds only are achieved under super ideal circumstances.

17. Don’t upgrade your wireless routers firmware over a wireless connection

18. Don’t upgrade your wireless routers firmware until you have reset your options to the defaults

19. Don’t confuse an access point for a wireless router. Wireless routers act as a firewall, access points do not.

20. Enable some sort of security on your wireless router, if you don’t you will be sorry

If you have a question we have the answer. Come check out the most popular wireless technology database on the internet http://www.wirelessninja.com Simple and Secure wireless networking. Come See us today!!

If you are interested in purchasing a new wireless router you should consider DLINK’s DI-634M. Many wireless routers such as the Linksys WRT54g have been on the market for many years which lack the speed and coverage of newer MIMO enabled routers.
Features:

MIMO – MIMO stands for (MULTI in MULTI out), this enables to the router to transmit and receive twice as fast as a non- MIMO router. MIMO technology will be a part of the new 802.11n standard that is being worked out by the IEEE. MIMO technology is also in Wi -MAX routers as also. MIMO does not give your router the ability to cover vast amount of larger areas by it will improve your signal quality and speed of transmission. Still in an average size house you will be able to receive an outstanding signal any where in your home, basement or even the backyard with proper placement.

Wireless Antennas – These antennas are not just your ordinary rubber duck antennas. They are actually four antennas two vertical and two horizontal. Four antennas sending out a blazing fast speed spread evenly on all directions.

VOIP – This router was designed to handle VOIP. Many router state that VOIP will work on their router but the DI-634M blows them away. The biggest reason to VOIP is to save a ton off your phone bill. I was paying $70 a month through the phone company and now use VOIP and pay only $30. I’ve tried using VOIP with many other wireless routers but the bandwidth is used up.

Security – Security features for this router include:

1.MAC address filtering – Limits only the computers you want or don’t want to access the network

2.WEP,WPA,WPA2 – WPA2 is the highest form of wireless security out their for wireless routers. WEP is a weaker form of security with flaw due to it’s reuse of encryption keys. WPA2 rotates the keys which doesn’t let the cracker hack your system.

3.TKIP – Encryption is in conjunction with WPA2, if your gamming you will wan’t to use TKIP because AES does use more bandwidth.

4.AES (Advanced encryption standard) – Holy crap you need like five degrees and 30 computers to crack this form of encryption. THe only draw back is that all users might not be compatible with it, also it does slow down the network some.

QOS- Quality of Services is all about regulation how much bandwidth each application uses. You don’t want lime wire or kazzaa eating up all your bandwidth when your trying to purchase Steelers tickets. So, when you are sharing your internet connection with multiple users you can limit how much their file sharing software eats up. Also you may want to dedicate more bandwidth to gamming programs.

VPN – Setting up a VPN server to your home network or an SSH server is a must. IF you ever need to get around a firewall or proxy server you will need a remote connection. DLINks DI-634M will work with a VPN.

The DLINK DI-634M has all the features you should be looking for in a wireless router. MIMO to extend your wireless signal’s range and signal quality. VOIP which will save you a ton of money on phone bills and free long distance. All the latest security features from WEP to WPA-RADIUS. Like I said before to crack WPA2 you have to be an uber hacker who has tons of time and tons of computer power to crack it. Finally QOS if you are sharing your signal with your brother who is sucking up your bandwidth buy this router and get control over it.

Join the most popular wireless networking newsletter on the internet http://www.wirelessninja.com

You will never meet that 108mbps that most wireless routers are saying to have but to come close you will have to purchase a wireless adapter from the same manufacture.

Installing your wireless adapter

1. Stick your adapter into your PCIMICA slot on your laptop. Windows xp will automatically recognize the card and ask you for the driver. If you are skilled at installing drivers then I recommend finding the driver manually not by using the manufacturers’ software to install the driver.

If you use their disk installing program you will also install a bunch of other crap that you don’t need. It will install wireless scanning software and wireless monitors that will just bogg down your system.

2. Now that you have your driver installed you should be able to scan for wireless networks. In the bottom right hand taskbar you will see a computer symbol with radio waves coming out of it.
This is apart of Microsoft’s zero config wireless utility. This feature is good and bad because it will try to connect to any wireless network in range and once you have connected to that network once it’s available it will always try to connect.

This is bad because if you connect to a network called “Linksys” you will be connecting to a unsecured network because this is the default SSID of alll Linksys wireless routers.

Connecting to wireless networks can be dangerous because they could be a hackers rogue access point meant to collect password info on you.

3. I assume you know which network you want to connect to so lets go to the your wireless adapters properties by clicking twice on the wireless icon in the task bar and clicking properties.

Click on the wireless networks tab and click add. Type in your SSID of you network. If this is your Home wireless network make sure you have changed your SSID to something obscure and change your wireless channel to something other than channel 6.

Next you need to choose the same type of encryption you have chosen for your wireless router or adater. Hopefully you have chosen WPA2-PSK with TKIP or AES encryption.

You might have to install the Microsoft update for WPA2 support for windows xp- click here

You will Know if you have to install the update because you will not see the option of WPA2.

Now enter you encryption key hit OK and you should be able to connect to your network.

Advance options

Go back to you wireless adapters properties and lets take a look at some advance options. Options will vary in name but not in general function.

1. You should be on the general tab of the wireless adpaters properties and click on the configure button next to the name of the wireless adapter.

2. Click on the advance tab, (warning some of these setting can cause you to drain your laptop battery a lot quicker but it will improve performance.

3. First change your channel to 11 or the same as your wireless network. The default channel for most wireless networks is 6.

4. You can change you MAC address if want

5. If you want to reduce your power output you can. This will most often be done for security reasons to maks client positions so hackers can’t attack them.

6. You will have some sort of powersave mode or performance standard to either save battery life or concentrate on the most performance

7. Roaming options of Maximizing Bandwidth or distance – If you are really close to an access point and are downloading music then you will want to maximize your band with. If you are not close to an access point then you will need to change it to distance.

These are just some of the advanced options for your wireless adapter. Many people don’t even know they are there.

Don’t let another minute go by with out visiting http://www.wirelessninja.com Sign up now for the most popular wireless networking newletter on the planet.