This tutorial will guide you through the process of planning, building, and testing a wireless home network. Although mainstream wireless networking has made amazing strides in the past few years, wireless technology and terminology remains a bit difficult for most of us to comprehend. This same guide will help small business networkers, too!
Build a Wireless LAN, Step by Step
You can build any typical wireless home network / wireless LAN using this simple three-step approach:
1. Identify the WLAN design that's best for your situation 2. Choose good wireless gear 3. Install gear and test the configured WLAN
In subsequent pages, I break down each of these steps in more detail.
Ready to Go Wireless?
This article assumes you've already made an informed decision to go wireless rather than build a traditional cabled network.
The other day, a headphone-wearing dude sitting near me at Starbucks suddenly burst out laughing at his laptop screen.
I can certainly understand screaming at your computer screen, but suddenly laughing at it? In public? Had this guy consumed one too many Mocha Frappuccinos?
Out of curiosity, I peered over Delirious Dude's shoulder and discovered the source of his uncontrollable mirth: a streaming video clip of comedian Chris Rock.
And there you have it--proof that the wireless Internet party is in full swing.
These days, Wi-Fi (short for wireless fidelity) networks are popping up all over town, in places public (such as Starbucks and McDonald's) and private (homes and businesses). Research firm Gartner estimates that the number of hot spots--the catch phrase for wireless network access points--will jump from roughly 14,000 in 2002 to over 150,000 in 2005.
What's up with that? The short answer is that wireless networks can make work easier and life more fun.
It is very convenient to be able to sit across the house from the wireless access point or router and be connected to the Internet while sitting on the couch or lounging in bed. You always need to keep in mind though that your data is being beamed through the airwaves in all directions and that if you can receive it from where you are, so can just about anyone else within that same range.
Understanding the threats and how to protect your network against them
Convenience at a Price
Wireless networks have the potential to make enterprise networking much more efficient and cost effective. It is much easier to set a user up with a wireless network connection than to run Ethernet cabling from the nearest switch, through the walls and install a network jack at their desk. Wireless networks also help resolve the fairly ubiquitous problem of having too few network connections in conference rooms, and the fact that the conference room network connections are always at the least functional location possible.
The convenience of wireless networks comes with a price though. Wired network access can be controlled because the data is contained within the cabling that connects the computer to the switch. With a wireless network, the “cabling” between the computer and the switch is called “air”, which any device within range can potentially access.
Knowledge Center 
