by Patty King

Created on: June 19, 2010   Last Updated: June 20, 2010

WIRELESS NETWORK BASICS FOR HOME AND SMALL BUSINESSES

Wireless home network connect you to the Internet, and other computers in your home, giving you the flexibility of sharing audio/video, games, and more. So, what are the basics of wireless network planning at home and small businesses?

The basic things needed to establish a wireless network at home includes:

Modem: this is a networking device that connects the computer to the Internet through Internet Service Provider, using a phone line, satellite, or a cable connection. Wireless Router: this device is needed in the network planning; it serves as the access point for all the devices that will connect to it, providing security features if needed. Compatible computers: computers that will connect to the wireless network must have a wireless networking card installed. Wireless network adapters: wireless network adapters will be required for each of the computers that will connect to the home or office’s wireless router.  Two wireless adapters will be considered in this article, SMC 802.11b and the TrendNet wireless adaptor. The two adaptors measures evenly in terms of speed, though the TrendNet may use bigger antennas for higher advantage against the SMC 802.11b

The wireless network uses a network communication standard known as Wi-Fi. The reason why wireless network will be good for your home or small office is that, you want to be able to move your devices from room to room, or from desk to desk, another reason is that, you want to connect/disconnect devices at any time; hence wireless network will be preferred to avoid running Ethernet cables running round your office or home.

Below are more factors, or pros and cons to consider along the basics of wireless home or office network:

1. Connection speed: Frankly, wireless network run at a slower speed compare to wired network, though this is fully dependent on the kind of wireless router, and memory one buys. Though users of the network that don't do much outside normal browsing, can't tell when the network is slow. It is the band width that will determine how fast a web page loads, and downloads content. If you are worried about the speed your Internet Service Provider is giving you, you may consider trying the most current wireless standard 802.11n.

2. Wireless network range: Wireless network has a range of up to 150 feet round about, considering the range; nevertheless, every home is specific on its content. The building's material, electronics, and other household items can obstruct the range's distance by distracting the travelling signal on the line of sight.

3. Flexibility and convenience: With a wireless network, one has the flexibility of moving devices on the home network from room to room, another aspect worthy of note is the fact that one is not restricted with available number of ports on a router, more devices can be added without the availability of an empty ports.

4. Securing your wireless network: Wireless networks are prone to security risk, due to the fact that, signals are sent through the air, which can be detected by anyone with the right equipment, and attempt to access the network might be made possible if you set your router to distribute IP addresses through DHCP. One can secure the home's wireless network by using the built-in security features which comes with the router by changing the name of the network (manufacturer's name of the router), to what only you can remember and adjust routers security settings to stop the network name from showing when network is searched around your domain.

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