Wireless networking

From HelpDeskWiki


(This article is a work in progress; some parts may be incorrect)


For well over a decade, technology has been readily available to the public to connect computers to each other, and to the Internet, to form networks. The capabilities of network hardware have increased steadily over the years, with increasing speed and reliability and decreasing cost. Similarly, the capabilities of the software have increased also, with new capabilities and new uses. However, the new capabilities of the software have also required increasing complexity.

Wireless networking (Wi-Fi) has become popular as an alternative to running wiring, and it has spawned possibilities not possible with wires, such as entire towns and even cities blanketed with "mesh" networks, in which one can connect to the Internet from virtually any location.

Modern trends make it seem likely that within a decade or so, houses will be built with a single fiber-optic cable supplying all telephone, cable TV, and internet service[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FiOS), with unused bandwidth being used to support the "mesh" network (with capacity meeting or exceeding today's broadband) of the surrounding neighborhood. Cell phones are already available which can provide Internet access via a nearby wireless router,[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Wizard) and cell phones are in development which can make Skype-compatible VoIP (Internet telephone) phone calls.[3] (http://news.com.com/Motorola+to+use+Wi-Fi,+VoIP+to+move+cell+calls+to+Net/2100-7351_3-5575684.html). Mesh networks are in use now, which allow one to wander around through an area, with connectivity seamlessly switching from one wireless router to another, just as cell phones do.

The wireless connecting of a computer - usually confusingly called wireless networking even when talking about only one computer - is still quite a bit more complicated than wired networking, which many users already feel very familiar with. Unfortunately, the manufacturers of wireless access points - variously called wireless routers, base stations, etc. - and the ISPs that often provide these free of charge make users believe that this is already mature plug and play technology and gloss over or deliberately conceal (or at least don't mention) the problems and pitfalls involved.

The manufacturers of modern laptops, which often have wireless networking built in without need for a PC card, also rarely explain to customers the dangers and responsibilities involved with this new technology. This technology is in addition often enabled by default, without the laptop owners even realizing that they are accessing networks without permission and that their computer is accessible by all nearby computers (and actively broadcasting this accessibility).

It will still take a while before wireless computer networking is mature enough that normal, non-technical users who bother to read instructions can easily set up a safe wireless home network. It will obviously take even longer before normal users who don't read manuals can do the same.

Instead of the cables used in wired networking, the medium of wireless networking is the open air, where anyone can intercept the signals. As a result, there are two critical requirements when settings up a wireless network, security and privacy.

A wireless router which is set up without any security will let anyone nearby connect and see what is available on the wireless network; this is exactly like your neighbor reaching in through your window to plug a network cable into your router. Worse, people can make such connections without realizing that they may be doing so without permission, or they may assume that the connection is public. This security is usually done through the use of a "pre-shared key", a private random number which is provided to both the router and to the networking software on the computer.

Wireless routers provide encryption by default, in order to provide privacy; this keeps people nearby from seeing what you are typing and receiving. It is easily possible for someone to turn this off, not realizing the purpose of the encryption. The encryption that you can use is whatever is common between the built-in OS protocols, wireless adapter, and wireless router. There are also sub-settings, and those need to be compatible also. When a certain protocol is supported, then older and lesser protocols are usually supported also. So, in general (but not always):

  • if WPA is supported, then WEP is generally supported also
  • if WPA2 is supported, then WPA generally is supported also.
  • if WPA/WPA2 enterprise is supported, then WPA/WPA2 personal is generally supported.

Windows XP computers should have Service Pack 2 (SP2); SP1 has significantly poorer support for wireless networking, and you may be unable to get it working properly. Windows Vista has support integrated.

When installing cards and routers, you may want to use only the OS tools, inserting the provided CDs only when the driver media is requested. For someone not very experienced with this kind of thing, using the CD might be better, though, since it allows following the provided instructions, and if tech support from the company is needed, this will make them much happier.

In XP, when you go to Control Panel, Network Settings, you should have an icon for the wireless network adapter. Double-click on the wireless network connection icon to view available wireless networks. If you get a message that Windows cannot configure the wireless connection, follow the instructions to fix this. The instructions shown are sufficiently detailed for most people to follow successfully. One common message is about using other software to configure the connection and how to change so that Windows configures the connection. Another message is about the Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC) service being disabled.

(Another paragraph needs to be added here about View Available Wireless Networks)

Click on "Change the order of preferred networks", in order to add or change networks. You can get to the same spot from the Network Connections screen by RIGHT-clicking on the wireless network connection icon and selecting Properties, then going to the Wireless Networks tab. If there is no such tab, this indicates that WZC has not been started.

Once there, make sure that "Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings" is checked. click on the Advanced button and make sure that "Any available network" is selected, and that "Automatically connect to non-preferred networks" is NOT checked. Click Close to return to the Wireless Networks tab.

Back at the Wireless Networks tab, you can click on an existing connection, and then click Properties to see what the settings are. Be sure to go to the Connections tab and check the box to have it connect automatically when in range. The computer will typically need to be restarted for any changes here to take effect. Sometimes, you may have to delete an existing network configuration, restart, and detect or create a new one from scratch (followed, of course, by restarting).

You have probably seen talk about making sure that you are on an HTTPS page before typing in sensitive data. This is of relatively low concern when the network is wired, since the number of people who are able to peep (much less technically capable) is limited. With wireless, though, your next door neighbor could peep on your data stream with little difficulty, from a technical standpoint, if the network is not set up correctly.

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