The Secrets of Setting Up a WLAN

If you don't have a computer network in your house, chances are that you have only a single computer. There probably aren't a lot of nerds like me who have seven working computers with Internet access scattered throughout their homes.

You don't actually need multiple computers to set up a WLAN or, as it's more often called, a Wi-Fi network. (Wi-Fi stands for wireless fidelity and indicates a wireless networking standard that many computer parts from many manufacturers conform to.) If you have a computer and a PSP, all you'll need to get started is some networking gear. Best of all, nothing about a Wi-Fi network is PSP specific; if you set one up, you'll be able to add computers and other Wi-Fi devices to it for years to come.

Even if you have a whole bunch of computers, you may not have a wireless network. If the computers aren't networked at all, you may want to get them talking to one another. There are dozens of books about that, so I won't cover the intricacies of networking PCs, Macs, and anything else you might have lying around; I'll just get you started with a Wi-Fi network and get your PSP online.

Making Your Shopping List

You may already own all, some, or none of the stuff I'm about to tell you to buy. It's all stuff you'll need to build a basic Wi-Fi network with shared Internet access. Note that brands do not matter, as long as you make sure that the networking equipment is Wi-Fi compatible and conforms to the IEEE 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n standard.

In many cases, a boxed wireless networking product won't have much technical information except the fine print on the back of the box. Look for buzzwords like Wireless-G or Wireless-N. Then look around the smaller print for 802.11-something or a Wi-Fi logo. Wi-Fi is merely a certification, not a brand name.

Your list should include the following:

• A broadband Internet connection. This can come from your cable company or your phone company. If you already have one, you're all set; if not, you'll need one to get your PSP on the Web. Call your providers, compare rates and services, and choose a broadband service.

  

  Several products share dial-up connections across wireless networks. I've worked with several of them, and I've found them to be unreliable and, in a word, squirrelly. I don't recommend them.

  
  

• A wireless broadband router (Figure 10.1). You'll need one of these to share the Internet connection over the airwaves. Look for 802.11g or a later standard (802.11n is emerging as I write this book, and it's set to be backward-compatible with earlier standards). Although 802.11b will work, you'll be using an older standard. The wireless router will have wired ports, which are necessary for maintaining it, and should come with a CAT 5 RJ45 network cable.

  Figure 10.1. The box of a Linksys 802.11g broadband router.

  

  

  Your PSP is an 802.11b device, which means that it transfers data at 11 megabits per second (Mbps). Later standards transmit and receive data faster (g, for example, is capable of 54 Mbps), but using a faster standard won't increase the prowess of the PSP. Note, though, that 11 Mbps is faster than most broadband services, so your PSP is more than fast enough to surf the Web with speed and grace.

  
  

• Two CAT 5 RJ45 network cables (Figure 10.2). You may not need to purchase these, as you may have gotten one with your broadband package and another with your router. You need one to go from the broadband device (most likely, a cable or DSL modem) to your router and another to go from your computer to your router.

  Figure 10.2. A typical network cable.

  

You'll also need a network interface card for your PC, but you should already have one; your broadband package should have included one. There may even be a network interface integrated into your computer.

As an addendum to your shopping list, if you want to network other computers in your house, you'll need wireless network interface cards for each one that doesn't have built-in Wi-Fi support.

Connect the Cables

When you've rounded up everything on your shopping list, you'll have to place all the stuff and run the necessary wiring. Don't worrythat's not as daunting a task as it may sound.

Your computer will need to be close enough to the router that you can run a cable between them. Also, the router will need to be close enough to the broadband modem that you can run a cable between them. Thus, your cabling tasks are to:

1.	Turn off the computer, and don't plug the AC power into the router yet.
2.	Use one network cable to connect the broadband device to the router. There probably will be a special port on the back of the router designated for this connection.
3.	Run a network cable from the router (any of its block of network ports will do) to the computer.
4.	Make sure that your broadband modem is also connected to the broadband line (be it a cable line or a phone line).

When you're done (Figure 10.3), you can power everything up and move on to your next task.

Figure 10.3. Connect everything as shown in this sophisticated cabling diagram.

Set up the Computer and the Router

When everything's connected, you'll have to set up the computer to recognize the new Internet connection and then set up the router.

Windows usersespecially Windows XP usershave it easy. Simply run the Network Setup Wizard (Start > All Programs > Accessories > Communications > Network Setup Wizard). The wizard asks a few questions and guides you through the task of getting Windows to see the new Internet connection. When you get to the page shown in Figure 10.4, choose the second option (This Computer Connects to the Internet Through a Residential Gateway ...).

Figure 10.4. Part of the Network Setup Wizard, this page asks how you connect to the Internet.

Answer the rest of the questions honestly and truthfully. When you reach the end of the wizard (Figure 10.5), you need only create a network-setup floppy disk if you have nonWindows XP computers on the network. Otherwise, select the last option (Just Finish the Wizard ...).

Figure 10.5. You don't need a network-setup floppy disk if you don't have other (non-XP) PCs on your network.

Because router interfaces differ, I can't tell you how to set up your router; you'll have to follow the instructions that came with it. Chances are very good that you'll have to use a browser to open the router's setup page, and chances are good that its page is at the URL 192.168.1.1. Chances also are good that you'll have to enter a default password (listed in the instructions) to gain access to the router.

Set up the router as instructed. I do suggest that you observe some basic security protocols to ensure that you're the only one who uses your network for any purpose:

• Change the default password to something that's not easy to guess. Your daughter's name is easy to guess, but 55gzP90Q is not easy to guess. Jot down the password, and keep it in a safe place.

• Turn on WEP or WPA-SPK. The PSP recognizes both of these security standards. WPA is far more secure than WEP, but even the latter will keep out casual intruders.

• Change the SSID (service set identifier) to something other than the default. It doesn't have to be as secure a word as your password.

• Turn off SSID broadcasting. That way, your Wi-Fi network won't show up by default on any other PC that's simply scanning for networks. Computers, PSPs, and other Wi-Fi devices will need to know the SSID to find your network.

Test Your PSP

Flip back in this book to Chapter 2, and set up your PSP to recognize your newly created broadband network. If all goes well, you should be off and surfing the Web with as much ease as you can with the PSP's keypad interface.

If all doesn't go well, check out the next section.