Your Guide To Wireless

Basic Troubleshooting Wireless Access Cards

Wireless access cards, also known as wireless adapters, replace standard Ethernet cables to create a wireless link between your PC and a wireless AP or router. Although wireless networking equipment offers convenience to users who want to place computers in multiple rooms without running Ethernet cables around the house, the equipment isn’t foolproof: You’re bound to run into network problems at some point. Make & Model Whether you plan to call tech support or simply want to search for drivers on the manufacturer’s Web site, you’ll need to know your device’s model number. In most cases, finding the model number is a snap: If you don’t see the model number on the device itself, you can find it via your computer’s Device Manager. Click Start, Control Panel, and then open System. Click Device Manager and then click the plus (+) sign next to Network Adapters. Your adapter’s name will appear and will most likely include a model number. The adapter’s software will also generally display its model number. Update Your Drivers Software publishers and hardware manufacturers tweak their products for months and sometimes years after they release them. Software publishers update their programs via patches, while hardware manufacturers tweak their hardware with firmware updates and new driver releases. Updated drivers sometimes add functionality, but they also often include important bug fixes. If you’re experiencing any problems with your wireless adapter, always download and install the latest driver for your adapter. To determine your driver’s version number, click Start, Control Panel, and then open System. Click Device Manager and then click the plus sign next to Network Adapters. Right-click your wireless adapter and then click Properties. Finally, click the Driver tab, which will display your driver version and driver release date. Next, visit the Support section of the manufacturer’s Web site and see if a newer driver is available. If it is, download the driver to your hard drive. To uninstall your existing driver, open the adapter’s Properties window, click the Driver tab, and then Update Driver. When the Hardware Update Wizard appears, click the No, Not This Time radio button and then click Next. Click the Install From A List Or Specific Location, click Next, and then check the Include This Location In The Search box. Click the Browse button, navigate to the downloaded driver on your hard drive, and then complete the wizard. If your adapter connects to one of the PCI slots in your computer, keep in mind that you may need to remove the adapter before you start the driver installation. Keep a screwdriver handy.

Basic Troubleshooting Routers and Hubs

A router or hub is the cornerstone of the average home network. An Ethernet hub, which has several Ethernet ports, lets users share folders and files among all of the computers connected to the home network. A router generally has a built-in hub and also has features that let it share a broadband Internet connection with the networked PCs. Routers also usually include other features, such as wireless connectivity and a hardware firewall that can protect your computers from many of the digital threats floating around the Web. Because the router is the center of your network, many network problems can be traced back to it. A defective device, bad settings, old firmware, and firewall issues can all put your network on the blink. We’ll show you how to troubleshoot your router or hub so you can spot and fix common problems. Know Your Model To download the right updates, you’ll need to know the unit manufacturer and model number of your device. Many routers and hubs bear the model number on the front panel and other information, such as the serial number, on the bottom of the device. How To Tell If The Router Or Hub Is The Problem You can determine whether your router is the source of your network troubles by eliminating other network devices as the problem sources. Chances are, there are only a few potential troublemakers beyond your router: the connection from your Internet service provider to your home the broadband modem that translates the data from your phone or cable line the troubled network card You can rule out the first two problem sources easily enough using the basic knowledge of networking. (Do bookmark this page too) To determine whether your cable modem is the problem, you’ll need to reset it. If your cable modem or DSL modem doesn’t have a reset button, you can probably reset it by unplugging the power cord from the device for a few minutes. Once you plug the power cord back into the cable modem, it will try to reconnect to your ISP. If the reset doesn’t solve the problem, call your ISP’s tech support hotline number. The representative will let you know if Internet access is down in your area and can test the connection from the ISP to your modem to make sure it’s working properly. The representative can probably even test your modem remotely, as well. Once you’ve determined that the ISP and modem are not to blame, disconnect your computer from the router and instead plug the PC’s Ethernet cable directly into the modem. Be sure to enable your firewall software before you try this test, as you’ll bypass the router completely. If your computer can connect to the Internet, you’re looking at a router problem. If the PC still won’t connect to the Internet, you’ll need to troubleshoot the PC itself. Learn An Introduction to Computer Networking and the Internet Video here.

Why Your Wireless Network Underperform

Many wireless network card stated that it supports speeds that are much faster than the 802.11g or 802.11a specifications allow, but most of the time, you never achieve those high speeds when transferring network files. 802.11g and 802.11a operate at up to 54Mbps, but most manufacturers add speed boosting technology to their wireless products that allow for much faster speeds. Unfortunately, these technologies are not standardized and therefore do not work with similar products from other man...

How To Repair Wireless Connection Easily

Sometimes the wireless network card simply doesn’t turn on or fails to connect to the network on its initial attempt. When this happens, the wireless icon in the system tray has a red X next to it, so right-click the icon and click Repair. If that doesn’t establish the connection, right-click the icon and click View Available Wireless Networks. Find your network on the list, click its entry, and click Connect.

How To Connect Wireless Game Console To Home Network

The first thing to do is to determine whether the device is compatible with a network card, because there’s a good chance it needs a wireless bridge. Bridges are a lot like wireless network cards except they have more internal hardware that lets them act as a sort of wireless cable. This means bridges work with just about every type of network-enabled product, whereas wireless network cards only work with products that have enough integrated networking hardware to recognize the network card and manage the network connection. If the device requires a bridge, you’ll need to buy one, attach it to your router, and configure it to work with your network according to the instructions provided with the router. Once you configure the bridge, it should work with all of your network enabled devices simply by plugging it into their Ethernet ports. If the device is supposed to work with a wireless network card, then it must have some network setup menu that you can access to input network settings such as the network name and password. Check the documentation that came with the device to figure out how to enter this data, which must match the settings that were established when you set up and secured your wireless router.

How To Update Network Card Firmware

Drivers are software that Windows uses to communicate with your hardware, while firmware is software that is installed in a special memory chip on the network card and that controls all aspects of the network card’s operation. Updating to the latest drivers and firmware revisions can fix bugs, enhance compatibility, and add new features to the network card that can help you avoid further trouble. You must download the latest drivers and firmware from the manufacturer’s Web site, and when doing so you must make sure it matches up with the exact make and model of network card you use. To find out this information, look for a sticker on the bottom of an external network card. For internal network cards, click Start, right-click My Computer, click Properties, and select the Hardware tab. Click Device Manager, expand the Network Adapters entry by clicking the plus (+) sign next to it, and write down the exact name that appears there. Use the instructions provided by the manufacturer to install the drivers or firmware. This is especially important during firmware upgrades as mistakes during the process can render the network useless.

The network card is active, but computer won’t connect to the Internet

Sometimes the network card must be reset so the router recognizes it. Click Start, Control Panel, and Switch To Classic View, and double-click Network Connections. Click Repair This Connection in the Network Tasks box, wait for the process to complete, and click Close. If the connection still doesn’t work, you may need to uninstall and reinstall the network card according to the instructions it came with.