In this day in age there are many
different makes and types of wireless routers, repeaters, bridges and other
network devices. With the growing demand for wireless connection in the home,
these network devices are becoming more common in everyday life. With that
being said, the need to know how to configure and secure these devices is also
important. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or network engineer to make
this happen but a basic understanding of how and where to place wireless access
points will improve your home wireless network.
Recognizing
terms you might hear in regards to home wireless devices and wireless in
general will help you understand what you are buying. There are limitless
resources on the internet that will help you discover and apply the best
devices for your home situation. In
wireless home networks the most common standard used is WiFi (Wireless
fidelity) or 802.11. There are many different varieties of this standard such
as 802.11g or 802.11n. For more information on this you can got to http://standards.ieee.org/about/get/802/802.11.html
. The strongest and latest version of this is 802.11n. You can get home routers
using this standard for a reasonable price at any local electronics store. Some
common vendors are Linksys, D-Link, and Netgear. These have plug and play
default configuration but you may want to add some sort of security or
authentication for your wireless connections.
Placing
your wireless access points in the right places is important. In my experience, people only have one router
to cover their entire home and place it under their desk next to their
computer. Remember that that device is
sending out a WiFi signal. If it is under your desk next to something metal, it
will more than likely perform as well as it should. Having one router for your
entire home may work just fine. Just make sure that it is in a central location
and not on the floor. Metal objects, walls, and floors will interfere with your
router's wireless signals. The closer your router is to these obstructions, the
more severe the interference, and the weaker your connection will be.
Reducing
wireless interference is another way to improve the range and strength of you
WiFi connections. 802.11g (commonly know as Wireless-G) works on the 2.4GHz
frequency. You might recognize this from 2.4GHz cordless phones that might be
in your home. There are number of other home wireless technologies that use
that frequency such as microwave ovens, garage door openers, baby monitors and
so on. Avoiding these types of electronics is one way to reduce this
interference. 802.11n (Wireless-N) works on both 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz frequencies
and will be able to avoid anything on 2.4GHz and might be a better solution.
Changing
the channel your router is broadcasting on can improve connection strength and
availabilities. This is similar to how you change stations on your AM/FM radio.
The three common channels wireless routers work on are 1, 6, and 11. You can change these channels on your routers
configuration page under the wireless tab. Try each channel to see which one
gives you the best signal. This will not require you to make any changes on you
computer or wireless devices connecting to the router.
If you feel brave enough, you can
upgrade the firmware of your wireless device. There are vendor firmware updates
that you should be able to access from the router configuration page and
download automatically. If you are feeling really brave you can use custom
firmware such as DD-WRT. These custom firmware releases have a more robust
feature set and can really unlock your routers potential. This is a risky thing to do if you don’t know
what you are doing and is not for the faint of heart. If this is something you
are wanting to try, do the research and make sure you back up your working
configuration. Once again this can open many options for how you setup and
improve your home network.
If you live in a really big house
it gets difficult to get one wireless signal to cover the whole house. In this
case you will need to place additional access points in your home. You will
need to place this access point so it can see your main network. It will then
need to be configured so it will pick that network up and retransmit it. This
gives you an extended range of your network and covers your entire home. If you
are going to do it this way it’s a good idea to get the same vendor for all of
your devices. This makes the interfaces streamline and easier to manage.
Placing the access point in a hallway up high will expand the range and
strength of the signal.
Fine tuning and experimenting with
router position and router software features is a free easy way to get the best
out of your home network. In review, choosing channels and utilizing the
correct 802.11 standard will help optimize your data traffic over the airwaves.
Positioning of your router and access points has a great deal to do with how and
where your WiFi will be accessible, keeping your firmware updated will help fix
bugs and add features to the function of your router, and reducing wireless
interference in your home makes for a happy connection. Remember to keep your wireless network
encrypted and secure. Safe Surfing!
Brett Wutzke, CCNA