Your Guide To Wireless

Wi-Fi Tethering

Besides using a portable 3G-enabled router, there is another way to get connected on the go. Your Android smartphone can be turned into a portable wireless hot spot through what is known as Wi-Fi tethering. Essentially, your phone becomes a Wi-Fi router with which you can connect other devices to the Net through its 3G link. Wi-Fi tethering is part of the latest Android 2.2 operating system (OS). Google Nexus One users who have upgraded to this OS can activate this feature in Settings> Wir...

What to look for in a Wi-Fi router

WI-FI ALLIANCE CERTIFICATION Any router with an “n” in its name is capable of delivering raw data rates of 300 to 450Mb/s, right? Wrong! The Wi-Fi Alliance awards 802.11n interoperability certification only to routers that support two or more spatial streams (each stream is capable of a raw data-transfer rate of 150Mb/s). Single-stream client adapters can be certified as 802.11n, but the Wi-Fi Alliance awards only 802.11a, 802.11b/g, or 802.11a/b/g certification to single-stream routers. An...

What to Do with Your Old Router

You can convert most wireless routers into a wireless access point by turning off the DHCP server in the firmware. Don’t toss your existing router in the trash when you bring home a bright, shiny new model; convert it into a wireless access point, switch, or bridge. Plug a PC into one of the old router’s LAN ports. Open a web browser, type in the router’s IP address, and log in. Your network must have only one DHCP server, so disable the server on the old router. Now, assign the old rou...

Home networking: How to avoid traffic jams

In many households today, broadband Internet connections are used not only for e-mail and Web browsing, but also to stream music and video, play online games and/or perhaps make voice calls using a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service. You may have several PCs on your home network, as well as some combination of a gaming console like the Xbox 360, an iPhone or other handheld device, and perhaps a streaming music player such as the Squeezebox or a streaming video player such as the Roku...

How To Avoid Wireless Network Interference

For all of their conveniences, wireless networks can suffer from interference. Cordless phones, wireless game controllers, fluorescent lights, microwave ovens, Bluetooth devices, cordless headsets, and even the neighbor’s wireless network can all interfere with your wireless network. This interference occurs when devices emit signals into the same frequency that your network uses. For example, many cordless phones use the same 2.4GHz band used by 802.11b and 802.11g networks. Even 802.11n dev...

Wireless Puzzle

Before installing a wireless network, you’ll need to determine if any of your computers or mobile devices already have wireless technology and, if they do, which wireless standards they support. If none of your computers have wireless capabilities, you’ll still need to know which wireless standards are compatible with each other so you don’t buy incompatible products Refer to the chart above when purchasing wireless devices

How To Install A Wireless Network

We will show you how to build an entirely wireless network using wireless router, rather than adding a wireless access point to an existing wired network. If you do decide to use an access point with an existing wired broadband router, the following information is still valuable, because you’ll need to follow many of the same steps to configure your access point. A wireless router is the device that sends the wireless signals, including Internet access to other computers on your network, its ...