|
|
|
20 Tips for Creating a Customer-Friendly Web Site
What annoys an Internet user the most? A quick unscientific survey of a local Internet café suggests the top three turn-offs are:
- Sites that are very slow to download;
- Ones that are confusing to use;
- Sites that do not contain the...
Is your network security and user access in the right balance?
The whole meaning of networking is to share programs, but
granting others to access a computer device reveals an open
window for those with foul motives, too. In the early days
networks were quite secure because they were closed in...
STREAMING MEDIA - Leveling the Playing Field for Small Business -
Statistics tell us that there are 5,000 new websites coming on-line everyday! And, sadly, they all have one thing in common...they are all starting to look the same. Our company, pursuing its own marketing efforts, has the need to look at...
VoIP Service: Sign Up And Save
If you want to save money on your telephone service using the internet, you will need to sign up with a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) service provider. They will sell you the necessary equipment and assign you a number, which is used like a...
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) - An Overview
You've probably at least heard of the word "VoIP", even if you
didn't quite understand what all the excitement is about. VoIP
stands for "Voice over Internet Protocol" and is going to change
the way you think about making long distance phone...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Always-On Networks Created with a Wireless Router
If you're using a wireless network with Windows' built-in
Internet Connection Sharing, you're probably quite happy with it
-- but there's a problem. The problem is this: the computer the
modem is connected to needs to be turned on before any of the
other computers can get Internet access! It's alright for a
while, but it gets annoying really fast. I had one of these
annoying setups at home for years and the moment I upgraded to
using a router was like a breath of fresh air. Now my son does
not complain every time I need to reboot or do extensive
maintenance periods. His machine could not care less weather my
machine is active or not.
So what should you do about it? Well, a wireless router is the
answer to your problem.
What is a Wireless Router?
A wireless router is basically a small, low-powered computer
dedicated to nothing but providing Internet access to your
wireless network. Once you've got a wireless router, you can
connect any of the computers on your network to the Internet
anytime, regardless of which other computers are switched on!
Because this is the only thing the wireless routers do, they
don't usually need any configuration to get started.
Choosing a Wireless Router
When you're choosing a wireless router, you should consider the
same things as you would with any other wireless equipment:
range, speed and standards. Remember, though, that speed is far
more important with a router than it is with other equipment --
the router might be providing Internet access to more than one
computer at once, meaning that it needs to have enough speed to
share between them. When it comes to standards and range, on the
other hand, it is pointless to get anything better than your
current wireless equipment has -- you won't see any improvement.
It's probably worth noting here that the Linksys WRT54G router
is fast becoming a standard. It's the most popular router out
there, and it's the easiest to use out of the lot. It's not as
cheap as some of the others, though, so it's still worth
shopping around. As ever, the most important thing is to read as
many reviews of what you're buying as you can.
Installing a Wireless Router
Wireless routers are designed to work easily out of the
box: in
most cases, it should be a matter of plugging the router into
the power supply and then connecting it to your cable, DSL or
other modem. That's it -- in 99% of cases, you're ready to start
using your wireless Internet.
Sometimes, though, there might be more things you need to do.
The most common problem is that your ISP uses special software
to confirm who you are before giving you access to the Internet.
This is called PPPoE, which stands for Point-to-Point Protocol
over Ethernet. It's basically a way giving you broadband access
while still requiring you to enter a username and password
first, and you need to go through a short process to use a PPPoE
connection with a wireless router.
Most routers support PPPoE, but you'll have to read the manual
and do some fiddling. You may also have to download an update
for your router's firmware (on-board software) from its
manufacturer's website.
Problems with Wireless Routers
Wireless routers generally solve more problems than they cause
-- but there are still some problems that you may need to work
around.
One that a lot of people run into sooner or later is that there
are some programs that require a direct Internet connection for
some functions. Using a wireless router instead of Internet
Connecting Sharing at least lets you use these functions if you
configure it, but it can be a pain. Wireless routers have
built-in firewalls that only allow data through on certain ports
(for example the web port, 80, and the email port, 110), while
keeping all the others closed.
Although programs that require you to open ports become rarer
every day, you might need to do it at some point. Your router's
manual will tell you how to do this if it comes up.
I hope you enjoy your new wireless router -- I know I enjoy
mine!
About the author:
Original Source: Articles-Galore.com
Information supplied and written by Lee Asher of CyberTech SoftShop
Suppliers of
SuperLinker - Hyperlinking Technology for the 21st
Century.
|
|
|
|
|
|