Wireless networking is the easiest way to network a
building that does not have
network capability built in. (The house is old, or the builder didn't have the
foresight to network it). With wireless you don't have to punch holes in the
wall, crawl the attic and pull cable or hire some one to do it. (you can have it
done, the phone company that put in my DSL pulled two cables for free and
charged $50 for each additional cable).
Lets assume you want to go fairly cheap, wireless. There are a couple of
products that you can buy a workgroup hub and one or two network cards as a set,
from the same manufacture, buying a set means the hub and network cards are
designed to work together.
First lets talk about the hub. What kind is best? As with any product there are
a plethora of deferent makes and types, depends on the application. Most home
users would chose a wireless workgroup hub, you could use a wireless cable modem
also. Lets go with the wireless workgroup hub. Most of the newer routers have a
built in firewall (more on that in
Routers) this gives you another layer of
protection from the hackers and thieves. Most hubs will come with a setup
program to configure the hub's security, connect channel, and connect speed. The
main thing to consider here is how complex you make your security, the higher
the complexity the less chance of someone hacking your signal. (DO remember to
write down your password and name of your network!)
Once you have your hub setup you are ready to setup the misses computer. Some
wireless network cards need to have the software/drivers installed before you
install the card into the system. Read the directions. Now you need the password
and network name that you setup the hub with. When you complete the setup, keep
the password in a safe place, you will need it again, trust me on this one.
One last thing on networks, now that you are connected to the WWW please insure
your computer is user and password protected. The more complex you make your
user id and password the less chance of being hacked.
$17.95
