Wireless g

Putting together a wireless g network can be easy. It's important to follow the steps outlined in the setup guides that come with your equipment. Here are a few basic tips to make sure your wireless internet system functions properly.

• Careful positioning of your wireless access points is crucial to link up your 802.11 g router and adapter. Whenever possible, try to elevate antennas for routers, print servers or a remote usb wireless adapter. Recommended places include a wall mount, on top of a cubicle, the center of your coverage area (for routers), and within sight of any wireless access point.

• Vertical positioning of the antenna gives you better side-to-side coverage, such as a single-floor area. A horizontal position is better for top-to-bottom, as in a multi-floor area.

• The wireless 802.11 g standard uses a 2.4GHz range, which may be susceptible to interference from mobile phones or microwaves. Try not to locate your broadband router, wireless card or usb adapter near any of these sources.

• When connecting your wireless router (or cable modem) to a phone line (with a splitter), always try to connect directly to a master phone jack. Using a long length of telephone extension cable may lead to poor signal strength.

• A good way to improve signal strength if you have a wide coverage area is to consider a wireless bridge (also known as a repeater), like the WRE54G wireless-G Ethernet repeater. This is a second wireless access point located away from your router. It can relay signals between the router and any other devices in your wifi network, acting as a wireless g range expander. Check the documentation for your router to see if it supports a bridge. Some will accommodate several, so you can dramatically increase your coverage radius.

Whether your network uses Netgear, Belkin, or a Linksys wireless g, it's crucial that you have a secure setup. We will examine the issue of wireless security next. Things like WPA-PSK, SSID or a MAC address may seem like acronyms from a government agency, but they're vital elements in making sure your wi fi is not hijacked or vulnerable to snoopers.