Setting up a wireless home network

Wireless networking is easy and affordable. In a matter of hours, you can create a powerful, secure
wireless network for your home or small business at a very low cost. This class will introduce you to the
technologies that make wireless networking possible, and then help you select the right wireless
equipment, set it up and troubleshoot common problems.

Lessons
1. Networking without wires
This lesson offers a brief introduction to wireless home networking. You'll learn
about different types of wireless networks, ways they're being used and
equipment and technologies that make wireless networking work.
2. Exploring wireless hardware, connectivity and network layout
A wireless network requires special gear and connections to function properly.
You'll learn how to select the right components to fit your needs, and how to put
them all together into a cohesive network.
3. Setting up sharing and security
This lesson walks you through the steps of sharing folders and devices, and
setting up security on your new wireless network. You'll learn about common
security threats unique to wireless and how to balance ease of access with
security concerns.
4. Expanding and troubleshooting your network
Wireless networks can easily be expanded by adding both access points to
extend the range and file and print servers to offer shared resources. You'll also
pick up some troubleshooting techniques.

Networking without wires

This lesson offers a brief introduction to wireless home networking. You'll learn about different types of wireless
networks, ways they're being used and equipment and technologies that make wireless networking work.
 

Welcome to the world of wireless

If you're not already using wireless networking, you've probably seen the signs
of it around town. You might have visited a wireless Internet cafe, or seen
others working wirelessly at your office. Wireless networking is rapidly
becoming ubiquitous, enabling personal and professional use of the Internet
without the bother of finding a wired connection.

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The foundations of wireless technology have been around for quite a while.
Guglielmo Marconi experimented with radio waves and established the
Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company Limited in the late 1800s. In the early
20th century, engineers determined how to send radiotelegraph signals (Morse
code) without the use of wires, making it possible for ships at sea to
communicate with each other and with fixed locations on shore. With the
discovery of amplitude, commercial radio broadcasts soon followed, and then
came TV.

Wireless applications are now found just about everywhere, from remote
controls and two-way radios to digital pagers, GPSs (global positioning
systems), cell phones, and wireless computer networks. Wireless, the old term
that used to refer to radio, is now back in vogue.

What to expect in the course

This course is geared toward consumers who want to install a wireless home
network and introduces key aspects of current wireless technology --
specifically, to how it pertains to setting up a wireless network in your home.
Each lesson is accompanied by a short assignment and quiz, which are
designed to reinforce concepts and techniques discussed in the lesson.

Here's how the lessons break down:

Lesson 1: This lesson explores types of wireless networks and their uses,
and covers connection technologies that support a wireless network.
Lesson 2: In this lesson, you'll learn which equipment and connections you
need to create a wireless home network.
Lesson 3: One of the main purposes of networking is to share files and
devices. This lesson shows you how to set up file and printer sharing, and
secure your network.
Lesson 4: This lesson shows you how to link wireless access points, set up
print and file servers, expand your network, and troubleshoot problems.

This first lesson discusses wireless technologies available for home and home-
office use. Thanks to modern wireless technology, even technologically
impaired consumers can set up a home network without too much difficulty.
Are you ready to work without wires? Read on.

Exploring common wireless standards

Before getting started, it's a good idea to define some general categories for
wireless networking. Although the wireless landscape might seem bewildering
at first, all you have to keep in mind is the following information:

Wireless networking is about broadcasting network data in chunks, called

packets, over an airborne frequency (radio waves). It just replaces the wires
used by traditional wired networks with radio transmitters and receivers. »  HP Officejet Pro all-in-
Similar to TV and radio, network broadcasts have an effective distance and ones
can be disrupted by certain materials or conditions (such as thick walls or
rugged terrain).
Because wireless networking is a broadcast, anyone with a receiver tuned in
to your network's frequency can intercept the data and view it, unless you
encrypt your traffic.

That wasn't so bad, right? You're now ready to learn about the different
specifications and standards to which wireless devices adhere, focusing on the
most popular ones.

802.11x (Wi-Fi)

The 802.11x family of specifications is an extension of the Ethernet

specification commonly used for wired networking. It's often referred to as Wi-
Fi. The 802.11x family of specifications is flexible; it can handle TCP/IP
(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), AppleTalk, and other file-
sharing protocols.

The first sub-specification to gain widespread popularity was 802.11b, which

you can use in a heterogeneous computing environment (for example, a
network running Macs, Unix workstations, and Windows-based PCs). In this
case, every computer must use 802.11b wireless cards and communicate via
802.11b WAPs (wireless access points).

The 802.11b standard supports speeds up to 11 Mbps (megabits per second)

at distances ranging from just a few feet to several hundred feet, transmitting
over the standard 2.4 GHz (gigahertz) unlicensed band. Special modulation
schemes can double the transfer rate of 802.11b to 22 Mbps. As with other
kinds of broadcasts, transmission distance is affected by obstacles between
the transmitter and receiver.
 With no obstructions, the typical range is about 300 feet; however, the
transfer rate decreases with greater distance.

Newer, faster protocols based on 802.11b include 802.11a and 802.11g. The
802.11a specification enables data transmission at 54 Mbps over the 5 GHz
band. Because it uses a different frequency, it's not compatible with 802.11b
and requires different equipment.

The 802.11g specification is as fast as 802.11a but shares the same radio
frequencies used by 802.11b. It can transmit data at a rate of 54 Mbps over the
2.4 GHz band. Because it's backward-compatible with 802.11b (that is, the
same wireless interfaces and access points can handle 802.11b and 802.11g
traffic), it's the more popular of the two faster protocols.

Many notebook computers sold today have built-in 802.11b/g wireless

interfaces.

802.11n

A new wireless technology, 802.11n, offers speeds of up to 248 Mbps (about

five times faster than 802.11g) using both the 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz bands.
Officially, this standard is still in draft form and the details haven't been
finalized. That hasn't stopped manufacturers, however, from offering 802.11n
"draft" standard products, enabling you to dramatically increase the speed of
your network.

If you decide to purchase 802.11n equipment based upon the draft

standard, you run the risk that it won't be compatible with the final
standard, forcing you to replace your equipment down the road.

802.15/Bluetooth® technology

The 802.15 specification defines standards for PANs (personal area networks),
and 802.15.1 is based on the Bluetooth v.1.1 Foundation specifications.
Bluetooth technology is ideally suited for PANs that operate within very short
ranges and need robust bandwidth support. Bluetooth technology is also a
handy way to get your cell phone talking with a PDA (personal digital
assistant), your digital camera or computer transmitting data to a printer, or
your PDA beaming information to a notebook PC, for example.

Like 802.11b and g, Bluetooth broadcasts on the unlicensed 2.4 GHz band;
however, Bluetooth's range is much shorter -- generally up to 30 feet, although
ranges up to 300 feet can be obtained depending on the power class.

802.16 (WiMAX)

At the other end of the distance spectrum is an emerging technology called

WiMAX. The WiMAX specification is 802.16. WiMAX provides data transfers
over longer distances than Wi-Fi and is used for MANs (metropolitan area
networks) that cover an entire city. It isn't widely used for setting up home
networks; however, you can use it to connect a home network to the Internet at
broadband speeds without cables.

If all these different terms, categories, and specifications sound confusing right
now, don't worry. You'll get into more details about them as the course
continues. First, though, you'll learn about WLANs (wireless local area
networks) and more details about PANs.

Understanding WLANs and PANs

A few years ago, you probably heard and read a lot about how wireless
networking would change the way you work and live, and some of these
predictions have come true. There's wireless access at airports, cafes,
libraries, office buildings, and parks. You can now check your e-mail on your
wireless notebook PC while you wait in a client's lounge. Or you can break free
from your desk and work from the comfort of a sidewalk cafe.
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To understand types of wireless networks, you need to know how PANs and
WLANs work, so let's talk about them.

Getting up close: Bluetooth PANs

PANs are personal area networks. These networks have a very short
broadcasting range, generally from a few feet to 30 feet. The most popular
protocol for personal area networking is the Bluetooth specification, as
discussed previously. Bluetooth enables mobile devices to recognize each
other and communicate (after going through an identification process called
pairing) within a 30-foot radius.

Bluetooth cards are available for PDAs, notebook computers, printers,

digital cameras, and other devices. What's nice about Bluetooth isn't just its
wide availability: The cards are relatively inexpensive and don't require a
huge power source to run.

How would you use a PAN in your home? Imagine that you're taking photos at
your son's eighth birthday party with your Bluetooth-enabled digital camera.
Instead of walking back to your computer every hour or so to download the
images, you can send the images over the PAN to your desktop computer,
which is also Bluetooth-enabled.

Or, imagine that you want to print some notes you took on your PDA. Instead
of synching the data with your desktop PC and then sending it to the printer,
your Bluetooth-enabled PDA can print directly to your Bluetooth-enabled
printer.

Nowadays, many luxury vehicles come with Bluetooth capabilities, enabling

you to just drop your phone/MP3 player into your cupholder and wirelessly play
music and place telephone calls through your car's built-in sound system.

Bluetooth is great for connecting devices that are physically close together and
use applications that don't need super-high bandwidth. Bluetooth 2.1 can
reach data transfer rates of 3 Mbps. There's a new version of Bluetooth in the
works that'll blast this performance up to an astronomical 480 Mbps.

Think local: WLANs

The 802.11x family of WLAN specifications take wireless beyond the realm of
PANs. With a well-designed WLAN, people working in offices or at home have
added flexibility over where they access the network.
For example, instead of sequestering yourself in a home office, you can work
in the living room, closer to the rest of your family. Or you can check your e-
mail or crunch the family budget from the comfort of your patio on a beautiful
day.

The rest of this course focuses mainly on setting up a WLAN in your home or
small office, so you'll learn more details as you progress. However, first you
need to learn about ad hoc wireless networks, which are covered next.

Discovering ad hoc wireless networks

As you'll discover in the next lessons, the typical wireless network depends on
a WAP or router that serves as a centralized point for wireless
communications. However, there's a type of "quick-and-dirty" wireless network
that you can use in situations where you need a less permanent networking
infrastructure.

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An ad hoc wireless network enables computers with wireless NICs (network
interface cards) or embedded network interfaces to connect directly to one
another, so it's also called a computer-to-computer network. It's an excellent
solution if you need to transfer some files between two wireless-enabled
notebook PCs, for example, in a location where a Wi-Fi network isn't available.

Consider a group of people with notebook PCs in a conference room. One

person wants to share a document with everyone present. You could create an
ad hoc network and configure the notebook PCs to join the same workgroup,
and then set up file sharing for a quick solution.

You can also set up an ad hoc network to share one computer's Internet
connection with another computer. For example, if you have a notebook PC
running Microsoft® Windows® Vista® or Microsoft® Windows® XP that
connects to the Internet over a built-in WAN (wide area network) chip that
supports wireless broadband service, you can enable a second notebook PC
to share that connection by setting up an ad hoc wireless network between the
two, and then configuring ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) on the notebook
PC with the Internet connection.

Ad hoc networking isn't only faster to set up but is less expensive to

implement than a WAP/router-based WLAN, because you don't have to
buy the extra equipment. Remember that you cannot connect with the
Internet with an ad hoc network, only other devices.

Now that you understand the various types of home networks available and the
connection technology behind them, you're just about ready to explore all of
the equipment required to set up a network. First, it's helpful to learn some
common network terminology.

Understanding common networking terms

This section describes some of the networking terms you're likely to see
throughout the course and when buying network equipment. The most
common terms you'll hear include the following:

Availability goes hand in hand with reliability. If the network is always down,
then its availability is low. In wireless networking, distance from an access
point can affect your network's availability, because the broadcast signal »  HP Paper
deteriorates with distance.
Bandwidth is the speed of the network. It's a term that refers to the size of
 the network "pipe" through which your data travels, and is measured as
throughput in Mbps. Generally speaking, the more bandwidth you have, the
faster your speed.

Things that can affect bandwidth include the number of users on the
network, types of traffic on the network (big multimedia files slow down a
network), and availability of routers and access points.

LANs (local area networks) are small networks that cover a relatively small
geographic area, such as your wireless home network or a typical office.
MANs (metropolitan area networks) are larger than LANs but smaller than
WANs; a MAN usually covers an area the size of a city.
The speed of a network is measured in Mbps (megabits per second). Mbps
is used to describe the bandwidth or theoretical rate at which data is sent.
It's theoretical because although a network connection is rated at a certain
speed, increased numbers of users on the network causes congestion,
which decreases the speed of the connection.

To ensure that a computer has the fastest connection, locate it as close to the
WAP as possible.

Data sent over a network is sent in chunks of bits (0s and 1s) called packets
. Each packet has a header and a payload. The header helps identify the
packet as part of a message, and the payload carries the actual information
(such as a piece of an e-mail, a part of an image, and so on).
PANs (personal area networks) cover a very small area, such as a few feet
surrounding a person or computer. Bluetooth is the most common PAN
technology.
Data-packet transmission is governed by protocols, which are rules that
dictate how data travels on a network, how the data is structured, who can
accept what data, and how data receipt is acknowledged.
The most common set of protocols for transmitting and receiving data is
TCP/IP. This suite works by breaking data into hundreds or thousands of
individual packets, sending them across the network, and putting them back
together at the destination. TCP/IP is the protocol used for Internet
communications.
VPNs (virtual private networks) are encrypted "tunnels" through which you
can send e-mail, files, and other data. VPNs serve as private networks
within a public network. Because all traffic in a VPN is encrypted, only those
users who have the decryption key can access and read data on the
network.

VPN users can use the Internet to connect to a private LAN remotely and
feel secure that only those users who should see network data are seeing
it.

WANs connect two or more remote LANs or connect a LAN with the public
Internet. We don't cover WANs at all in this course, but the last lesson
covers connecting to your company's LAN from your home network using a
VPN over a WAN (the Internet).
In the context of home networking, wireless broadband is high-speed
wireless service you can subscribe to from a service provider for a fee,
much like broadband service for your cell phone or other mobile device.
WLANs are also referred to as Wi-Fi. This type of network is commonly what
most home networks are built upon.

These definitions should serve you well as you progress through the course.
Refer to this list anytime you need a refresher.

Moving on

Now that you have an overview of the wireless-networking world, complete the
assignment as well as the quiz for this lesson. In Lesson 2, you'll find out about
the major categories of wireless gear.
Assignment #1
This assignment is designed to get you thinking about wireless networking in your home.
Think about the following as you go through the course:

How many computers and other hardware devices do you have at home?
Do these devices need to be able to share files, printers, and an Internet connection?
Where are these devices located? Are they far apart or close together?
How many people will typically use the network at any one time?
What kind of work will they do on the network? Take into account high-bandwidth
activity, such as playing media files or games, or sharing large digital images.
Do you live in an isolated area or in a dense urban area? This affects choices you make
for security.

There aren't any right or wrong answers to these questions; however, they help you take
stock of what you need in terms of a wireless network in your home.

Quiz #1
Question 1:
True or False: The term "wireless" originally referred to radio signals.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 2:
What are some common wireless standards or specifications? (Check all that apply.)
A) 802.11a
B) 802.11g
C) 802.11b
D) 801.5
E) 802.11n
 
Question 3:
True or False: You can set up a wireless home network with just two wireless-enabled PCs.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 4:
Which of the following are uses of a PAN? (Check all that apply.)
A) Transfer images from a digital camera to a PC.
B) Print from a PDA.
C) Listen to an MP3 player through your car's stereo system.
D) Set up a Web server.
 
Question 5:
Which of the following affect the speed of a network? (Check all that apply.)
A) Number of users
B) Day of the week
C) Available bandwidth
D) Types of traffic on the network
E) Availability of routers and access points
 

Exploring wireless hardware, connectivity and network

layout
A wireless network requires special gear and connections to function properly. You'll learn how to select the
right components to fit your needs, and how to put them all together into a cohesive network.
 
Understanding access points, routers, hubs and switches
Welcome back. In Lesson 1, you learned about the world of wireless standards
--frequencies used, distances involved, and other general topics. In this lesson,
you'll learn about the different components of wireless networks -- in other
words, the devices that actually use the standards and frequencies you learned
about in Lesson 1.

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For the purpose of setting up a home network, all you need to be concerned
about are two major categories of components:

Equipment that creates the wireless network and connects you to the
Internet
Equipment that enables individual computers and devices to connect to the
established wireless network

The following sections discuss wireless access points, routers, and hubs and
switches. These wireless components enable you to establish a wireless
network.

Access points

An access point (or wireless gateway) does exactly what its name implies: it
provides a point through which devices can access a wireless network.
Generally speaking, an access point transmits and receives data on a wireless
network, so technically, it's a transceiver. Wireless access points are often
referred to as WAPs.

An access point can connect multiple wireless users to each other, and
forms the interconnection or bridge between wired and wireless networks.

For very small WLANs, such as those used in SOHOs (small office/home
offices), one access point is usually all that's needed. As your network grows in
physical size, such as distance in feet or meters, and number of users, you
might need to add multiple access points. If you run into this situation, make
sure your coverage overlaps so that you don't lose users in dead spots, which
are parts of a building where no wireless signal is available.

WAPs cost between $35 and $150, and usually have a maximum range of 300
feet although you can extend this range with the use of specialized antennas. A
single WAP generally supports up to 30 computers. A WAP has its own IP
address on the network, and you generally access it through a Web interface to
configure security and other options.

Routers

You need a router to connect to the Internet. Wi-Fi networking is a form of local
area networking, meaning it's used for connecting devices local to you (within a
home or office building or similarly limited geographic area). A router is a
device used for wide area networking and connects to your ISP's (Internet
service provider's) network. The router sends Internet traffic through the ISP to
the Internet site while keeping local traffic between your own computers
confined to your home network.

If you have a cable modem, DSL (digital subscriber line), satellite, or other
broadband service in your home, you likely have a router set up already.
Routers are usually built into broadband modems.
In most cases, you can connect your router to a WAP, walk through a simple
configuration process, and presto, you have connectivity to the Internet via
wireless and wired networks. If you're in a small environment and can locate
the router in a central location, you can purchase a combination router and
WAP for well under $100.

Hubs and switches

Whereas routers connect multiple networks, hubs and switches connect

computers on a local network. The typical switch for home use has four or eight
Ethernet ports that enable you to connect multiple computers. Switches
connect devices on your home network but don't provide a connection to the
Internet. You need to use a router for that task.

Hubs and switches are basically interchangeable from a networking

perspective. They both serve the same basic role on a network: allowing
multiple devices to connect to the same LAN segment. The main difference
between the two is that hubs send all traffic to all systems, whereas switches
use a little more intelligence to send systems only traffic that affects them. For
security and efficiency reasons, it's usually best to use a switch unless you
have a specific technical need to use a hub.

Now that you have a basic understanding of access points, routers, hubs, and
switches, read on to learn about preparing your computer for wireless
networking.

Preparing computers for wireless

Having a WAP isn't all that's required for a computer to connect to a wireless
network and transmit and receive wireless broadcasts. Each computer also
needs a wireless interface or adapter, which comes in several different forms
but accomplishes the same task.

A wireless NIC is a device that fits into a PCI (Peripheral Component »  HP Officejet Pro all-in-
Interconnect) slot for desktop PCs. You can get a PCMCIA (Personal Computer ones
Memory Card International Association) card, usually called a PC Card, that
slides into a slot in a notebook computer. You can also connect a wireless
adapter to a computer via its USB (universal serial bus) port, or to a PDA or
handheld computer through a flash memory slot.

Most modern notebook computers have built-in wireless interfaces and

don't require the use of a wireless card or USB device.

The majority of wireless interfaces transmit on a particular frequency

determined by the standard it supports (for example, 802.11g cards transmit at
2.4 GHz), and can cost anywhere from $30 to $150.

If you need to purchase a wireless interface for your computer, make sure the
card or device supports the same standard and broadcast frequency as the
WAP. WAPs designed for 802.11g support the older 802.11b cards, but
802.11b cards are slower than 802.11g cards. You don't have to buy the same
brand wireless card and WAP, although doing so generally eliminates some
compatibility problems. An 802.11n WAP is generally backwards-compatible
with all earlier standards, allowing the use of 802.11a, b, and g, in addition to n.
The following table tells you which cards to buy with which access points.

Access Point Card/Interface

802.11a access point 802.11a interface only

802.11b access point 802.11b interface only

802.11g access point 802.11g interface (preferred) or 802.11b

802.11n access point 802.11a, b, g, or n interface

Table 2-1: Access points and interfaces.

Installing the wireless interface

If your computer requires a wireless PCI card, turn off your computer before
installing it. Then remove the cover of the computer, slide the card into an
empty PCI slot, and follow the instructions for configuring the hardware.

If you're unsure which slot is a PCI slot, check your owner's manual or the
computer manufacturer's Web site.

To install a USB wireless adapter, it's not necessary to open the computer's
case; just insert the device into a USB port.

Wireless PC Cards for notebook PCs fit into a PCMCIA slot, usually found on
the left or right side of the computer. You might need to install driver software
for the card (from a CD that ships with it or downloaded from the Internet) if the
operating system doesn't recognize it and install the drivers automatically. You
don't need to shut your computer down to insert a PCMCIA card.

Next, learn how to enable a wireless connection on your mobile computer.

Enabling wireless on your mobile computer

If your new notebook PC has a built-in wireless interface, it might have a sticker
indicating this. However, you might not be able to use it "out of the box." Many
notebook PCs require you to first turn on the wireless antenna. On some
computers, you do this through a software interface. Others have a physical
switch or button on the side, front, or back of the notebook PC that you turn on
to enable wireless. And some require that you press a key combination or
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To determine how to enable wireless on your particular mobile computer,

consult your user's manual.

Next, your operating system must have wireless networking client software
installed. Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP, and Mac OS® X
come with this software.

If your Windows Vista computer is set up to use wireless, you should see a
wireless network icon in the system tray (notification area), as shown in Figure
2-1. This indicates whether you're connected to a wireless network.
Figure 2-1: Wireless network icon in Windows Vista.

Double-click this icon and select Connect or disconnect to see which wireless
networks are within range and their signal strength, as shown in Figure 2-2.

In Windows XP, right-click the wireless icon, and then select View Available
Wireless Networks. In Windows Vista, right-click the wireless icon, and then
select Connect to a network.

Figure 2-2: Viewing available wireless networks in Windows Vista.

Enlarge image

Next, learn how to plan your wireless home network.

Planning your home network

At this point, you might be thinking to yourself, "Hey, this wireless networking
thing doesn't sound too bad. Just buy an access point and some wireless
cards, and start networking without wires."

In a way, you're right. But even the simplest wireless network implementation
can hit snags if you don't do some planning beforehand. For example, you »  HP Original ink & toner
might place the WAP in your corner office, too far away to get a great signal out
on the patio and thereby dashing any plans you might have of working outdoors
on beautiful spring days.

Although there are many techniques available for planning a wireless network,
a good simple technique involves asking some common-sense questions, such
as the following:

Who and what: Who'll be using the network and what'll they be doing on it?
This isn't just a list of people but a general idea of the kinds of applications
they'll be using on the network.
Where: Where do you want to access the network? For most homes, one
access point is enough to provide coverage in any room -- and even limited
outdoor areas. However, thick walls, maze-like hallways and staircases, and
any metal obstructions, such as metal shelving and steel pillars, can obstruct
broadcasts.
When: You need to know when users will be on the network. Even a small
 group of users performing bandwidth-intensive tasks all at the same time can
bog a wireless network down.
How: How are packets transmitted -- in the clear or encrypted? Encryption
and other security measures add overhead to network connections, which
can slow you down. But not using encryption can expose your network and
data to outsiders. You'll learn about network security in Lesson 3.

Home networks help you save money by enabling you to share hardware, such
as printers, cameras, and network adapters, and make it convenient to share
documents, music, and other files. Instead of having to worry about running
cable from one room to the next, wireless technologies allow for an elegant
solution. All you need to do is the following:

Buy a WAP and attach it to your outgoing cable or DSL modem/router.

Buy wireless cards for each computer on the network and install them, if they
don't have a built-in wireless interface.
Buy wireless cards for each device, such as a printer, you want to share, or
just share the device on the network if it's attached to a networked computer
or print server.

You'll learn about wireless printing and print servers in Lesson 4.

That's it -- that's all you need to set up networking. This is just a beginning, of
course, but with these issues in mind, you can start planning for an ideal home
wireless network -- one that meets your needs and grows as required.

Moving on

This lesson covered some of the basic equipment you'll need to set up your
wireless home network. Now, refer back to the answers you gave for the
questions in Lesson 1's assignment and get ready to do some wireless-network
planning in this lesson's assignment. Don't forget to take the quiz before you
head on to Lesson 3, which covers file and printer sharing in addition to a very
important topic in the networking arena -- security.

Assignment #2
The Lesson 2 assignment is a continuation of the Lesson 1 assignment, which asked you to answer
some general questions about your current home setup. Answer the following questions to
determine which wireless gear will be optimal for your situation:

Given the number of users, applications, and activities you anticipate on your wireless network,
how much bandwidth do you need?
Given the size of the area you need covered (length x width in feet), how much range in distance
do you need?
Given the bandwidth requirements, distance range needed, and your budget, which of the
wireless protocols is most appropriate for your home network?
Given the type of data that you'll be sending over the network and your physical proximity to
potential intruders, do you need security?
Do you need to securely connect to a remote LAN, such as your company network? (Although
security is covered in Lesson 3, you should begin thinking about your big-picture security needs
now.)

Although there aren't any fixed rules, more than nine or ten users, large bandwidth
requirements, or a large coverage area may necessitate the use of more than one WAP.

After you answer these questions, acquire the necessary equipment to set up a wireless home
network, such as a wireless network interface for your computer and a WAP, if you don't own them
already. Attach and install the equipment as described in Lesson 2 or per the manufacturer's
guidelines for each component.

 
Quiz #2
Question 1:
True or False: A hub is an advanced router.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 2:
What's the usual maximum range of a WAP?
A) 10 feet
B) 30 feet
C) 100 feet
D) 300 feet
 
Question 3:
Generally speaking, wireless network cards come in which configurations? (Check all that apply.)
A) PCI
B) PCMCIA
C) USB
D) ISA
 
Question 4:
True or False: If your notebook computer has a built-in wireless (Wi-Fi) network interface, you can connect
directly to the Internet without the need for a WAP or router.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 5:
When designing a wireless network, you need to take into account which of the following variables? (Check all
that apply.)
A) Number of users
B) Coverage area
C) Applications being used
D) Display resolution
E) Security considerations
 

Setting up sharing and security

This lesson walks you through the steps of sharing folders and devices, and setting up security on your new
wireless network. You'll learn about common security threats unique to wireless and how to balance ease of
access with security concerns.
 

Configuring your network

Welcome back. Lesson 2 covered some of the basic equipment you need to Responding to Windows
set up a wireless home network. This lesson talks a bit about how to share Vista UAC (User Access
information and services throughout your network, and then discusses how to Control) prompts
secure the network so you share only what you want to, and only with the
specific people you want to access your network.
When changing certain
settings in Windows Vista, a
Setting up a wireless network is designed to be easy. If you followed the first User Access Control dialog
two lessons and assignments, you were probably able to set up the physical box might appear, asking you
components of your home wireless network in no time. However, setting up the to enter administrative
wireless home network is only the first step. Now you've got to get the credentials or click Continue
components on that network talking. to confirm your actions. You
can safely do so whenever
following steps in this
course.
This lesson assumes you're working on a computer running Microsoft
Windows Vista Home Premium or Microsoft Windows XP, and shows you
 how to configure network sharing in both operating systems. Your steps will
vary if you're using an older version of Windows; the steps don't translate
easily to Mac OS or Linux users.

The very purpose of networking is to share what you have: data, printers, file
systems, and all the rest. Otherwise, you'd be back to where you were before -- »  HP Paper
handing other people CDs or flash disks full of files or buying separate printers
for everyone in the house. Before you can start sharing folders on or with a
computer running Windows, you need to join the computer to a network.

Using Windows Vista

In Windows Vista, select Start > Connect To. You should see a list of networks;
select the network you want to connect to. If you don't see the network you
want to connect to, select Set up a connection or network and follow the
prompts.

Using Windows XP

The following steps work in Windows XP with the Control Panel set to Category
view (not Classic view):

1. Select Start > Control Panel.

2. Select Network and Internet Connections.
3. Select Set up or change your home or small office network. The
Welcome to the Network Setup Wizard starts. Click Next.
4. Follow the wizard's instructions. Use the same network and/or
workgroup name on each computer.

Once you've run this process on two or more computers running Windows XP,
you should test your network. Just select Start, and then click My Network
Places. You should see a list of other computers on your network, such as
//dad-computer/shareddocs/.

Now that you've connected to a network, read on to learn how to set up shared
folders.

Setting up shared folders

The easiest way to share information on a wireless network is to set up shared
folders on the computers. Users of other computers on the network can see
these shared folders in their Network (or Network Neighborhood) screen and
click to access them -- if they have the proper permissions.

Setting up shared folders in Windows Vista »  HP Officejet printers

In Windows Vista, documents are shared in a folder called the Public folder.
However, sharing is turned off by default for better security. To enable sharing
of the Public folder, follow these steps:

1. Select Start > Control Panel. In Category view, click Network and
Internet and thenNetwork and Sharing Center.

You can also access the Network and Sharing Center by right-clicking the
wireless network icon in the system tray and selecting Network and Sharing
Center from the shortcut menu.
 1. Click the down arrow to the right of the Public folder sharing option to
display configuration options, as shown in Figure 3-1.

Figure 3-1: Public folder sharing options in Windows Vista.

Enlarge image

1. To enable others to view files but not change them or create new ones
in the Public folder, select Turn on sharing so anyone with network
access can open files. To enable others to view and change files, select
Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can open, change, and
create files.
2. Click Apply.
3. Close the Network and Sharing Center.

Now files in the Public folder are accessible to everyone on the network. To
open the Public folder and access the files it contains, select Start >
Documents. In the Folders list on the left, click Public.

Sharing files and folders outside of the public folder

You can also share individual files or folders without moving them to the Public
folder. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the file or folder you want to share, for example, by locating
it in the Documents folder.
2. Right-click the file or folder, and then select Share. The File Sharing
dialog box appears.
3. Select users to share the file or folder with, and then click Share.
4. When the Your <file or folder> is shared screen appears, click Done.

Setting permissions

If you want to restrict what users can do with files in a shared folder, you need
to set up custom permissions such as read-only, modify, and so on. Here's
how:

1. Right-click the shared folder, and then select Properties. The Properties
dialog box appears.
2. On the Sharing tab, click Advanced Sharing.
3. Check the Share this folder checkbox.
4. Click Permissions to open the Permissions dialog box, in which you can
add specific users and give them Full Control, Change, and/or Read
permissions by checking the corresponding Allow checkbox. The
Permissions dialog box is shown in Figure 3-2.
Figure 3-2: Giving individual users custom permissions.

By default, everyone has the Read permission, but you can remove the
Everyone group if you want only specific people to have access. To remove the
Everyone group, select it and then click the Remove button. Add individual
users, and then check the checkboxes in the Allow column for the permissions
you want them to have. When you're done, click OK.

Setting up shared folders in Windows XP

If you're running Windows XP, notice that you have a Shared Documents folder
in the My Computer window, as shown in Figure 3-3. This folder is already set
up as a shared resource -- whatever files you place in it can be accessed by
other computers on your network.

Figure 3-3: The Shared Documents folder.

Enlarge image

When you look at this folder, you can tell it's shared because it has an icon of a
hand underneath the folder. This represents a hand reaching out to offer the
folder to others. All shared objects -- including additional hardware, such as
printers -- have this hand appended to their icons in Windows XP.
Right-click the Shared Documents folder, select Sharing and Security from the
shortcut menu, and then view the Sharing tab to see the different options for
the folder.

For example, you can set the folder's name that appears on other computers'
displays, which is the name that other users see when they view your Shared
Documents folder from across the network. In Figure 3-4, that name has been
set to SharedDocs.

You can share any folder by navigating to it in My Computer or Windows

Explorer, right-clicking it, and then selecting Sharing and Security.

Figure 3-4: Configuring sharing from the Shared Documents Properties dialog
box in Windows XP.

You can also enable other network users to make changes to files in shared
folders. This enables them to add, delete, and change files in this folder. In
Figure 3-4 shown previously, the Allow network users to change my files option
is checked because the owner of that particular computer knows other network
users will need to update the files in the folder.

General notes about sharing folders

In most cases, it's okay to leave the name of the shared folder as the default,
which is the same as the name of the folder in your local file system. In other
cases, you might want to give more descriptive folders names to help network
users find what they're looking for more easily. For example, FamilyTripPhotos
is a better name for a shared folder than Trip.

On a wireless network, names of shared folders are broadcast onto the public
airwaves; unless you secure your network with encryption, unauthorized people
(such as neighbors who have wireless-enabled computers) can see your
folders if they connect to your wireless network. You'll learn about encryption
and security later in this lesson.

For safety's sake, you shouldn't share folders that contain personal
information, such as family budgets, credit card information, passwords,
 work files, or personal e-mail, on a wireless network.

You can share an entire drive or partition, but it's usually a good idea to share
only individual folders. It's a security risk to enable network users to access
your entire computer. You should give them access only to the information they
need, and nothing more.

Next, learn how to share printers and other devices on a wireless network.

Sharing printers and other devices on a wireless network

You can share devices of all kinds on a network, and it's just as easy as
sharing folders. All you have to do, in most cases, is right-click the device icon,
select Share (Windows Vista) or Sharing and Security (Windows XP) from the
shortcut menu, and then select the appropriate sharing option.

Which kinds of devices can you share? You can share all of the following, plus »  HP Officejet Pro all-in-
more: ones

Printers
Scanners
Digital photo card readers
External hard drives and removable media drives, like a flash or DVD drive

Sharing a printer

For some devices, you have to access them through the hardware applet in
Control Panel to share them. Let's see how to share a printer in Windows Vista
and Windows XP using this technique:

1. Select Start > Control Panel.

2. In Windows Vista, select Hardware and Sound. In Windows XP, select
Printers and Other Hardware.

These instructions assume you're using the default Windows Vista and
Windows XP Control Panel views (referred to as Category view), not
Classic view.

1. In Windows Vista, click Printers. In Windows XP, click View installed

printers or fax printers.
2. From the list of printers installed on the computer, select the one you
want to share, right-click it, and then select Sharing.
3. In Windows Vista, click Change sharing options, if necessary. Select
the Share this printer option and give it a share name. In Windows XP,
select the Share this printer option, and then type a name to be
displayed to network users or accept the default name.
4. Click OK.

Now the printer can be used by others on the wireless network. In Lesson 4,
you'll learn how to connect to a shared printer to print to it.

Now that you have all these shared resources, you need to learn how to secure
your network so the wrong people can't access them. That's covered in the
next section.

 
Securing your network
Wireless networking makes it easy for you to access your network and the
Internet from any point within your home, and possibly even outdoors. This
ubiquitous wireless access is a great convenience to you, but it also makes life
easy for unauthorized individuals to gain access to your network. There might
be a number of motivations for this type of activity:

Your neighbor might not want to pay for Internet access and wants to »  HP LaserJet multifunction
freeload on your wireless network instead. printers
Someone driving by may wish to perform illegal activity on the Internet and is
looking for an anonymous way to commit crimes. By using your Internet
connection, that activity can be traced back to you.

Hackers routinely drive around neighborhoods with a wireless-enabled

notebook PC looking for insecure wireless networks. This activity is known
as war driving.

A hacker might be seeking personal information by eavesdropping on your

network activity or accessing your saved files.

In this part of the lesson, you'll learn a few important ways you can secure your
wireless network by securing your access points and encrypting your network.

Securing your WAPs

There are a few simple actions you can take to secure your WAPs:

Change the administrator password from the factory default setting. Many
access points are sold preconfigured with a default password (for example,
"admin"). Hackers know these passwords well and use them to take over
networks. You should immediately change the password to a strong one
when installing a new access point on your network.
Restrict administrative access to the internal network (that is, disable remote
management). Most access points also enable you to specify that all
administrative activity must come from the local network. This prevents a
hacker from breaking into your access point over the Internet and changing
your security settings.

Encrypting your wireless network

Encryption prevents unauthorized individuals from accessing your wireless

network and viewing information that you send over your network. Most
wireless access points offer two options for encryption: WEP (Wired Equivalent
Privacy) and WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption.

Don't use WEP encryption on your network under any circumstances. It has
critical security flaws and is easily cracked in seconds using software freely
available on the Internet. You must use WPA encryption to secure your
network. If your device doesn't support WPA, you should replace it with one
that does.

The process to configure WPA encryption on your network varies depending on

the type of equipment you've purchased. Here are some common settings you
may be asked to make:

WPA or WPA2: Both technologies are secure. You should select the one
that's compatible with all of your wireless equipment. In most cases, either
one works with modern wireless equipment.
AES or TKIP encryption: Again, both of these options are secure. You can
use either one, but be sure to choose consistently on all wireless devices.
Personal or Enterprise mode: On home networks, you always want to select
personal mode (sometimes called pre-shared key or PSK mode).
 Encryption key or password/passphrase: You'll be asked to enter an
encryption key or passphrase for your network.

Here are the steps in Windows Vista for creating a network profile with
security:

1. In the Network and Sharing Center, click Manage wireless networks in

the Tasks pane on the left.
2. Click the Add button on the toolbar.
3. Select Manually create a network profile.
4. Enter the network name in the first field, and then select the security
type from the drop-down list as shown in Figure 3-5. Select WPA2-
Personal for the strongest security on a home network.

Figure 3-5: Selecting the security type.

Enlarge image

1. The encryption type field fills in automatically, in this case with AES.
2. Enter the security key or passphrase.
3. Check the Start this connection automatically checkbox if you want to
access this network each time you use your Wi-Fi connection.
4. Click Next.
5. Click Connect to.

You should now be connected to the WAP and can connect again using this
profile in the future.

In Windows XP, right-click the wireless icon in the system tray, select View
Available Wireless Networks from the shortcut menu, and then click Change
advanced settings in the left pane. Click the Wireless Networks tab, click the
Add button, and then complete the fields on the Association tab much like that
described previously for Windows Vista. (If the network you want to configure
security for is already listed in the network list on the Wireless Networks tab,
select it and click Properties to access the security settings.) Click OK when
you're finished.

Next, learn how you can use virtual private networks to connect back to your
workplace.

Connecting to your workplace with a VPN

VPNs (virtual private networks) enable you to remotely connect to your
organization's network just as if you were sitting in the office. Modern Windows
operating systems have VPN client software built in, although if your company
uses certain types of VPN servers or firewalls, you might have to install
proprietary VPN software. This section assumes your company uses the built-
in Windows client.
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Setting up a VPN connection in Windows Vista

You set up Windows Vista VPN connections through the network connection
wizard, as follows:

1. In the Network and Sharing Center, click Set up a network or

connection, click Connect to a workplace, and then click Next.
2. Pick the option to create a new connection, and then click Next.
3. Select Use my Internet connection (VPN).
4. In the next screen, shown in Figure 3-6, provide the IP address or the
fully qualified domain name of the VPN server (you must get this
information from your company's IT staff) and a destination name.
Select any of the options at the bottom of the screen that apply to you,
and then click Next.

You can select to use a smart card for authentication if this is required by
your company.

Figure 3-6: Setting up a VPN connection in Vista.

Enlarge image

1. Enter your user name and password for the corporate network, as well
as the domain name if it's a Windows domain.
2. Click Connect. It might take a minute or two for the connection to be
established.

To use the connection to connect to your corporate network, just select it from
your list of network connections. You may need to enter your credentials, and
then click Connect.

Setting up a VPN connection in Windows XP

Windows XP VPN connections are set up through the Network settings dialog
boxes as well. Here are the basic steps:
 1. Open Control Panel, and then select Network and Internet Connections.
2. Select Create a connection to the network at your workplace.
3. Select Virtual Private Network connection in the New Connection
Wizard, and then click Next.
4. Type a name for the connection (such as MyCompany VPN), and then
click Next.
5. Choose whether Windows needs to dial a connection to the Internet
before connecting to the VPN, and then click Next. Then, on the VPN
Server Selection screen, enter the host name or IP address of the VPN
server. Click Next.
6. In the completion screen, click Finish.

To use the connection to connect to your corporate network, just select it from
your list of network connections. You'll be asked to enter your user name and
password, and then click Connect.

Moving on

This lesson covered the essentials of sharing files and folders on a network,
described methods of making your home network safer and more secure, and
showed you how to make VPN connections. Lesson 4 discusses more
advanced networking topics, such as expansion and troubleshooting. Before
moving on, don't forget to do the assignment and take the quiz that go with this
lesson.

Assignment #3
This assignment is very simple: Figure out how to implement all the must-do security
recommendations from this lesson with your particular equipment. Specifically, do the following:

Change the default administrative password on your WAP.

Disable remote management on your WAP.
Enable WPA encryption on your WAP.
Enter the encryption key in the wireless configuration settings on your computer(s) that will
connect to the wireless network.

Make sure to take your time when you do this. It's a good idea to refer to the documentation that
came with your WAP, because the interface and setup procedures can differ slightly depending on
the brand and model. This is a great exercise for discovering how to set up a WAP and working with
each networked computer's wireless settings.

Quiz #3
Question 1:
True or False: You can share printers on a wireless network.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 2:
True or False: On Windows XP computers, you can identify shared folders by the fact that the folder name is
displayed in a different color.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 3:
When you share a folder on a Windows computer, which of the following options can you set? (Check all that
apply.)
A) The name of the folder to be displayed on other computers
B) Whether users can make changes to files in the folder
C) The maximum size of the folder
D) The color of the folder
 
Question 4:
What's war driving?
A) Using a computer to call all numbers on an exchange to see which ones are faxes, modems, and other
exploitable devices
B) Stealing passwords by peeking over someone's shoulder
C) Driving around neighborhoods with a wireless-enabled notebook PC, trying to pick up available
broadcasts
D) Buying user names and passwords from a hacker who obtained them through social engineering
 
Question 5:
What should you do to secure your wireless access point? (Check all that apply.)
A) Change the default administrative password.
B) Disable any user access to the device.
C) Turn on encryption.
D) Disable remote management.
 

Expanding and troubleshooting your network

Wireless networks can easily be expanded by adding both access points to extend the range and file and print
servers to offer shared resources. You'll also pick up some troubleshooting techniques.
 

Expanding your network

Welcome back. If you've gotten this far, you've accomplished a great deal,
including the following:

Planning your wireless home network

Purchasing, installing, and configuring all the gear
Sharing files and devices, and securing your network
»  HP Paper
This lesson covers some advanced topics related to growing your network.
Although your network might be small now, at some point you might need to
add computers or expand the broadcast coverage.

Sooner or later, most home users need to expand their networks. You'll either
have added so many users and computers onto your network that it starts to
slow down, or you'll experience big changes in the kinds of files you send over
the network, requiring more bandwidth. Perhaps you'll need to expand
broadcast coverage to additional parts of your home or out to the yard or patio.

Fortunately, expanding a wireless network is a simple matter. In most cases, all

you have to do is buy more WAPs to increase your bandwidth and coverage. In
some cases, however, you might need to take other steps, such as setting up
routers and servers. You'll cover all of these topics in this lesson. First, let's find
out how to add WAPs and routers to your network to extend its range.

Adding access points and routers to the network

The traditional way to expand your wireless network is to set up additional
access points. This is particularly effective if:

You have users you want to keep on separate access points for security or
bandwidth reasons -- for example, you might have your kids use one access
point and have the adults use a separate one.
You have different parts of the property that need coverage -- for example, »  HP Officejet printers
the third floor of your home is an office that needs wireless coverage, you
need coverage in the kids' bedrooms on the first floor, and you sometimes
work in a converted shed out back and need wireless access there.
When you buy additional WAPs, ensure they all use the same wireless
protocol, such as 802.11g, and set up security on each one. For those
computers and devices that might roam between different wireless coverage
areas, such as a notebook PC, you need to configure the device with each
wireless access point's encryption keys so it can connect to whichever WAP is
within range.

You need to set the same SSIDs (service set identifiers) on each additional
access point if your notebook PC or other device will roam and use multiple
access points. The SSID identifies the wireless network. Check the user guide
for each access point to determine how to change the SSID.

Although you may have overlapping network coverage when you have
more than one WAP, in reality, a computer only communicates with one
access point at a time. It selects the access point with the strongest signal.

To avoid crosstalk (colliding signals) on overlapping WAPs, set different

broadcast channels on each WAP. For best performance, you should select
noncontiguous channels. For example, if your first access point broadcasts on
channel 1, set your second WAP to broadcast on channel 6.

Other points to consider when adding more access points include the
following:

Most access points have an effective indoor range of approximately 150 feet
-- less if there are obstructions, metal shielding, or thick walls present. You
need only a little bit of overlap (several dozen feet at most).
Although WAPs placed near the center of your home (or in your basement or
attic) might not be accessible from the street unless a war driver has a
special high-gain antenna, access points placed near the periphery of your
home are more likely to be picked up.

Always put security measures in place regardless of the placement of your

WAPs. That means using WPA or WPA2 encryption and other security
measures discussed in Lesson 3.

Your speed and signal strength on a wireless network is determined by two

main factors: distance from the access point and number and quality of
obstructions between a system and an access point. Even slight changes in
the way you point your notebook PC's antenna, or raising the height of a
WAP, can mean dramatic changes.

Some users with adjustable antennas have reported great returns by keeping
their antennas straight or replacing shorter antennas with longer ones.

Using the 802.11b and 802.11g specifications, you have only 11 channels
on which to broadcast, and these overlap. To ensure you have unique
channels with no overlap, you should select from channels 1, 6, and 11. You
can select from 12 channels if using 802.11a.
For best performance, make sure that other appliances or devices within
range don't broadcast on the same frequency. These include microwave
ovens, garage-door openers, many cordless phones, some power lines,
Bluetooth devices, and neighbors with their own 802.11b networks. Of
course, you might not have control over all of these.

Adding a router to the network

You use routers to connect two or more networks together and to divide
networks into subnetworks (also called subnets). You might be able to alleviate
growth problems by setting up a router and confining a specific type of traffic to
its own subnetwork. For example, if you play wireless LAN games, the heavy
data traffic might slow down the entire network. If you can keep all of this traffic
(which is mostly localized) on one subnet, however, users on other subnets
might not be affected.

Dividing a network into subnets involves configuring computer and device IP

addresses and entering subnet masks into the TCP/IP settings to identify which
portions of the IP address identify the network or subnet and which identify the
individual computers.

Subnetting is a complex topic that's beyond the scope of this course, but
you can find many guides to IP subnetting on the Web.

Most routers support the creation of different subnets. Because each model
has different settings and commands, read your particular router's
documentation to set up separate subnets.

A router can also be an effective way to secure different parts of your home
network. For example, you can restrict certain types of traffic on certain
subnetworks, such as only e-mail and Web traffic.

Adding a firewall to the network

Although you should have personal firewall software installed on each of your
computers, as the network grows you may want to add a separate firewall
device that protects the entire network. This is called a perimeter or edge
firewall. An edge firewall can provide stronger security than personal firewalls.
Edge firewall devices are made by many vendors. If you're building a new
network, you can often find a single device that serves as a combination router,
firewall, and wireless access point.

If you're not sure whether your network has a firewall, check your router before
you buy a dedicated device. Many routers contain basic firewall functionality
that's sufficient for most home networks.

After you've added devices to help expand the physical performance of your
network, you may want to find a way to better organize the sharing of files and
folders. You'll learn how to add a simple file server to your wireless network in
the next section.

Adding a simple file server to the network

Suppose you have a wireless network, each computer sharing lots of
documents. As a result, you've found that it has gotten harder and harder to
keep track of where different files are located. Moreover, network users have
noticed that when they share their directories, their computers get bogged
down when other users access their files. This can become a problem,
especially if you're sharing a lot of music, graphics, videos, or other large files.
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ones
The answer to this problem is to set up a simple file server on your network. A
file server is traditionally a dedicated computer that holds files and other data
needed by a group of network users; however, you can create a simple server
by sharing a USB flash drive with ample free disk space or install and share an
additional hard disk. Establishing a file server can make your network easier to
manage in the long run. It's also easier to secure and back up the data on a
single disk rather than on every computer on the network.

Many USB drive models are available with storage capacities of 500 GB or
 greater. You can easily connect multiple external drives to create even
larger storage areas.

Options for setting up a file server

The easiest way to set up a file server on your network is to purchase a USB
drive and attach it to an existing desktop computer on your network. Then
follow the instructions from Lesson 3 to share the drive on the wireless network
so that users may access it over the network. For added security, create
separate folders for each user and assign permissions so users can't access
each other's folders.

Alternatively, you can purchase a dedicated computer that's designed to act as

a file server. This approach is much more expensive than just sharing a drive
attached to or installed in an existing computer, but it offers faster performance
and won't negatively affect the user of the computer that's set up in sharing
mode.

Although you could use a notebook PC for a file server, it's not recommended.
A file server needs to be turned on and accessible most or all of the time;
notebook PCs are generally not designed to run 24/7 and are often set to go
into standby mode or hibernate after a certain period of time to save energy
and avoid overheating.

Just as a file server can help reduce the load on a network, a print server is
often the way to go to alleviate printing bottlenecks and other inconveniences.
The next section dives into print servers and printing wirelessly.

Adding a print server and printing wirelessly

When people first set up a home network, they usually share a printer on the
network that's attached to one of the computers. At some point, however, you
may need to unburden the computer sharing the printer, and provide more
widespread access to the printer. One of the best solutions is to use a print
server. After you do, your network users will be able to print wirelessly to that
print server.
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printers
Print servers connect directly to the network and have their own IP addresses,
rather than being attached to a particular computer.

Adding a print server

Generally speaking, there are a few ways to add a print server to your network,
including the following:

Share a printer attached to a file server: If you set up a computer as a file

server, you can attach a printer and share it. In this scenario, the server acts
as a print server and a file server, which is a great setup for a home network
and a model many businesses use.
Buy a printer with a built-in print server: These printers, called network
printers, are usually expensive, but they can handle many print jobs. They
offer security, reliability, and can queue an impressive number of jobs.
Buy a wireless print server device: You can connect your printer (or printers)
to a wireless print server with a standard parallel, USB, or Ethernet cable,
and use the print server to broadcast the printer's availability to other
computers on the network. Wireless print servers usually run $50 to $250.

A typical wireless print server device for the home can handle up to four
printers, so if you have an inkjet photo printer and a laser printer, you can
attach both and print to them from anywhere in the house.
Print wirelessly

At this point, you know how to share printers on a wireless network. Now let's
find out how to print to a shared printer across the network.

Connecting to a shared printer

To connect to a printer over a wireless network, follow these steps:

1. On your Microsoft Windows Vista or Microsoft Windows XP computer,

select Start > Control Panel.
2. In Windows Vista, select Hardware and Sound. In Windows XP, select
Printers and Other Hardware.

These instructions assume you're using the native Windows XP and

Windows Vista Control Panel views, not Classic view.

1. Select Add a printer. The Add Printer Wizard starts.

2. In Windows Vista, select Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer. In
Windows XP, click Next, select A network printer, or a printer attached
to another computer, and select Browse for a printer.
3. In the list of available printers, select the one to which you want to
connect, as shown for Windows Vista in Figure 4-1.

Figure 4-1: Connecting to a printer over a wireless network in Windows Vista.

Enlarge image

When you complete these steps, you'll be able print to it when you're
connected to the network, just as you do to a printer connected to your
computer.

Next, you'll learn how to troubleshoot problems on your wireless network.

Troubleshooting wireless networks

Earlier in this lesson, you learned how to expand a network by linking wireless
access points and setting up print and file servers. These technologies help
you work more productively. In the remainder of this lesson, you'll learn what to
do when things don't work the way they should.
 »  HP Original ink & toner
Problems can occur at any point along the networking pathway -- from your
notebook PC's wireless interface to the access point to your ISP to a
hacker shutting down your network with a worm.

The best way to troubleshoot a network of any size is to be methodical. One

method is to work from the inside out -- from your computer to the WAP to
other devices -- until you find the problem. Alternatively, you can work your way
"up" the network from the physical layer (hardware) to the logical layers
(software). For example, if you're unable to connect to the Internet over your
wireless connection, do the following:

1. Check your computer's wireless interface. It could be disabled,

malfunctioning, or disconnected. On a notebook PC, ensure that the
wireless feature is enabled.

For example, assume you use a notebook PC with an embedded wireless

interface, and the F2 key shows a picture of a wireless icon. Pressing the
Fn+F2 key combination toggles the wireless interface on and off. When it's
on, the WLAN or Wi-Fi light on the computer's panel is lit up.

1. Check your computer's wireless configuration. Ensure that the TCP/IP

settings are correct and that you have the correct WPA encryption key
entered.
2. Check the WAP. It could be disabled, not powered on, or disconnected.
Ensure that its antenna is connected and, if it's a directional antenna,
that it's properly aligned.
3. If everything checked so far is OK, determine whether you can connect
to other computers on your local network. If so, go to the next step.
4. Check your cable or DSL modem or other device that connects your
home network to the Internet. Make sure it's powered on and the status
lights indicate a good connection.
5. Check whether your ISP is accessible. Although the status of your ISP
won't affect your wireless home network, it'll affect your ability to get on
the Internet.

The procedure is similar if you're unable to print wirelessly. First, check your
wireless adapter to see whether you can communicate in other ways over the
wireless network. Then check the physical status of the printer (can other
computers on the network print to it?). Finally, check the software configuration
(your printer settings and drivers).

Other general advice that can make you a master troubleshooter includes the
following:

Stay calm. The only thing that getting frustrated gets you is more frustrated.
Think triage, much like doctors and nurses in an emergency room. Don't
spend hours trying to figure out if your wireless card is broken when your
ISP is down. Instead, run through a series of tests to figure out which
potential problems may exist, and then treat the worst cases first.

In the final page of this lesson, you'll examine how you can resolve connectivity
issues on your network.

 
Troubleshooting connectivity issues
The most basic problem you'll encounter with wireless networking is
connectivity. If there's something wrong with your card or interface, you can't
get on the network. This last section of the course discusses some basic
troubleshooting steps to follow when you have connectivity issues on your
wireless network.

»  HP Paper
The following is a list of steps to take whenever your connectivity is down:

1. Verify that your card is picking up a wireless broadcast. Right-click the

wireless networking icon in the Windows system tray; then, in Microsoft
Windows Vista, select Connect to a network. In Microsoft Windows XP,
select View Available Wireless Networks.
2. If you don't see a list of available networks, you know right away that
you're not picking up a broadcast. You might be too far away from an
access point, or there might be trouble with the access point.
3. If you see a list of networks but can't connect to one, you may be trying
to connect to a network that has an encryption key. If this is the case,
make sure that you enter the encryption key correctly.
4. You might see a list of networks and a message warning you that
available networks aren't secure. Some wireless adapters won't connect
to an unsecured network until you expressly approve the connection.
5. You might be unable to connect to a network if the wireless signal
strength is too low. Signal strength is indicated by the number of green
bars displayed, as shown in Figure 4-2. Try connecting to a network with
a stronger signal or change your position or location to increase signal
strength.

Figure 4-2: Windows indicates signal strength by the number of green bars.

1. While you're viewing this list, make sure your wireless adapter is set to
listen on the right channel, and the correct SSID is set on the wireless
access point.

Testing your IP address

If Windows indicates you're connected to a network and you still have

problems, determine whether your computer has a valid IP address on the
network. To do so, open a command prompt by selecting Start > All Programs
> Accessories > Run (in Windows Vista) or Start > Run (in Windows XP). Type
command and press Enter. At the command prompt, run the ipconfig
command. You should see a display that looks similar to the following:

Windows IP Configuration
Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix: your.gateway.net
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.5.4
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . : 192.168.5.1
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Media State. . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix:

If you don't see an IP address, you can't communicate on the network. You can
resolve this in most cases by running the following commands:

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

These commands should re-establish your connection on the network. If the

system displays a message that indicates the network wasn't able to reassign
an IP address for you, your connectivity problems may be farther up the line, at
your wireless access point.

Testing your wireless access point

You can easily test your wireless access point by issuing the ping command in
a command prompt window to ping the WAP's IP address (for example, at the
command prompt, type ping 192.168.7.1). Many access points display a Web
page for configuring and administering the WAP if you point your Web browser
to the wireless access point's IP address (for example, http://198.168.7.1).

The documentation for your WAP should contain its default IP address. If it
has been changed and you don't know the address, there's usually a
procedure for resetting the WAP to the factory default settings.

If the access point doesn't respond, do the following:

1. Check that it has power, and that the WAP is turned on. If it's on, check
to see if the Ethernet cable running between the WAP and your DSL
router or cable modem is connected.
2. Ensure that the WAP has a green link light on its display. If it doesn't, in
most cases, you can just restart the access point to reset it.
3. If you don't have a green link light, and restarting doesn't solve the
problem, you might have a problem with your cable modem or DSL
router. Check the diagnostic lights on it and refer to the documentation
that came with the gear.
4. At this point, you might be able to restart the router or cable modem. In
some cases, however, your ISP may be down, and you'll have to wait. In
most cases, this won't affect communications between internal devices
on your home network.

Checking encryption settings

If you're helping someone access your wireless network and you have
encryption set on the WAP, all they have to do is try to connect to your network
and then enter the passphrase or key when prompted, as described in Lesson
3. Sometimes, however, you might need to check or alter the wireless settings.

On your computer running Windows Vista, right-click the wireless network icon
in the system tray, and then select Connect to a network. In the list of wireless
networks that appears, right-click the one you want (and are currently
connected to), and then select Properties from the shortcut menu. The
Wireless network properties dialog box appears with the Security tab displayed,
as shown in Figure 4-3. Check or change the security type and encryption type,
and network security key.
Figure 4-3: Viewing encryption information in Windows Vista.

Enlarge image

In Windows XP, right-click the wireless icon in the system tray, select View
Available Wireless Networks from the shortcut menu, and then click Change
advanced settings in the left pane. Click the Wireless Networks tab, scroll down
the list of networks, select your network, and then click Properties. The
Properties dialog box appears; on the Association tab, check or select the
appropriate authentication method and encryption algorithm, and enter the
network key or passphrase, if necessary.

Wrapping up

This final lesson discussed different ways you can expand and troubleshoot
your network. It also covered when you might need to expand and the best
ways to do so. The assignments for this lesson help you make a plan for future
expansion and practice your new troubleshooting skills. Also, don't forget to
take the quiz that goes with this lesson. Congratulations on finishing the
course!

Assignment #4
Expanding your network isn't something you'll need to do right away -- or at least, it's not likely.
However, you should have an expansion plan in mind.

For this assignment:

1. Do an inventory of the rough spots in your network, such as the following:

Times during the day when access to the Internet seems very slow, which could indicate a lot of
users attempting to upload and download large files at the same time.
Times during the day when a shared printer is constantly running, and print jobs must wait in the
queue
The number of times per month that you host LAN parties or engage in other high-bandwidth
 activities
If you have a home-based business, the number of employees you have now, and how many you
expect to have in three to six months

1. Consider how you can expand the network to accommodate these extra loads. As always, it's
best to optimize a network before expanding. Can you move PCs and notebooks closer to a
WAP, or vice versa? Can you place the access point a little higher off the ground, or lengthen
or straighten the antenna? Can you move any steel or solid obstructions? All of these
suggestions can help to optimize your network.
2. Consider which types of devices you can add to improve the performance or security of your
wireless network. Make a list and prioritize each device according to your needs. For example,
if security is a bigger concern than bandwidth because your home-based business network
contains confidential client files, adding a perimeter firewall might be your first priority.
3. After you complete your ordered list, assign each item an approximate date to indicate the time
frame in which you hope to add each device. Keep this list as a guideline for future expansion,
and review and revise it as your needs change.

Assignment #5
The best way to become an expert troubleshooter is to explore different aspects of the technology you
might have to troubleshoot one day. Don't be afraid to start digging around inside some of your
components.

For this assignment:

1. With your wireless adapter turned on (or the embedded interface enabled), right-click the
wireless networking icon in the system tray of your Microsoft Windows Vista or Microsoft
Windows XP computer and take a look at the status displays, configuration panels, and other
screens. Note where different settings are displayed.
2. With your WAP set up and running, visit the access point's administrative panel (Web page)
with your Web browser. Consult your WAP's documentation to determine the IP address to
enter in the browser to get to the administration page. Examine the settings and read the
documentation.
3. Set up the WAP to use encryption if you haven't already done so. Then, set up your computers'
wireless network configurations to use the same authentication method, encryption algorithm,
and key that you set on the WAP.
4. Turn on logging on your WAP if that's an option so you'll have a record of the devices that
connect to your network.

Familiarity in this case breeds success, not contempt. The more thoroughly you know the technology
and equipment, the less intimidating it will seem when you need to fix it.

Quiz #4
Question 1:
What are some good reasons for expanding a wireless network? (Check all that apply.)
A) You've added so many users to the network that you're experiencing a slowdown when accessing files on
the file server.
B) Your Internet connection is too slow.
C) There are too many large uploads and downloads of files on the network.
D) You want to add computers to the network that fall outside the range of the access point.
 
Question 2:
True or False: If you purchase additional WAPs, you need to set different SSIDs and channels on each.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 3:
True or False: Microwave ovens and cordless phones can disrupt your 802.11b network.
A) True
B) False
 
Question 4:
You can reset your IP address using which commands? (Check all that apply.)
A) ipconfig /release
B) ipconfig /renew
C) winip
D) ipconfig /reboot
E) ipconfig /restart
 
Question 5:
What's the first thing you should do when troubleshooting connectivity?
A) Turn off your computer.
B) Verify that your wireless card or interface is picking up a wireless broadcast.
C) Make sure that your wireless adapter is set to listen on the right channel, and SSID is set as the wireless
access point.
D) Determine whether your computer has a valid IP address on the network.
 

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