Jeff Duntemanns Drive-By Wi-Fi Guide

Overview

As Bill Cosby once said (after talking for a good long while), I told you that story so that I could tell you this one. Everything in earlier chapters points to the task before you: Assembling, configuring, and testing your wireless local area network. Everything after this chapter is refinement, practice, and handy reference.

Basically, it's time to stop theorizing and actually put a network together.

My approach will be the following: First, I'll explain the general issues involved in putting a network together. After that, I'll show you three different networks, with explanations of the specifics for each, with diagrams. Finally, I'll explain how to test networks for throughput.

There's really not a great deal more to it than that. The one exception is security, which is a complex business all by itself. I've devoted Part 3 of this book (Chapters 11 through 14) entirely to Wi-Fi security, both theory and practice. Once you finish implementing your network as explained in this chapter, you should read Part 3 thoroughly, and then configure Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) on your network, as explained in Chapters 13 and 14.

My assumptions going into this chapter are the following:

1. You've read the book this far and have a good working understanding of simple networking and Wi-Fi hardware.

2. At least one of your computers has a standard 10/100Base-T Ethernet wired network adapter. Virtually all current Intel-based Windows computers come with such an adapter built-in. The computer installed near your router appliance or wireless residential gateway is the one that should have this adapter.

3. You've spent some time thinking about the issues raised in Chapter 4 and you have decided what sort of network you need.

4. You've purchased (or are ready to purchase) your wireless hardware.

Making the instructions in this chapter literal, step-by-step, and 'idiot-proof ' is impossible. There are too many different adapters, each with its own quirks, to give you instructions that allow you to turn your brain off.

This is why I wrote a book instead of a pamphlet: To give you the background information you'll need to think your way through the network installation process. Success in creating a network rests on a three-legged stool:

1. Your knowledge, coming from places like this book, Web sites, and friends or co-workers who have been through it before.

2. The instructions that come with the network devices you're installing.

3. What your computer tells you about what's going on as you do it.

   In other words, do the research, read the instructions, and pay attention to what's on the screen. If you can integrate those three sources of information, your network is in the bag.