Wireless Home Networking

Setting Up a Wireless Windows Network Part 2

Windows Vista Wireless Network Setup Windows Vista has incorporated wireless networking into the standard networking built right into the OS. You no longer have a separate application and Windows to work in to manage your wireless network connection — though you still have a lot of windows to navigate through. In Windows Vista, everything takes […]

Setting Up a Wireless Mac Network Part 1

If you’re an Apple Macintosh user and you’ve just decided to try wireless networking, this topic is for you. We cover installing and setting up the AirPort Extreme card in an Apple computer as well as setting up an AirPort Extreme base station. We focus on Mac OS X versions 10.4 (Tiger) and 10.5 (Leopard) […]

Setting Up a Wireless Mac Network Part 2

Upgrading AirPort base station firmware on OS X In this section, we explain how to upgrade the firmware of a new AirPort Extreme base station. Upgrading the firmware on your AirPort Extreme base station through a direct Ethernet cable connection is easiest. Use an Ethernet cable (either a straight-through cable or a crossover cable; the […]

Securing Your Wireless Home Network Part 1

If you read the news — well, at least if you read the same networking news sources that we do — you’ve probably seen and heard a thing or two (or a hundred) about wireless local area network (LAN) security. In fact, you really don’t need to read specialized industry news to hear about this […]

Securing Your Wireless Home Network Part 2

Clamping Down on Your Wireless Home Network’s Security Well, that’s enough of the theory and background, if you’ve read from the beginning of this topic. It’s time to get down to business. In this section, we discuss some of the key steps you should take to secure your wireless network from intruders. None of these […]

Putting Your Wireless Home Network to Work Part 1

Remember that old Cracker Jack commercial of the guy sitting in the bed W %when the kid comes home from school? "What did you learn in school today?" he asks. "Sharing," says the kid. And then, out of either guilt or good manners, the old guy shares his sole box of caramel popcorn with the […]

Putting Your Wireless Home Network to Work Part 2

Be Economical: Share Those Peripherals Outside of the fact that there’s only so much space on your desk or your kitchen countertop, you simply don’t need a complete set of peripherals at each device on your network. For example, digital cameras are quite popular, and you can view pictures on your PC, on your TV, […]

Gaming Over a Wireless Home Network Part 1

In case you missed it, gaming is huge. We mean huge. The videogaming industry is, believe it or not, bigger than the entertainment industry generated by Hollywood. Billions of dollars per year are spent on PC game software and hardware and on gaming consoles such as PlayStation and Xbox. You probably know a bit about […]

Gaming Over a Wireless Home Network Part 2

Getting an IP address For the most part, if you’ve set up your router to provide IP addresses within your network using DHCP, your gaming PC or gaming console automatically connects to the router when the device is turned on and sends a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) request to the router, asking for an […]

Networking Your Entertainment Center (Wireless Home Networking)

Without doubt, the most significant news in wireless home networking —aside from the general price drops that are driving growth in the industry — is the movement of the 802.11-based networking outside the realm of computers and into the realm of entertainment. The linkage of the two environments yields the best of both possible worlds. […]