Wireless Networking Printer

Wireless Networking Printer

Wireless networking is all the rage. Learn how to set up a wireless computer network in your own house or small business.
Wireless networking is found across the world in coffee houses, restaurants, and libraries. In Europe and South America, it was chosen over standard wired networking due to the infrastructure and costs involved with retro-fitting older buildings for Ethernet networks. As standards were developed from 802.11b to the faster data transfer found in 802.11g, wireless networking became more viable as a choice for computer networks. Combined with the ease of setting up a wireless network it was only a matter of time before wireless networks became the prevalent choice in home networking.
Getting Started
In order to build a computer network, you have to have two or more computers. Any operating system can be networked together, however the steps involved with mixing operating systems requires skills beyond the scope of this article. For instructional purposes, we will only be using the Microsoft Windows family in this tutorial.
The additional components you need to build your wireless network are:
A wireless router.
One wireless network adapter for each computer or device that you wish to connect to the router.
Installing the network adapters
The first step is to install the wireless network adapters into each computer. For desktop computers using a PCI network adapter, you will need to power down the system, open up the case, and insert the adapter into a free PCI slot (the white slots running in a row down the back of the computer motherboard). Once you have seated the card firmly into the PCI slot, screw the card in to secure it, then close up the computer and restart it. Some cards are installed automatically, however you may need to provide the disk containing device drivers if prompted.
For a USB wireless adapter, simply plug it into a free USB port while the computer is running, and install drivers if prompted.
Laptop computers will either have a PCMCIA (the slot that is roughly 2 inches wide and ¼ of an inch high) card adapter or a USB adapter. Both can be plugged into the computer while it is running, though with the PCMCIA card adapter it is a good idea to power off before you plug it in. Install the drivers as required.
The router
Now choose a location for your router. If you have decided that you will use wired connections for any of your desktop systems, obviously you want it close to them. The router will need to be wired to your DSL or cable modem if you are planning to share internet through it.
Once you have found a location that is centralized, plug the router in. Verify that the 'WLAN' LED is lit up. To test connectivity, open a web-browser on one of your wireless computers and enter the default IP address of your router. This address can be found in your router's manual and generally starts with the numbers 192.168.xxx.xxx. If successful you should seen the router's configuration screen.
The first step you should take here is to change the administrator password of the router. Anyone who has the ability to access your router without your permission also knows that the default password for most routers is "admin" or blank.
DHCP and IP addressing
By default, your router will have a 'pool' of IP addresses that it will give to any computer that tries to connect to it wirelessly. This is known as a DHCP server (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). It makes it easier for a computer to connect to a network. Home users can take advantage of this option as you don't have to remember the range of IP addresses, the gateway interface, and the DNS server that your network uses; it is all done automatically for you.
If you decide to disable the DHCP feature, you will have to enter all of the addresses mentioned above manually.
Final thoughts
Setting up a wireless network at home is quite simple and most manufacturers offer excellent troubleshooting resources in the owner's manual so don't be afraid to read it.
The most common problem you will have is a weak signal. This can be monitored by the wireless adapter's icon in the toolbar. If it reports a weak signal, you can gain better throughput by moving your computer to another location, or relocating the router itself. The process of finding the strongest signal is done through trial and error.
Another problem you may run into is that older DSL modems/routers sometimes act as a DHCP server as well. You can not run two DHCP servers on a network because they cause conflicts. If this happens, I would suggest contacting your modem manufacturer and ask them how to turn off DHCP at the modem/router that is hardwired.