Installing Your Home Network's Wireless Routers and Access Points

Wireless routers

By definition, a router transfers data between multiple networks. In home networks, you can use a router to move data from one network (your home network) to another network (the Internet). This is how you share a DSL or cable modem Internet connection with all the computers on the network.

A wireless router (frequently called a wireless local-area network [WLAN] router) has an antenna that captures the signals from all the computers on your wireless network, effectively acting like a hub or a switch.

The router also has ports for Ethernet connections. For most wireless home networks, the Ethernet port is used to connect the DSL or cable modem to the router. However, you can also use those ports as a hub for an Ethernet network, essentially combining three networks: the wireless network, an Ethernet network, and the Internet.

A router also provides IP addresses to the computers on the local network. Because it does so, it's acting as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. The router provides a single point of communication with your DSL or cable Internet service provider (ISP). (The ISP sees only the router, not the individual computers that are on the network.) Some routers even come with built-in firewall capabilities.

WLAN routers are easy to install and configure. You must physically connect the unit to a DSL or cable modem using Ethernet cable. The port is usually labeled WAN (for wide-area network) or Ethernet. The manufacturer's instructions can help you make the connections.

Wireless access points

Unlike cabled networks, wireless networks don't need a hub or switch. If all you want to do is network a group of wireless computers, you just purchase a wireless adapter for each computer, put them all within 300 feet of each other, and voilà! - instant network.

But what if you already have an existing cabled network? For example, suppose that you have two computers in your den connected to each other with network cable, but you want to link up a computer in your bedroom without pulling cable through the attic.

That's where a wireless access point, also known as a WAP, comes in. It's a box that has an antenna (or pair of antennae) and an RJ-45 Ethernet port. You just plug it into a network cable and then plug the other end of the cable into a hub or switch, and your wireless network should be able to connect to your cabled network. A WAP actually performs two functions.

Configuring a wireless access point

The physical setup for a wireless access point is pretty simple: You take it out of the box, put it on a shelf or on top of a bookcase near a network jack and a power outlet, plug in the power cable, and plug in the network cable.

The software configuration for an access point is slightly more involved and is usually done via a Web interface. To get to the configuration page for the access point, you need to know the access point's IP address. Then, you just type that address into the address bar of a browser from any computer on the network.

A device's configuration page typically offers the following configuration options that are related to the wireless access point functions of the device. Although the options given here are specific to a particular device, most access points have configuration options similar to these:

Enable/Disable: Enables or disables the device's wireless-access-point functions.

SSID: The Service Set Identifier used to identify the network. Most access points have well-known defaults. You can talk yourself into thinking that your network is more secure by changing the SSID from the default to something more obscure, but in reality, that protects you only from first-grade hackers. By the time most hackers get into the second grade, they learn that even the most obscure SSID is easy to get around. So it's best that you leave the SSID at the default and apply better security measures, as described in the next section.

Allow broadcast SSID to associate? Disables the access point's periodic broadcast of the SSID. Normally, the access point regularly broadcasts its SSID so that wireless devices that come within range can detect the network and join in. For a more secure network, you can disable this function. Then, a wireless client must already know the network's SSID in order to join the network.

Channel: Lets you select one of 11 channels on which to broadcast. All the access points and computers in the wireless network should use the same channel. If you find that your network is frequently losing connections, try switching to another channel. You may be experiencing interference from a cordless phone or other wireless device operating on the same channel.

Switching channels is also a friendly way for neighbors with wireless networks to stay out of each other's way. For example, if you share a building with another tenant who also has a wireless network, you can agree to use separate channels so that your wireless networks don't interfere with each other. Keep in mind that this tactic doesn't give you any real measure of security; your neighbor can secretly switch back to your channel and listen in on your network. So you still need to secure your network.

WEP - Mandatory or Disable: Lets you use a security protocol called wired-equivalent privacy.