The Wireless LAN

Wireless LAN configuration could be implementation simply and in a complex manner. Basically, two PC that was installed wireless adapter cards could arrange a free network that could be connected with each other in the distance that was determined. This form was mentioned with peer-to-peer network wireless. The network wireless that was needed like the example below did not need adminitrasi and the configuration of early. In this case of each client could access resources from the other client without through server the centre.

The fitting one of Access Point could widen the range from the network ad hoc, that could double the range from two equipments that communicated with each other. For Access Point connecting with the network of the cable, each client could access resources server like the other client. Each of Access Point could support several clients; his certain number depended on the number of numbers and the characteristics on the supportive transmission. Several of his applications proved that one Access Point could serve the client totalling 15-50. Access Points had the limited range, that is approximately 500 feet for the room was closed (indoor) and 1000 feet for the room was open (outdoors). To the area that was big enough like the storage warehouse and the campus of the possibility tertiary institution to be able to be installed by Access Point more than one. Access Point could be placed before through the study of the place or the area. His aim that is to cover the range with the scope cell that overlapping so as the client could be connected in any area without losing communication with the network. The client's capacity to move around a A group of Access Points was mentioned with the exploration (roaming). Access Points handled the client to be connected with each other without the existence lost communication.

To overcome the problem topologi, the network planner of the possibility of choosing to use Extension Points to widen the network from Access Points. Extension Points apparently had the function that was the same as Access Points, but they were not tied with the network of the cable like AP. Fungsi EP like his name that is: they to increase the range of the network with me-relay the signal from the client headed AP and EP that was other. Each of EP was possibly tied by each other in order to be able to connect AP with the very far-apart client.

Equipment wireless LAN finally that must be considered that is antennae directional. Regarded you had wireless LAN in the A building and wanted to be connected with the B building that be at a distance one mile. His solution that is with put on directional antenna to each building, each antenna that directed each other. Antenna was to the A building connected with the network of the cable through Access Point. Antenna to the B building also was connected with Access Point, so as wireless LAN could communicate with each other.

Referensi
http://www.breeze.com
http://www.proxim.com
http://www.wlana.com

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Configuration of repeater mode

Congratulations on your purchase of this 802.11g Universal Wireless Repeater.The wireless Repeater extends the range of your access point/wireless router by repeating the signal to wireless clients that are beyond the broadcasting range of the access point/wireless router. This provides the wireless clients with greater flexibility and mobility. Best of all the Wireless Repeater is compatible with existing 802.11b and 802.11g network devices so it will work with most existing wireless devices. This product is specifically designed for Small Office and Home Office needs. It provides a complete SOHO solution for Internet surfing and is easy to configure and operate even for non-technical users. Instructions for installing and configuring this product can be found in article.
In this article i will tray configuration with product of airlink model AP311W. I will explain step by step how to configuration this pruduct for function corectly as repeater mode.

Using setup wizard of repeater configuration

step 1

Verify the Repeater is powered on, insert the provided CD, and wait for the autorun screen to

step 2

click on SETUP















step 3

click Next

and wait for the wizard to detect your access point / wireless router


Step 4
Select the SSID (Network Name) of your access point / wireless router from the Selection list. Click Yes if you see your SSID in the list and you don’t have encryption enabled for your wireless network. Skip to Step 8. Click Yes if you see your SSID and you have encryption enabled. Skip to Step 6. Click Manual if you don’t see your SSID in the list. Continue to Step 5.

Step 5
Enter the SSID (Network Name) of your access point / wireless router in the
SSID field and select the appropriate Channel and Encryption settings and click Next.

Step 6a
Select the same level of WEP encryption (64-Bits / 128-Bits) of your wireless
network from the drop-down menu.

Step 6b
Enter the same WEP key (password) of your wireless network in the Key 1
field and click Next. Skip to Step 8.




WPA-PSK
Step 7a
Enter the same Pre-Shared Key (passphrase) of your wireless network in the
Pre-Shared Key field and click Next

Step 8
the Repeater from the list, verify the Repeater Name is AP311W, and
click Yes.



Step 9
The default password for entering the Repeater’s Web Configuration Utility is
admin. To change the password, enter the new password in the Password field and
click Enter.

Step 10
If you know your Network IP Address settings, enter them in the applicable
fields. If you are not sure, just click Next.

Step 11
Review your new settings and click Yes continue.

Step 12
Click Exit to exit the Setup Wizard.


Step 13
For best result, place the Repeater at a central location between the wireless
router and your wireless computers.

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how to configure wireless router as access point

Ok..Here is the quick guide to configure wireless router as access point. You usually need to do this for creating a wireless network attaching to existing Ethernet home network without using additional access point.

Here is how we make the network connection, just connect the wireless router’s LAN port to Ethernet router’s LAN port by using a crossover cable. If one of the router supports auto MDI/MDI-X feature, you can make the connection by using straight or crossover cable. This will create a hybrid network that comprises wired and wireless network. Don’t make any connection to wireless router’s WAN port; you won’t use it in this case. After that you can proceed to make router configuration.

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For the Ethernet router, you basically just keep the existing settings without changes. Assuming your Ethernet router's LAN IP is 192.168.1.1, and this will act as gateway for entire network (wired and wireless). If you would like to enable DHCP, then just enable the DHCP setting on Ethernet router and it will act as DHCP server for wired and wireless network (you don't need to enable DHCP on wireless router anymore). Let's take this scenerio as an example, you can enable DHCP with IP range 192.168.1.10-250, netmask 255.255.255.0, gateway 192.168.1.1, DNS servers 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220.

Ok… Now we are focusing on how to configure that wireless router as access point. Basically it’s pretty easy. There are only 2 configurations you need to do: LAN and wireless settings.

First configuration is to configure the LAN setting on wireless router, means you need to assign an IP address and netmask to this router. In this case, I label it as 192.168.1.2 with netmask 255.255.255.0.

After that, proceed to make wireless configuration by assigning the mode, SSID, wireless channel, SSID broadcast and other settings as according to your needs. Also you need to configure the wireless encryption to encrypt the wireless data and improve wireless network security.

That’s the entire configuration; you can just ignore DHCP and other WAN related settings. It’s now the time for testing.

The computer with DHCP enabled in wireless network will be assigned the IP and network information from Ethernet router. It will then able to ping the wireless/Ethernet router and access to Internet.

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Step to Linksys Wireless Router Firmware Upgrade

I will show you how to do Linksys wireless router firmware upgrade in this article. Usually by upgrading the firmware, it would fix the existing router bugs and provide additional router features.

For the steps I show here, I will use old Linksys wireless router WRT54G as an example.

1) Go to this Linksys firm ware download, choose your wireless router product. The one I will look for is wireless router WRT54G.

2) On the wireless product download page, select the existing firmware version of the router, then proceed to download the latest firmware. For the example here, I select version 1.0.

>Note: You can log on to your router management page to check the existing router firmware version.

3) After successful firmware download, log on to router management page, click Administration tab and proceed to select Firmware Upgrade, do file browsing to select the downloaded firmware (the file name should end in .bin) and click Upgrade button to do firmware upgrade. Upgrading firmware may take a few minutes, so please don’t turn off or reset the wireless router.

Note: Please note you can locate the existing router firmware version at the upper right location of router management page. Also you can get it by clicking Status tab. The version shown here is v1.00.6

Note: I would also advise you to backup the existing configuration by going to Administration > Config Management -> press Backup button, so that can restore existing setup if you need to reset the router to factory default setting later (if you are unlucky).

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how to connecting a wireless router

Now we can start to configure wireless router, and I will use Linksys WRT54G Wireless Router as an example. This router supports 802.11g and backward compatible with 802.11b standard. The authentications supported are WEP, WPA/WPA2 authentication with pre-shared key or RADIUS server. In case you plan to get a new router, I recommend you to get one of these wireless routers.
Read the router manual before starting to configure it. This is useful for you to understand the router features and how to configure it. If the manual is not came together with router, you can download it from vendor website.

Sometimes the vendor will prepare some quick setup wizard to expedite router configuration, but I’m not going to explain this method here. I will explain some important and common setting which will be found in most of the wireless routers from different vendors, so you can use wizard to start the installation and then check out the details here.

Also register your product at vendor website if possible. You will be notified of firmware update, security alert and also product related information.

Open your popular web browser (Internet Explorer, Opera, Netscape Communicator), then type http://192.168.1.1 and press “Enter”. This IP address is factory default IP assigned to the router, you will be able to find it in wireless router manual. That’s why I said it’s important to read the manual.

You need to set computer with the IP sits in the network same as wireless router, so you can only access and configure it. In this scenario, I set computer IP as 192.168.1.10 (you can set 192.168.1.X, X= number between 2 and 254), netmask as 255.255.255.0 and gateway as 192.168.1.1.

After that, the logon screen will pop up, type in default user and password you found in router manual also. You will then log on to the router web-management page.

Here are the router settings that similar to wired network router.

WAN (Wide Area Network) Setting
LAN (Local Area Network) Setting
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) Setting

These are additional setup that required to make wireless router works.

SSID and Other Basic Wireless Settings
Wireless Network Authentication

WAN (Wide Area Network) Setting

First go to Setup tab and click Basic Setup, this is the place you set public IP address provided by your ISP in order to access Internet. It can be one of these 5 options:

Automatic Configuration – DHCP - Choose this option to obtain an IP address automatically from your ISP. (For most cable modem users). Optionally key in a name for this router. The default MAC address is set to the WAN’s MAC address on the router.

Sometimes you will need to clone MAC address under MAC Address Clone tab. This feature is required by cable modem users with the service registration via computer network card’s MAC address. That means the ISP will authenticate your network card’s MAC address whenever you use the connection service. If so, you will need to click clone MAC address in order to clone the computer network card’s MAC address to your network router. If you are not sure, check with your ISP technical support. Click here to check MAC address of network card.

Static IP - Choose this option to set static IP information provided to you by your ISP. You will required to type in all network information manually if select this option. This option is mostly used by business users. Lot of works if use this option, try to avoid this if possible.

PPPoE - Choose this option if your ISP uses PPPoE. Your ISP will provide you with a username and password. This option is typically used for most DSL services.

PPTP - Same as PPPoE, This option is mostly used by DSL service users with provided username, password and IP information.

L2TP - This option is mostly used by DSL service users is Europe with provided username, password and L2TP server information.

Telstra Cable: This option is mostly used by DSL service users with provided username, password and Heart Beat server information.

As a cable modem user, I will choose Automatic Configuration – DHCP option. I won't clone MAC address because the service registration is tied to cable modem's MAC address.

LAN (Local Area Network) Setting

At the same setup page, set up the IP address for the router. This will be the router/gateway IP address that you will set on your network computers. The LAN IP address is private in your home network and cannot be seen from the internet. I set my router with IP 192.168.1.1 and subnet mask 255.255.255.0.

DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) Setting

Most of the routers has built-in DHCP server, so does this router. The DHCP server will automatically assign an IP address to the computers in your wireless network. At the same setup page, you must specify the starting IP address, number of users and lease time. Lease time is the length of time for the IP assigned to the computer.

For my case, the starting IP Address is 192.168.1.2, maximum dhcp users is 50 and I set the Lease Time for 1 day (0 minutes).

SSID and Other Basic Wireless Setting

Now click Wireless tab and you will see Basic Wireless Settings. These are unique features for wireless router, it’s not available for those wired routers:

Wireless Network Mode – 3 wireless operating modes are supported, it can be 802.11b (B only), 802.11g (G only) or both (Mixed). I select Mixed, so that wireless client with 802.11b or 802.11g wireless network adapter can join the network.

Wireless Network Name (SSID) – The SSID is the network name of this wireless network and must be identical for all devices in the network. When wireless clients first start up, they scan the wireless frequency band for special beacon frames that content SSID sent by wireless routers or access points, finally connect to the network that preferred by users.

SSID is case-sensitive and must not exceed 32 alphanumeric characters. Change it and don’t use default SSID due to security concern. I set it as home-network.

Wireless Channel - There are 13 wireless channels (1-13) supported. All devices in your wireless network must use the same channel in order to function correctly. I select 13.

Wireless SSID Broadcast - If you enabled this feature, the router will broadcast SSID and would be detected by wireless clients in the network. For security concern, I would recommend you to disable it.

You don't have to follow all settings I used, tune the wireless router as according to your needs.

src : http://www.home-network-help.com/wireless-router.html

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step by step wireless router guide

Setting up a wireless router is easy. Essentially you turn your cable or DSL modem off and your wireless router on. Then, you connect the router to the modem with a cable, and turn the modem back on. You are more or less done.

The wireless network wizard on your computer will pick up the router and, if your ISP does not have any special requirements, away-you-go, you are on the Internet.

For easy of setup and configuration, manufacturers ship wireless routers with all security disabled. Therein lies the problem. If you do not take any further steps to secure your router, and a surprising number of people don’t, your network will be wide open to all passersby and strangers. It’s like you’ve hung out a sign, “The door is open. Please come in and help yourself.”

The problem is not that strangers will be able to use your router to access the Internet but that, without further protection, would-be intruders will be able monitor and sniff out information you send and receive on your network. Malicious intruders can even hop on to your internal network; access your hard drives; and, steal, edit, or delete files on your computer.

The good news is that it is relatively easy to secure your wireless router. Here are three basic steps you should take.

1. Password protect the access to your router’s internal configuration

To access your router’s internal setup, open a browser and enter the routers setup URL. The URL will be specified in the manual. The URLs for D-Link and Linksys routers, two major manufacturers of wireless routers, are http://192.168.0.1 and http://192.168.1.1, respectively.

For Linksys routers, leave the user name blank and type “admin” (without the quotes) in the password field and press enter. To change the password, simply click on the Password tab and enter your new password.

For other routers, please consult your manual. Alternately, you can search on the Internet with the term “default login for ”. Don’t be surprised to find quite a number of pages listing default login parameters for many different routers, even uncommon ones.

2. Change the default SSID (Service Set IDentifier)

The SSID is the name of a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network). All wireless devices on a WLAN use SSIDs to communicate with each other.

Routers ship with standard default SSIDs. For example, the default SSID for Linksys router is, not unsurprisingly, “Linksys”. As you can see, if you don’t change the default SSID of your router a would-be intruder armed with a few common SSIDs from major manufacturers will be able to find your wireless network quite easily.

To change the SSID, click on the Wireless tab. Look for an input item labeled SSID. It will be near the top. Enter a new name for network. Don’t use something like “My Network”. Use a name that is be hard to guess.

3. Disable SSID broadcast

Wireless enabled computers use network discovery software to automatically search for nearby SSIDs. Some of the more advanced software will query the SSIDs of nearby networks and even display their names. Therefore, changing the network name only helps partially to secure your network. To prevent your network name from being discovered, you must disable SSID broadcast.

In the same screen that you changed the name of your network, you will see options for SSID broadcast. Choose “Disable SSID” to make your network invisible. Now save all your settings and log out.

Since your wireless network is now invisible, you will have to configure your computers to connect to your wireless network using the new name. On Windows XP, start by clicking on the wireless icon in the Notification Area and proceed from there.

With these three steps, your network now has basic security. However, if you keep sensitive information on your computers, you may want to secure your wireless network even further. For example, you can

- Change the channel your router uses to transmit and receive data on a regularly basis.

- Restrict devices that can connect to the router by filtering out MAC (Media Access Control) addresses.

- Use encryption such as WEP and WPA.

As with most things in life, security is a trade off between cost (time, money, inconvenience) and benefit (ease of use). It is a personal decision you make. However for the majority of home uses, the three basic steps plus WEP/WPA encryption provides reasonably strong security.

Turning on encryption is a two-step process. First you configure your router to use encryption using an encryption key of your choice. And then, you configure your computer to use the encryption key. The actual process of configuring your router for encryption varies from router to router. Please consult the router’s manual.

There are even stronger methods for ensuring security. A strong and robust security method is RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service). Using RADIUS requires additional hardware and software. However, there are companies that offer RADIUS security as a subscription based service. The fees are reasonable and dropping.

Therefore for example, if you run a business on your wireless network, have sensitive data on your computers such as credit card information, and have a number of users who access your network, you should consider using RADIUS. Since the service sector for RADIUS is dynamic and growing, a search on the Internet with terms like “RADIUS subscription” or “RADIUS service” is probably the best way to locate one.

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