
- •About the Authors
- •Dedication
- •Contents at a Glance
- •Table of Contents
- •Introduction
- •About This Book
- •System Requirements
- •How This Book Is Organized
- •Part I: Wireless Networking Fundamentals
- •Part II: Making Plans
- •Part III: Installing a Wireless Network
- •Part IV: Using a Wireless Network
- •Part V: The Part of Tens
- •Icons Used in This Book
- •Where to Go from Here
- •Nothing but Net(work): Why You Need (Or Want) One
- •File sharing
- •Printer and peripheral sharing
- •Internet connection sharing
- •Home arcades and wireless to go
- •Wired versus Wireless
- •Installing wired home networks
- •Installing wireless home networks
- •Picking a Wireless Standard
- •Planning Your Wireless Home Network
- •Workstations and servers
- •Network infrastructure
- •Network interface adapters
- •Get the (Access) Point?
- •Industry Standards
- •Who or What Is Bluetooth?
- •Wi-Fi versus Bluetooth
- •Piconets, Masters, and Slaves
- •Wirelessly synching your PDAs
- •Wireless printing and data transfer
- •Integrating HPNA and HomePlug with Your Wireless Home Network
- •Home Phoning (ET Got It Backward!)
- •Network Power(line)!
- •Deciding What Is Connected to the Network
- •Counting network devices
- •Choosing wired or wireless
- •Choosing a wireless technology
- •Choosing an access point
- •Deciding where to install the AP
- •Adding printers
- •Adding entertainment and more
- •Connecting to the Internet
- •Budgeting for Your Wireless Network
- •Pricing access points
- •Pricing wireless network adapters
- •A sample budget
- •Planning Security
- •Selecting Access Points
- •Certification and Standards Support
- •Compatibility and Form Factor
- •DHCP servers
- •Gateways, NAT, and cable/DSL routers
- •Switches
- •Print servers
- •Operational Features
- •Security
- •Range and Coverage Issues
- •Manageability
- •Web-based configuration
- •Software programming
- •Telnetting to your device
- •Upgradeable firmware
- •Price
- •Warranties
- •Customer and Technical Support
- •Before Getting Started, Get Prepared
- •Setting Up the Access Point
- •Preparing to install a wireless AP
- •Installing the AP
- •Configuring AP parameters
- •Changing the AP Configuration
- •Installing device drivers and client software
- •PC Cards and mini-PCI cards
- •Compact Flash cards
- •PCI and ISA cards
- •USB adapters
- •Modifying Wireless Network Adapters
- •Synchronizing and Internet Access
- •Wireless Zero Configuration with XP
- •Easy installation
- •Automatic network connections
- •Tracking Your Network’s Performance
- •Apple AirPort Hardware
- •Pick an AirPort Card, any card
- •Apple AirPort Software Updates
- •AirPort 2.0 software
- •AirPort 2.0.4 software
- •AirPort 2.0.5 software
- •AirPort 2.1.1 software
- •OS 9 Wireless Networks
- •Installing AirPort software on Mac OS 9
- •Upgrading AirPort Base Station firmware on OS 9
- •OS X Wireless Networks
- •Installing the AirPort software on OS X
- •Upgrading AirPort Base Station firmware on OS X
- •Adding another computer to your AirPort network on OS X
- •Connection sharing
- •Routers and gateways
- •Sharing dialup Internet connections
- •Obtaining an IP Address Automatically
- •Windows 9x
- •Windows 2000
- •Windows XP
- •Setting Up Internet Connection Sharing
- •Windows 98 SE and Windows Me
- •Windows 2000
- •Windows XP
- •Mac OS X v. 10.2 (Jaguar)
- •Assessing the Risks
- •General Internet security
- •Airlink security
- •How about a bit more about WEP?
- •What’s wrong with WEP?
- •Clamping Down on Your Wireless Home Network’s Security
- •Getting rid of the defaults
- •Enabling WEP
- •Closing your network
- •Looking into the Crystal Ball
- •Waiting for WPA
- •The future: 802.11i
- •A Networking Review
- •Basic networking terminology
- •Setting up a workgroup
- •Will You Be My Neighbor?
- •Sharing a document or folder on Windows 95/98/Me
- •Enabling sharing on Windows 2000/XP
- •Setting permissions
- •Accessing shared files
- •Be Economical: Share Those Peripherals
- •Setting up a print server
- •Sharing other peripherals
- •PC Gaming Hardware Requirements
- •Networking Requirements for PC Gaming
- •Console online gaming services and equipment
- •Console wireless networking equipment
- •Dealing with Router Configurations
- •Getting an IP address
- •Dealing with port forwarding
- •Setting Up a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)
- •Wireless Home Entertainment Gear
- •Expanding Your Home Entertainment Center with Wireless Adapters
- •The Home Media Player
- •The Home Theater PC
- •Internet Content for Your Media Players and HTPCs
- •Making a Connection to Your Car
- •Your car’s path to wireless enlightenment
- •Synching your car stereo with home
- •Getting online with your own car PC
- •Picking wireless gear for your car
- •Using your PDA as a remote control
- •Whole home 802.11-based IR coverage
- •See me, feel me, hear me, touch me
- •Discovering Bluetooth Basics
- •Bluetooth Mobile Phones
- •Bluetooth PDAs
- •Other Bluetooth Devices
- •Printers
- •Digital cameras
- •Keyboards and meeses (that’s plural for mouse!)
- •Bluetooth adapters
- •Discovering Public Hot Spots
- •Freenets and open access points
- •For-pay services
- •Using T-Mobile Hot Spots
- •Using Wayport Hot Spots
- •Using Boingo Hot Spots
- •Tools for Finding Hot Spots
- •Netstumbler.com
- •Boingo
- •Check the Obvious
- •Move the Access Point
- •Move the Antenna(s)
- •Change Channels
- •Check for Dual-Band Interference
- •Check for New Obstacles
- •Install Another Antenna
- •Add a Signal Booster
- •Add a Repeater or Bridge
- •Check Your Cordless Phone Frequencies
- •Your Bath
- •Your Car
- •Your Exercise Gear
- •Your Home Appliances
- •Your Musical Instruments
- •Your Pets
- •Your Phones
- •Your Robots
- •Your Wearing Apparel
- •CNET.com
- •802.11 Planet
- •Broadband Wireless Exchange Magazine
- •80211b.weblogger.com
- •PC Magazine
- •Electronic House Magazine
- •Home Automation Magazine
- •Practically Networked
- •ExtremeTech.com
- •Network World
- •Other Cool Sites
- •Index


Wireless Home
Networking
FOR
DUMmIES‰
by Danny Briere, Walter R. Bruce III, and Pat Hurley

Wireless Home
Networking
FOR
DUMmIES‰

Wireless Home
Networking
FOR
DUMmIES‰
by Danny Briere, Walter R. Bruce III, and Pat Hurley

Wireless Home Networking For Dummies®
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
909 Third Avenue New York, NY 10022 www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2003 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
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About the Authors
Danny Briere founded TeleChoice, Inc., a telecommunications consulting company, in 1985 and now serves as CEO of the company. Widely known throughout the telecommunications and networking industry, Danny has written more than 1,000 articles about telecommunications topics and has authored or edited eight books, including Internet Telephony For Dummies,
Smart Homes For Dummies, 2nd Edition, and Home Theater For Dummies. He is frequently quoted by leading publications on telecommunications and technology topics and can often be seen on major TV networks providing analysis on the latest communications news and breakthroughs. Danny lives in Mansfield Center, Connecticut, with his wife and four children.
Walter R. Bruce III is a writer and consultant who is an avid wireless network user and who has been programming and using computers since the late 1960s (that’s right, he’s old). For more than a dozen years, Walter has been training computer users and writing and publishing books about computer technology. He has written many internationally published books on a variety of computer operating system, database, telecommunication, and networking topics. As a publishing professional, he has also directed the publication of hundreds of computer-related books for three successful publishing companies. Walter holds an undergraduate degree in mathematics as well as a law degree. Walter installed his first network in 1985 in the Pentagon while working for the Judge Advocate General of the United States Air Force. He was practicing law in the USAF when he discovered his affinity for teaching people how to use computers. For several years, he has directed Novell Press, the official publisher of books about Novell networking technology. Walter currently lives with his family in the Silicon Valley area of northern California.
Pat Hurley is a consultant with TeleChoice, Inc., specializing in emerging telecommunications technologies including all the latest access and home technologies: wireless LANs, DSL, cable modems, satellite services, and home networking services. Pat frequently consults with the leading telecommunications carriers, equipment vendors, consumer goods manufacturers, and other players in the telecommunications and consumer electronics industries. Pat is the co-author of Internet Telephony For Dummies, Smart Homes For Dummies, 2nd Edition, and Home Theater For Dummies. He lives in San Diego, California, with his wife and two smelly dogs.
Dedication
To Mom and Dad, you’ve always been there for us. We can’t thank you enough.
—Walt
Authors’ Acknowledgments
Danny wants to thank his wife, Holly, and kids, for their infinite patience while he and Pat wrestled with this book toward the finish line. He agrees that the wireless Webcam in the shower was not a good idea. (Just kidding.) He also wants to thank his sister, Michelle, for all her hard work over the years that has made it possible to continue to survive in this crazy business environment — we could not have made it without her. He also wants to note that he got his pot rack (see Smart Homes for Dummies, 2nd Edition for details). Now if we can only talk her into the 42-inch Samsung HDTV that he wants.
Walt would like to thank all the staff at Wiley for the incredible hours of work that go into the publication of every book — especially this one. There are many people whose work is essential to each book’s publication but who seem to go unnoticed and unthanked. So let me say thank you to Andy Cummings, to Melody Layne for having the confidence in us to write this book, and to Nicole Sholly for her invaluable project management. Thanks also to Teresa Artman for her crisp copy editing, to Michael Williams for his invaluable technical review, and to all the unnamed people at Wiley who buy the paper, hire the printer, design and produce the cover, hire and manage the proofreader and indexer, design and implement marketing plans and promotions, sell the book to the retailer, pay the bills (especially the royalties), and perform all the other unnamed but still necessary tasks to keep a major publisher in business. Finally, I want to thank my family — Terry, Rich, Rob, Heather, Heidi, Monty, and Tahj (yes, I have a big family) — for putting up with me for all these years. You’re the greatest.
Pat, as always, thanks his wife, Christine, for providing her impeccable “Can I write this wisecrack and not get in trouble?” judgment, and for her ability to restrain her desire to knock him over the head with a big frying pan when deadlines and late-night writing intrude on the domestic tranquility. He also wants to thank her for letting him hog the computers and the sofa while writing.
Danny and Pat want to thank the following people and organizations for their support in writing this book: Jeff Denenholz at X10 who has been a huge supporter for all our books (buy X10 stuff so that Jeff looks good); Doug Fay at ConnectPR for Siemens/Efficient Networks and D’Andre Ladson at Siemens/Efficient Networks; Doug Hagan at NETGEAR; Fred Bargetzi at Crestron; Shawn Gusz at G-NET Canada (still waiting to try Auroras in our cars!); Karen Sohl at Linksys; Keith Smith at Siemon; Mark Shapiro at Davis Marin for Proxim/ORiNOCO; Michael Scott at D-Link; Brad Kayton at Prismiq (best of luck with the venture!); Bryan McLeod at Intrigue Technologies; Craig Slawson at CorAccess (good luck too!); and others who helped get content correct for the readers.
Really extra special thanks go to Ed Ferris, IT Manager at TeleChoice, who by all rights should have been a co-author on this book (and only wasn’t because the covers had already printed) for all the process and technical editing that he performed on the book. Ed, you’ll be on the cover next edition if we have any say in the matter.
Thanks also to our acquisition editor, Melody Layne, who by now knows every product that will be wirelessly enabled from here to eternity, and to our project editor, Nicole Sholly, who probably hates being an editor at this point but nonetheless let us rant about the problems when they occurred (which they did constantly, continually, and drastically). Melody was a true champ keeping her faith up in Pat and Danny while they continually rewrote text in this book to make it more accurate and timely.

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