Wireless networking is a popular way to share broadband internet access amongst several PC's or laptop computers in a home or office. Many people also take advantage of wireless networking with a laptop PC via public wireless hotspots, since wireless enables us to leave our home or office and continue to work and play at broadband speeds.
The most popular and widely accepted wireless technology is known as 802.11. Within 802.11, there are several standards as depicted below:
|
Standard
|
Max Speed
|
Compatibility
|
Frequency
|
|
802.11
|
2 Mbps
|
802.11 only
|
2.4GHz
|
|
802.11b
|
11 Mbps
|
802.11g
|
2.4GHz
|
|
802.11a
|
54 Mbps
|
802.11a only
|
5 GHz
|
|
802.11g
|
54 Mbps
|
802.11b
|
2.4GHz
|
802.11b is the standard that is most widely used today. 802.11g and 802.11b are compatible with one another, and we recommend both of these standards. If you have a 2.4GHz wireless phone in your home, there is a possibility that it will interfere with your wireless network, in which case 802.11a becomes an acceptable alternative. We don't recommend 802.11a for most users, however, as 802.11a as equipment is generally more expensive, and 802.11a's 5GHz signal does not pass between walls as easily as 802.11b and 802.11g's 2.4GHz signal.
Wireless in the Home
To share internet access from a DSL or cable modem amongst several computers, you need one wireless access point and one client network card for each PC or notebook. Linksys is a popular wireless networking manufacturer that makes a wide variety of access points and client network cards.
To setup a wireless network in your home to share a DSL or cable broadband connection, we recommend using one Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband router along with a Linksys WPC54G Notebook Adapter for each notebook PC in your network, and one Linksys WMP54G PCI Adapter for each desktop PC.
Encrypting your wireless data is the number one most important thing to
understand about wireless networking. With an unencrypted wireless
network, someone can sit in their car outside your home with a notebook
and "sniff" your data packets, reading all of your outgoing and incoming
email (including your email password) and any other data that's being
transferred, and it is
extremely easy to do requiring little to no skill. There are several types of encryption that are used to encrypt your data as it is being transferred wirelessly.
WEP is one type of encryption but it is a flawed technology and can be cracked very easily with automated tools by hackers with little to no skill. WEP is better than nothing and should be used if no other encryption is available but it is not recommended.
WPA is a new encryption technology that replaces WEP, is much more secure, and is highly recommended. The Linksys products recommended above support WPA.
Wireless Hotspots
Many airport terminals, hotel lobbies, and coffee shops (like Starbucks), offer wireless
hotspots. A hotspot is an invisible "bubble" of wireless network coverage where you can
connect to the Internet using a notebook PC equipped with an 802.11b (in most cases)
wireless network card. Pretty much any wireless networking card will do for this purpose, such as the Linksys WPC54G Wireless-G Notebook Adapter.
Be aware that wireless data encryption is usually absent in wireless hotspots, so you'll
want to use some type of backup encryption (such as SSH, SSL/HTTPS, or a VPN, all of which are beyond the scope of this guide) when using a hotspot if you are at all concerned about the security of your data.
