After placing the final configurations on your wireless home network and securing your system, you are now ready to access all of the new features of your system! But what are the perks and capabilities of this network? Most users agree the main advantages surround the ability to share, redundancy, and storage as the key advantages to installing a wireless network and home server.

A shared internet connection allows for multiple computers in your household to be connected to an internet connection and share the bandwidth capabilities. Each computer must be recognized by the router and have network compatibility to all use the internet connection at the same time. The downfall being that the more computers connected could mean the slower connection received by each PC. If you plan on including at least 3-4 other computers it is recommended that connections of at least 512 kbps be installed.

The ability to share files between computers is also an excellent advantage. Each user has the ability to choose which files can be shared and gives the other PC access to the file within seconds. Files such as videos, pictures, music, documents, and programs all have the ability to be shared on a wireless home network. A central printer is also a chief benefit for many households. The wireless network provides access to the printer from any computer on the network without the excess use of network cables lined up to wherever each computer may be placed in the house. The same share principle is applied because the computer the printer is connected through can be accessed by any other computer as if it was connected to a computer itself. This advantage saves from having multiple printers installed in the house. This sharing principle is not only limited to printers but also many other peripherals such as scanners, digital cameras, web cams, and even external hard drives and CD/DVD drives.

Data redundancy is also a very important feature for data backup and sharing. Many people traditionally save their information to CDs, disks, jump drives, etc. In a wireless home network a user has the ability to back up their data on another computer in your network. Precious photos, music, videos, and files are worth saving twice and even in a separate location. Even external hard drives are worth looking into if there are certain private files that you may wish to store in more than one location.

The wireless network allows you to surf the internet, access files, use your printer, etc. from anywhere in your house, but you need to realize the the wireless signal is not limited to your house and any of your neighbours or anyone on the street near your home will be able to use your internet connection or even access your files if you don't follow these simple but important guidelines.

Check the router configuration section to see how to configure the router with these settings.

Essential

• Change the default admin password of your router. Otherwise, anyone with access to your router may change its settings, and for example, disable yor security changes. Use a strong password.
• Use wireless security authentication and encryption. Prefer WPA and if not available use WEP. If you are using WEP, you may want to follow also the next guidelines, especially if you suspect that your neighbours will invest time in breaking your privacy (though breaking WEP is not easy to do at all!). WPA is strong on its own.

Recommended

• Change the default SSID (wireless network name) to something unique and meaningless (e.g. my_link567sys).
• Disable SSID broadcasting. This will cause other clients (computers) to not detect and list your router when looking for available wireless networks. For any new client you will want to connect to the router you will have to configure the profile manually in the client (type the SSID) or enable temporally the SSID broadcasting in the router.
• Use MAC address filtering. Allow only specific clients to connect to your router. To know the MAC address of a client, open a command prompt (start->run->type cmd->ok) and type "ipconfig /all". This will list the MAC addresses of all your network adapters on that client.
• Change the IP subnet and/or disable DHCP. Though some guides recommend doing so, it is really not needed.

Keep in mind that these guidelines protect your wireless connection between the router (or access point) and the computers. You still have to protect your computers from any other threats that you would have had if you were connected even with wires, such internet viruses, spyware, etc.

When you will go to look for products in stores or on the internet, you will notice that there are few technologies and standards. Most of the products implement a subset of these technologies and understanding what every term (bullet on the product package) means, will help you choose the right products. Make sure of course you have a common supported features among all your equipment, so they can connect to each other. I found out that you can find really good prices on the internet for networking equipment.

To make shopping even easier, you can also buy a bundle, such as those available from Linksys, D-Link, Netgear, Microsoft, and Buffalo.

Radio

• 802.11a - higher network throughput (theoretical 54Mbps, practical ~23Mbps). Relatively short range.
• 802.11b - low throughput (theoretical 11Mbps, practical ~7Mbps). Relatively long range.
• 802.11g - higher network throughput (theoretical 54Mbps, practical ~23Mbps). Relatively long range. Backward compatible with 11b.

Easy to see that 11g has the benefits of 11a and 11b and therefore it should be the preferred one. One exception is that 11a is less sensitive to RF noises, so if you are in an area that few Microwave ovens and 2.4Ghz cordless phones operate around the clock maybe you should go for 11a. Some devices supports all three standards.

• 802.11n - a new standard that is currently developed and few pre-standard products can be already found at stores. It has the range of 11g but the throughput is much higher (X2, X4 or even more).

I would go for 11g products.

Security

All products sold support WEP, which is a weak security standard. Experienced hackers can break it using the right equipment within few hours.

Stronger security modes are TKIP and AES with WPA-PSK (Pre Shared Key). AES is preferred, but they are both strong. It is not always specified on the products brochures, but it is quite important that the encryption/decryption is done on the wireless adapter itself and not by the host driver. This is because that these security algorithms require heavy calculations that will burden the host CPU if they are implemented in the driver. You can probably see this info in the product's specifications.

QoS (Quality of Service)

QoS provides packet prioritization, allowing packets containing time-dependent data such as audio or video to be sent ahead of data that can safely wait a few microseconds.

Such technology will play a key role in home entertainment networks set up to pump multiple TV, video and audio streams around the house.

WFA certifications

Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) is an organization that test wireless devices for robustness and compatibility to the standards. Buying certified products (not only compatible) is not mandatory, but will ensure that a specific product is interoperable with other products, even from different manufacturers. This is also a stamp for performance and security quality.

The relevant certifications are (from most important to the least):

• 802.11a/b/g - radio interoperability
• WPA / WPA2 - security certifications
• WMM - QoS certification.

Wireless router

In addition to the above considerations, you should take into account the following parameters:

• Be sure you buy a wireless router and not a wireless AP (which is not suitable for internet sharing).
• Number of LAN ports - it is common to have at least 4 ports with the speed of 100Mbps each.
• If you are going to place the router in a visible place, you should consider its look. In a large home, the router should be placed in the center of the house to have reception in all the house area.

Wireless adapter

Network adapters wirelessly connect your computer to your wireless router. Make sure you have wireless adapter in each computer you want to connect wirelessly to the network. There are few form factors for wireless adapters:

• Laptop with built in wireless adapters - some new laptops and desktops have wireless capabilities build in. In this case you don't need to buy a wireless adapter.
• PC card (PCMCIA) - fits the laptop's PC card extension slot.
• PCI - this is suitable for desktops only. In this case you should prefer an external antenna rather then internal one, preferably with a long antenna cable that can be positioned above the desktop.
• USB adapter - suitable both for desktops and laptops. Easy to install and remove.

Now let's try to connect the home network to the internet.

In most cases ISPs (Internet Service Providers, like Verizon, AT&T, AOL, Earthlink) connect the device connected to the modem directly - just plug the network cable and turn the modem on. However some ISPs require the user to dialup for the broadband (DSL, Cable, etc) connection. If up until now, you had to initiate the internet connection from you computer (with username and password), you will now have to configure the wireless router perform this dialup and initiate the connection to the internet. Again, this is not the common case, but if it is you will have to get the dialing information from your ISP and configure the router with it. We will assume here that dialing is not needed.

Turn off (unplug the power) both the modem and the router. Using a network cable, connect the LAN port of the modem to the WAN port of the router. Power up the modem and after a while (wait 2 minutes for the first time), turn on also the router. After some time you should be able to browse the internet from any computer connected to the router, either with a network cable or with wireless connection.

You can connect any of the computers to the router using network cable. Just connect a network cable to the network card on the computer and the other side to one of the LAN ports on the router, as we did when we connected the first computer to the router in the previous section, to configure the router.

Now let's connect a computer to the router with wireless connection. This is probably what you bought a wireless router for...

Make sure that the wireless adapter is installed properly.

Windows XP has a built in wireless connection configuration utility named Zero Config or ZCfg. All types of wireless adapters can be used with this built in utility however most of them are supplied along with a proprietary configuration utility that once installed, replaces the Windows utility and usually adds advanced features on top of the ones supported by Microsoft. For example, Intel card's are supplied with the PROSet configuration utility that has a lot of advanced features, used mostly by corporates and IT shops. For most uses, those kind of utilities are not needed, and a driver only installation is sufficient, however it is up to you to decide. We are going to describe how to connect with the Windows utility.

Make sure the router is turned on. Reboot the computer with the wireless adapter and wait windows is done loading and the computer is idle. You should see an icon for the wireless network in the lower-right corner of your screen. Right-click the it and then click View Available Wireless Networks. If you run into any problems, consult the documentation that came with your network adapter. Don't be afraid to call their tech support!

The Wireless Network Connection window should appear and you should see your wireless network listed with the network name you chose (SSID). If you don't see your network, click Refresh network list. Click your network, and then click Connect.

Windows XP prompts you to enter a security key (only in case you configured the router with WEP or WPA security). Type the encryption key that you entered during the router configuration.

Windows XP will show its progress as it connects to your network. After you're connected, you can now close the Wireless Network Connection window. You're done.

If you want to verify the connection is successful, check that an IP address was assigned to the computer as we did for the wired connection earlier. Open a command window (Start, Run and type cmd.exe). In the black window that opens write: ipconfig and check that you got an IP address that doesn't start with 169 or 0.

We will assume here that the wireless router is in its out-of-the-box state. If not, we recommend resetting the router to its factory defaults which typically can be done by pressing a small reset button on the router for few seconds with a pencil or other thin object (the router should be connected to the AC power).

Turn on the computer that you are going to use for the router configuration and wait until Windows is fully up and running and the computer is idle. Make sure that the router is connected to the AC power and that the power LED is green on the router's panel. Connect one side of a network cable to the network adapter on you computer and the other side of the cable to one of the LAN ports of the router. Make sure you don't connect it to the WAN port of the router.

Let's verify that the computer is connected to the router and that the router (with its DHCP) assigned an IP address to the computer: Open a command window (Start, Run and type cmd.exe). In the black window that opens write: ipconfig. The result should be similar to the following figure:

That means that the local IP address of the computer is 192.168.1.100 and the local IP address of the router is 192.168.1.1. This is an indication that the computer is connected to the router and got an IP address from the DHCP. Typically, network devices on your home network (like other computers) will have addresses with the same prefix (e.g. 192.168.1.X). Note that some routers assign IP address prefixes other than the one shown above. Here are some examples:

Open an Internet Explorer window (The blue 'e' on your Desktop or on the start menu) and type in the address bar the IP address of the router (192.168.1.1 in our Linksys case, 192.168.0.1 for D-Link, etc.) or check in the documentation what is the default IP address of the router. You will probably get a login window. In the case of Linksys wireless routers the User name should be left empty and the default Password is admin. Check the documentation that came with your equipment for the password of other brands. You are now entered the configuration utility of the router.

Go to the wireless tab and then to the basic wireless settings subsection. Change the SSID (which is the wireless network name) to something unique and meaningless (e.g. my_link567sys). For now leave the channel with its default number. Keep SSID broadcasting enabled so that the router will appear in the scan list of the clients. When you are done click Save Settings.

Go to wireless security tab. Here we are going to configure the wireless connection to be secured (encrypted and authenticated). This is important so none of your “friendly neighbors” will be able to use your connection or eavesdrop on the data transferred over the air

We have 3 security modes relevant for the home user. Select one of them:

• Disable - no security, anyone nearby will be able to connect to your router and use your internet connection, and with a little more effort, track your network traffic and even access your files.

• WEP - this is the old security standard. Although the network traffic is encrypted, professional hackers located close to your home with the right equipment, will be able to decrypt the data and connect to your router. If you were setting a wireless network for a military unit, I would have worried with WEP, but for home, if WPA is not supported by any of your devices, go for WEP. Better than nothing.

  • Leave the Default Transmission Key on '1'.
  • On WEP Encryption select 128 bits - 26 hex digits.
  • Leave the Passphrase empty.
  • Enter 26 hex digits for Key1. Leave Keys 2-4 empty.

• WPA Pre-Shared Key (PSK) - high level security. If your wireless clients (computers) support this security mode, you should go for it. There are two encryption types available when using WPA PSK: TKIP and AES. The last one should be preferred if it is supported by all the clients.

  • Select AES for WPA encryption algorithm (or TKIP if AES is not supported on any of the wireless clients).
  • Enter a Shared Key - 10 hex digits.

Hex digits are either decimal digits (0,1,...,9) or the first 6 letters a,b,...,f. Example for a valid key string: 1E57303C...

Write down the security key that you enter, you will have to type it also in the computers that you will connect to the router using wireless connection. However keep it secure because this is the key to your wireless network.

When you are done click Save Settings.

It is also recommended to change the router administrative password to something unique so no one will be able to connect to your router and change its configurations. You do that in the Administration tab. Remember this password so you can access the router configuration again in the future. However If you forget the password, you can always reset the router and the password will revert to the default password (admin) but you will have to reconfigure the router.

Now let's configure a computer (desktop or laptop) and connect it to the wireless router...

In this section we will see how to configure the wireless router and the computers in the network, establish the network and test the connection. The next step will be to connect the router to the internet and share the connection. Finally we will learn how to share files and printers in the local network. The examples that will be shown here will be based on the Linksys WRT54G wireless router. Using other wireless routers, such as D-Link, Netgear, Microsoft, Buffalo and others should be very similar. You can always check the documentation that came with your equipment if in doubt.

The wireless router doesn't have a screen and a keyboard, so you can't configure the router just by looking and touching it... We need to use one of the computers to temporarily connect to the router with a network cable in order to configure it and enable secure wireless connections to it. Don't panic, it is very straight forward, however we are going to check that nothing on your computers is misconfigured so things will work for us smoothly.

Since you'll be temporarily disconnected from the Internet, print or save this manual before you go any further.

Checking your computer's networking configuration

In this section we are just going to verify that your computers are configured for automatically IP and DNS assignment. You should do this with all the PCs you are going to connect to the network. If you havn't tampered with these settings they should be already set right.

Reboot the computer. You need to log-in with administrator privileges (supper user), which if you have a default Win XP installation, you will.

• Click Start, and then click Control Panel (sometimes located under the Settings submenu).
• Click Network and Internet Connections / Network Connections.

In the Network Connections window you will see a list of all the installed network cards (wired, wireless, 1394-fire-wire, etc.) and network/internet connections (e.g. VPN or dialup) available on the computer. One of the connections will have the name: "Local Area Connection". This one that should be used to access your network card settings. If you see few connections with this name ("Local Area Connection"), you should select the one which is described as a network card, Ethernet adapter, NIC or similar, in the Device Name column. Don't select any one being described as VPN, dialup, modem or alike.

• Right-click the proper connection and click properties. You will see a window like this:

• Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click Properties. Make sure that the TCP/IP settings are as shown in the following figure:

Follow these steps for every computer (desktop or mobile) that you wish to connect to the router. For wireless adapters the name of the connection will be "Wireless Network Connection" instead of "Local Area Connection".

This is the equipment that we are going to use. There is a separate section: How should I choose what to buy? that detials the parameters you should check when choosing what to buy. Networking equipment prices are quite cheap these days and you can find really good prices on the internet, but you should make sure you buy equipment with the needed capabilities.

To make shopping even easier, you can also buy a bundle, such as those available from Linksys, D-Link, Netgear, Microsoft, and Buffalo.

OK, let's get back to our business, this is the components that we are going to use for the general wireless home network case:

• Wireless router (and not merely a Wireless Access Point).
• Internet connection - a standalone modem with Ethernet port (we will deal later with USB connected or other modems).
• Windows XP installed on all the computers with Service Pack 2 (SP2). Other Windows versions will surely work too, but the steps may vary a little. The instructions in this tutorial assumes WinXP SP2. It is a good habit to install the latest patches released by Microsoft using Windows Update that can be found on the start menu.
• Ethernet adapter (card) or wireless adapter for every computer. In some cases (mostly in laptops but also in some desktops) these can be part of the computer platform and are not required separately.
• Computers with an Ethernet card will be connected to the router with an Ethernet cable (CAT 5 network cable). If you are going to share an internet connection, you will also need an Ethernet cable to connect the router to the DSL/Cable modem (unless you have a modem/router combo). Make sure you get long enough cables, in case any of the wired-connected computers are located away from the router. Of course you don't need network cables for those computers you intend to connect using wireless connection.
• A screwdriver, a hummer and a saw. Kidding...

Again, I encourage you to read the How should I choose what to buy? section before you go and buy anything.

A typical home network layout that allows connecting few computers and sharing an internet connection is shown in the following diagram.

Three computers connected through a router to the internet

The modem's role is to communicate with our Internet Service Provider (ISP) and be the gateway to the internet. The most common broadband internet connections today are DSL, Cable or T1. If you have a phone-line dialup connection. Usually modems have a single Ethernet port that allows connecting to it directly only one PC using a network cable. Instead, we will connect the modem to a device called router or wireless router. Note that these days you can find also modem-router or mode-wirelss-router unified boxs, but logically it is the same.

A router is a hub-like device that has few ports for the local network computers and a single port for connecting to an external network, in our case the internet. Typical routers have 4 local ports or sometimes even more, but sometimes less.

In case we want to connect computers to the network using wireless connection, we need a wireless router. Typical wireless routers have both wired network ports and are concurrently able to connect several computers (desktops, mobile laptops, etc) with wireless connection in addition to the wired connected devices.

Wireless routers are also capable of acting as a DHCP server and dynamically assign local IP addresses to the local computers as we discuss in the previous section (so manual IP assignment is not needed).

Since the physical medium used in wireless connection is public (the air around us), all the wireless connections should be secured and encrypted so none of our "friendly neighbors" will be able to use our connection or eavesdrop on the data transferred over the air. We will see how to configure a secured wireless connection.

Home network is used to share your internet connection or printer with few computers at your home or for transferring files among the different PCs - e.g. multimedia files (mp3, video, pictures), documents, etc. Of course there are many other uses for home networking.

In this step-by-step tutorial we'll see how to setup a home network - wired, wireless or mixed; how to share an internet connection with several home computers through the home network and how to share files, printers and more. Wireless networking (v.s. wired one) lets you do all of that from anywhere in or near your home.

I recommend you to print or save this manual before you go any further, for the durations when you are going to be offline and won't be able to access the internet (use File -> Save As..).

Let's start with some background. You may skip this introduction if you like.

When we talk about a home network (or local network) we usually refer to two or more computers (desktops, mobile laptops, etc) connected to each other using network cables or with wireless connection and are able to exchange data between them. Two computers can connect directly to each other, while for connecting 3 or more computers we will usually want to use a device that will centralize the connection. Such a device will also be very helpful when connecting only two computers in case we want to share an internet connection with these computers, but this is not a must, as you will see soon.

Two computers connected directly with a wire

Few computers connected through a hub

Each computer connected to our local network shall have some kind of identifier: a unique local IP address. There are two ways in which IP addresses are assigned to the computers on the local network:

• Static - The IP addresses are allocated and assigned once manually by the user (you..).
• Dynamic - The IP addresses are assigned automatically by an entity in the network that is called DHCP server, each time a computer is connected to the network.

One way or another, the outcome should be that each computer on the local network has a different IP address.