Wireless Home Network FAQ

[Kelemvor]

I'm trying to put together a FAQ about having a wireless network in your house. THis FAQ would be geared towards non-technical people so I'm having trouble thinking of questiosn they might have since I'm an IT junkie.

So far I have: (answers are abbreviated obviously

Q. What do I need to have a network in my house?
A. Internet connection and a couple computers....

Q. Why would I want a network in my house?
A. Sharing internet, files, printers, etc...

Q. How intrusive is the network hardware?
A. Not at all with wireless, no cables, etc....

Q. What are the pros and cons of a wireless vs. a wired network?
A. Wired technically faster but not much notice for web browsing. Wireless is quick and easy setup.


I'm just looking for other Q&As that I can add to answer some of the more common questions people might have. ANy input would be great.

Thanks.

 

[amdskip]

Wireless is not always quick and easy. It also needs to be locked down so you don't have any free loaders taking advantage of it. Wireless is not dependable and should only be used in situations where running a wire is not possible (IMHO).

 

[ktwebb]

You don't need an internet connection to have a home network. And amdskip is right. If your righting this for novices, then saying a WLAN setup is quick and easy is a bit.......inaccurate as a blanket statement.

 

[Kelemvor]

That's true but for the lay person, running cables all over their house and through walls and such is something they would never do. However ploppign down a wireless network is something anyone can do. And I'm not basinc this on the non-techs actually doing it themselves, it's more of a FAQ if it was installed and configured by someone who knows what they are doing.

So yes they'd have MAC filtering, WEP/WPA, etc and would use the right equipment and everything else...

 

[Tom]

here's a question to add.

How can I get a list of all the computers that are connecting to my network using wireless ?

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: Tom
here's a question to add.

How can I get a list of all the computers that are connecting to my network using wireless ?

You can name all the computer on wire with a C at the end, and all computers that are Wireless with a W at the end.

You use any of the utilities that give you a list of the Network computers their IP and name.

Any computer with C and W is yours.


Network resource Host name IP-address
---------------- --------- ---------------
\\Main-C        Main-C        192.168.1.1
\\IPAQ-W        IPAQ-W        192.168.1.5
\\Sony-W        Sony-W        192.168.1.10
\\Home            Home        192.168.1.20
-------------------------------------------
01:07:49 24-02-2005 Generated by TCPNetView

Oh boy the computer name Home is not mine probably a Leech on my Wireless.:shocked:

:sun:

 

[gozulin]

Q: why am I not getting 54 Mbps with my new 801/g router/card ?
A: The manufacturers lied to you. You're fortunate if you get half that.

Q: what wireless router should I buy?
A: get the linksys WRT54G or GS . You can replace the firmware by the sveasoft offering that offers 100 times the original functionality for no additional cost.

Q: what's the deal with Pre-N routers and 801/n range routers?
A: they're a scam and an expensive one at that. Wait for the real thing or get the WRT54G

Q: Oh my god! This is so hard to set up, I did everything right and this thing is still not working properly, windows can't see my shares, etc. etc.What did I do wrong?
A: You didn't buy a mac

Q: I heard that people can sniff my network traffic/ piggy back on my connection . How can I prevent that?
A: Use the strongest encryption provided by your router and filter by mac addresses.

Q: Is that enough? shouldn't I enable the firewall to prevent evil hackers from bla bla bla?
A: Firewalls are the devil, never use one unless you know what you're doing, it'll cause you more headaches than it solves problems.