Wireless Internet Connection

Insert the CD.

It's not enough to just plug in your wireless card the first time you use it -- you need to put in the CD it came with and install the drivers. If you've already done that and there's still nothing, then you might need to update your drivers by paying a visit to the manufacturer's website.

Note that the instructions below apply to Windows XP. If you're determined to use Windows XP, then what you need to do next will be different depending on your wireless equipment's manufacturer -- you should take a look at your manual.

Use the Wireless Network Setup Wizard.

While it's easy to use Windows to connect to an existing wireless network, you still need to create the wireless network to begin with. Don't worry -- once you've created it once, your whole network will be able to connect to and remember it, even if the computer you used to create the network is never switched on again.

The easiest way to open the Wireless Network Setup Wizard is through the Start Menu: go to All Programs, Accessories, then Communications, and you'll find it there. If you can't find it, you might need to visit Microsoft's Windows Update at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com to get it.

The first thing to do when the wizard appears is read the welcome message, and click Next. Type a name for your network -- anything will do, as long as it's relatively unique to you. You're allowed up to 32 letters to express yourself, but remember that your neighbours might get to see this name at some point! If you bought equipment with WPA (stronger encryption), tick that box. Click Next again.

Unless you have a USB flash drive (it's unlikely), choose the option for manual setup. Don't worry -- it's just a matter of printing out some settings and entering them into your other computers. If you don't use encryption, you can usually skip this step.

It Still Doesn't Connect.

On one of your other computers, right-click on the wireless icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen -- it looks like a small computer with two lines on the right of it. On the menu that appears, click 'View Available Wireless Networks'. Now, you should see a list of the wireless networks your computer is in range of. Look for the name of your own network. This will be the name you typed in the setup wizard earlier or, if you use a router, it will probably be the name of your wireless equipment's manufacturer.

Note that this is the screen to come to if you ever want to connect to a wireless network other than your usual one -- just double click the one you want, wait a while, and it should work.

The most common problem is to find that your computer is trying to connect to another network near you, usually one belonging to your neighbours. If their wireless network has an unnecessarily wide range, it's not at all unusual for you to be able to receive their signal in your house -- I sometimes find as many as five networks in my area available to connect to. Fun as it would be, though, to go through all their shared files, your priority right now is getting their wireless network out of the way to let you connect to your own.

Getting on Your Network.

To make sure Windows knows which network is yours, you need to click 'Change the order of preferred networks' on the left of the available networks screen. You should click the 'Add' button to add the name of your network to this list, and use 'Remove' to take away any that aren't yours.

When you've highlighted your network, click Properties, and then go to the Connection section. Make sure 'Connect when this network is in range' is ticked. If all else fails, you might have to take your printout from the Wireless Network Setup Wizard and enter that information on each computer.

Sharing an Internet Connection over a Wireless Network

Once you've got your wireless network set up, I've no doubt that one of the first things you'll want to do with it is share an Internet connection -- after all, that's why most home users put in a wireless network to begin with. Well, the good news is that Windows has Internet Connection Sharing built in. The bad news is that setting it up can sometimes be a little less than fun.

How Internet Connection Sharing Works.

When you set up Internet Connection Sharing, you set up one of your computers as a 'gateway' to the Internet, and then use this gateway to access the Internet with your other computers. Essentially, requests for data from the Internet are being sent out through the gateway, and the responses and being sent back across the network ('routed') back to your computer. The gateway computer is still the only one that's directly connected to the Internet.

If you have trouble visualising what's happening, imagine for a second that the computers are people. Let's call the computer-people Bob, Fred and Alice. They're all in a bar together, but Bob is the only one with money for drinks (we could say he has a 'connection' to the bar). Fred and Alice can ask Bob to buy them a drink, and Bob can bring over the drinks, for them to have as they usually would. At no point, however, can Fred or Alice go and order a drink at the bar.

Setting It Up: The Gateway.

Note: this guide assumes that you have already set up your wireless network, but you have not connected it to the Internet yet.

The computer with the modem connected to it is the one you need to set up first -- as the gateway, it's going to be providing Internet access to all your other computers. On this computer, go to the Control Panel, then click Network Connections. From here, you can run the Network Setup Wizard by clicking 'Set up a home or small office network'.

Click next through the wizard until you get to a screen called 'Select a connection method'. On this screen you need to select 'This computer connects directly to the Internet. The other computers on my network connect to the Internet through this computer'. From here on, you should be able to click next again until you get to the finish. Say 'yes' to turn on file and printer sharing when you're prompted.

Your computer is now ready to be a gateway to the Internet.

The Network.

The next step is setting up the other computers on your network to make use of the gateway you just created. Run the Network Setup Wizard on each of these computers, but this time through choose 'This computer connects to the Internet through another computer on my network or through a residential gateway'.

If the computer that will now be using a shared Internet connection was using a dial-up connection before, then there are a few things left to do -- you need to change some settings in the web browser Open Internet Explorer, then go to the Options screen (in the Tools menu). Click the Connections tab. You should click 'never dial a connection', and untick three boxes: 'automatically detect settings', 'use automatic configuration script' and 'use a proxy server'.

The Trouble With Internet Connection Sharing.

To go back to our bar for a moment, imagine Bob leaves. Oh dear. Looks like Fred and Alice can't get any more drinks, doesn't it? The same thing applies to the computers on your network -- if the gateway computer is switched off, they will lose all their access to the Internet.

That's not the only problem, though. While Internet Connection Sharing works fine for the web and email, it can be more problematic when it comes to doing other things. Downloading files from filesharing networks, for example, or using videoconferencing, requires you to mess around with the gateway computer's settings. After a while, it can get quite frustrating. If you're in this position, you should really try a wireless router -- see our article 'Create Always-On Networks with a Wireless Router'.

Sharing Your Files and Folders Wirelessly

Of course, once your computers are networked together and sharing Internet access, the next step is to make your internal network a little more useful. One of the best things you can do with your wireless network is use it to share your files and folders.

Look Out for Security.

Before I tell you how to share folders, a quick word of warning: if you don't have encryption set up on your network, then everything you share will be available for others to view. This means that anyone could bring their computer close enough to connect to your wireless connection (and in many cases, your neighbours are close enough), and they could see everything you've put in a shared folder.

How do you get around this? Well, unfortunately, there are only two things you can do: only share things that you wouldn't mind other people seeing, or turn on encryption for your network. If you want to change shared files from other computers as well as just uploading and downloading them, you definitely need encryption. For more, see 'Dealing with Security Threats: Wireless Encryption'.

Automatic Sharing.

Here's some good news: if you're happy to put your shared files in a special folder, you don't need to do any extra configuration. Windows automatically shares your 'Shared Documents' folder when you create a wireless network, to give you a space to share pictures and music across your network. To access the Shared Documents folders, just open My Network Places using the Start Menu.

Sharing More.

Of course, most people want to share more than one folder. I, for example, want to be able to access Word documents I'm working on from any computer on my network, without saving them outside My Documents. Luckily, you can access any files across the network, as long as they are in the same folder together.

To share an existing folder, simply right-click it and choose 'Sharing and Security'. Tick 'Share this folder on the network' in the box that appears. If you want to be able to change the files from other computers, you should also tick 'Allow network users to change my files' -- if you don't do that, then the files will be read-only when you use another computer to access them.

Remember that sharing files over the network can be slow, depending on how fast your wireless equipment is. Because of the way Windows works, you should try to avoid keeping lots of files in the same shared folder, as it can slow down the network more than you might expect.

You Can Even Share Drives.

You can share whole drives, if you want to. You should never do this for your whole hard drive, though, as it is very dangerous -- anyone who could get access to your network would be able to see everything on your computer, including all sorts of private information that you probably wouldn't want them to have. Worse, if you had it set to allow the network to change files, your computer could get messed up big time.

Where drive sharing becomes useful, then, is to share removable drives. You can right-click anything from a CD drive to a floppy drive, and share it over your network. The procedure is the same as turning on sharing for a folder, except that there is an extra step where you need to click to confirm to Windows that you understand the risks involved.

Once a removable drive is shared, you can do all sorts of things. You can use software that needs the CD to run as long as the CD is in one of your computers, or you can save to floppy disk from computers that don't have floppy disk drives -- the possibilities, as they say, are endless.

With a little lateral thinking, you can take this even further. Devices like digital cameras and mp3 players almost always appear in My Computer as drives while they're plugged in -- turning on sharing for these drives basically means that you're sharing the devices across the whole network. It's really neat to be able to plug your camera into one computer and then download the photos on to all of them -- give it a go!

Create Always-On Networks 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.

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!

Connecting to a Wired Network: Wireless Access Points

Let's talk about something a little more complicated. What if you have a wired network already, and you're quite happy with the way it's laid out -- you see no point in dismantling it and making it wireless when it works fine as it is. You've got this laptop, though, that you'd really like to use wirelessly. Basically, what you want to do is make a wireless connection to a wired network, often referred to as a network bridge.

Well, as luck would have it, there's a very easy way to do exactly what you want. It's called a wireless access point.

Going Partly Wireless.

If you've got a lot of computers (on an office network, for example) and you can't switch them all over to wireless networking at once, installing a wireless router is a good way of doing it bit-by-bit. Once the router is part of the network, you could just remove one network wire per day or per week, replacing it with a wireless connection.

Software and Hardware.

There are two kinds of wireless access points: software and hardware ones. Wireless access point software runs on one of the computers on the wired network, and lets wireless devices connect to the network through that computer (the computer must obviously be wireless-enabled).

You can get wireless access software easily -- doing a web search will give you plenty of choices. Look for one that's open source, as you will be able to download it straightaway for free without breaking any laws. Unfortunately, though, the wireless devices will only be connected to the network while the computer in question is turned on and connected itself.

Hardware access points, on the other hand, are standalone devices that can be plugged in anywhere on the network -- you can either buy a dedicated access point, or convert an old computer to act as one and do nothing else. They connect to the wired network just as a normal computer would, except that they offer access to the network to any wireless receivers within range.

You can leave hardware access points connected to your network and turned on all the time, if you want. An advantage of dedicated devices is that they generally have a greater range, letting you use your wireless devices further away from the access point than you could with a software access point. Dedicated devices can be expensive, though -- prices are roughly similar to wireless routers.

How Wireless Access Points Work.

An access point sends requests for data on behalf of the wireless devices connected to it. In this way, it works a lot like a wireless router: basically, a wireless access point is to a wired LAN as a wireless router is to the Internet. The difference, though, is that the devices connected through an access point actually become part of the LAN -- other computers on the LAN won't distinguish between the wired computers and the wireless ones.

This is powerful, as it gives you the capability to dynamically extend your wired LAN, without wires. In theory, there shouldn't be anything you can currently do over your wired network that you won't be able to do over the wireless extension to it.

Configuring a Wireless Access Point.

You can usually configure a wireless access point as easily as plugging it into a connection to your network, using the cable that should be included. Your network should see the access point and give it a networking (IP) address automatically. If you need to do any more configuration on your access point -- for example, turning on wireless encryption -- then you'll need to open your access point's settings.

You can do this by going to the router's IP address in your web browser. If you're not sure how to do this, refer to your access point's manual (you might have better luck reading the online version, which will be updated with the latest problems people are having). While you're playing with your access point's settings, you might find it worth disabling DHCP (dynamic network addressing) and giving your access point a static address instead. This helps to keep your wired network more stable.

Taking it Long-Distance: Wireless Extension Points

How far can wireless go? Well, really, the answer is as far as you want it to, or as far as you can afford. You see, even though each wireless transmitter has a range limit, you can install things called wireless extension points, often called repeaters, to boost the signal and make your network's range even bigger.

What is a Repeater?

As you get further away from the origin of a wireless signal, it gets weaker and weaker, until eventually it is impossible to receive at all. No matter much you spend on high-powered wireless equipment, you will eventually reach a point where your network just won't stretch any further.

Some people solve this problem by running wires out as far as they want the network to go, and having it 'break out' into wireless every so often using a wireless access point. This can be more trouble than it's worth, though -- what's the point of installing massive lengths of wire just to cover an area with wireless access? You could just put ports in the wall, couldn't you?

Well, to fix this dilemma, some manufacturers have started to produce wireless repeaters, even though they're not part of the wireless standard. These 'extension points' work as a relay, simply taking the existing wireless signal and making it stronger, making the range of the signal larger each time.

If you place the repeaters correctly, this can make it so that you can move computers a long way away from the wired part of the network (the router or access point) without stopping them from working. The only requirement is that the ranges of the points must overlap -- after all, a repeater can't repeat a signal that it can't receive.

How Do They Work?

To understand how repeaters work, you must remember that wireless networking signals are really just radio signals. Repeaters simply take all the radio signals they receive on the frequency used by wireless communications (2.4Ghz) and use their power to amplify and re-broadcast them. This process does not degrade the signal, and can be done as many times as necessary.

In theory, you place wireless repeaters in a line for several miles and so extend a wireless network out that far. Because extension points don't need all the computer technology required in a router or an access point, they are relatively inexpensive, and so this possibility isn't as unlikely as it sounds.

Some companies, for example, use a combination of repeaters and directional antennas (antennas that focus a wireless signal in one direction) to connect two LANs that are miles apart. They find it's cheaper to do things this way than to worry about the problems that come with doing it over the Internet or to install their own underground wires. It is technology like repeaters that could, in the future, help to build wireless networks covering whole towns and cities.

Choosing a Repeater.

For the moment, you're limited to the bigger manufacturers when choosing a repeater, and even some of them have it missing from their product range. Different companies give their repeaters different names, such as 'Range Expander' (Linksys) or 'Range Extender' (D-Link).

When you're thinking of buying a wireless extension point, there are some things you need to think about. The most important thing is whether it will work with your existing equipment -- because there's no formal standard for wireless extension points, there's no guarantee that one you get will work on your network. It's best to stick to the same manufacturer that you have the rest of your equipment from, or at least do a web search to find other people who've made the combination work.

Another consideration is whether the extension point has any Ethernet ports. It's not an essential feature, but it can be useful if you want to connect the extension to a wired network. This is mainly only important if you're trying to connect two LANs wirelessly, although Ethernet can also be useful for connecting devices if something breaks and you need to troubleshoot the network.

Wireless Everywhere: Talking Your Laptop for a Walk

Sometimes it really does seem like wireless is being offered everywhere. If you know where to find so-called 'hotspots' (areas where there is wireless internet access), you can take your laptop for a little walk.

Public Hotspots.

When you take your laptop and go searching for hotspots, the first place to look is big public institutions. Libraries increasingly offer wireless access and, if you're a student, the chances are that your university campus is wireless-enabled, or will be soon.

Private Hotspots.

The real growth area in wireless hotspots, though, is in the private sector. Businesses are falling over themselves to provide free Internet access to their business customers -- cafes, hotels and airports are all starting to offer wireless access to anyone who happens to be around. All you need to bring is a laptop with Centrino technology or a wireless PCMCIA card.

But how does it benefit cafes to offer wireless Internet access for free? Well, think about it: instead of paying money to sit in some dingy Internet cafe, you can use the Internet for free in an otherwise normal cafe -- while still buying food and drinks, of course. Cafes are willing to pay the minimal cost of providing wireless Internet access in exchange for the new customers it gets them, especially in areas where Internet access is hard to come by any other way. The same goes for hotels and airports: customers see wireless access as a big value-add, and will vote with their feet for places that provide it.

Finding Them.

For some reason, even though there are thousands of hotspots, they don't get a lot of marketing. Doing a search for hotspots in your town could really surprise you -- you might think there aren't any, but if you live in a decently-sized place then it'd be surprising at this point if there weren't.

There are plenty of websites you can go to and find hotspots (try a search for 'wireless hotspots'). The most comprehensive, though, is generally thought to be at JiWire.com. You can see information from JiWire at their website, or alternatively by typing your postcode into Yahoo Maps and choosing 'WiFi Hotspots' from the menu over on the right of the screen.

If you can't be bothered with that, one tip is to just look out for a Starbucks. The things are everywhere, and almost all of them offer wireless Internet access in at least part of the shop. Borders and Kinko's are also good places to try. Failing that, just keep an eye out for a cafe -- it can't hurt to ask, after all.

Your Wireless ISP.

You might find, though, that some of the larger hotspot networks with more convenient locations require you to pay a small fee to a wireless ISP to use them. You can usually do this by buying a prepaid card at the place where the access is offered, though, so it isn't too much to worry about. If you want to stay free, just stick to the small independent places.

Hotspot Software.

Of course, it's a little useless to have to look for hotspots on the Internet, or go hunting for them on foot. It takes time and energy to go walking around searching, and if you had Internet access, well, why would you be looking for a hotspot? The solution, then, is download and install hotspot locator software on your computer.

Once you have this software, you have a database of known hotspots on your computer that you can search at any time, whether you're online or offline. Just type in a postcode or the name of the town where you are and the software will come back with the nearest hotspots, sorted by distance from you. Each time you do manage to get an Internet connection, the software connects to its server and downloads the latest hotspot list, to make sure that your database doesn't get out of date.

Where can you get hotspot locator software? Well, it's offered for free from the hotspot providers' sites, for a start. T-Mobile Hotspot is currently the largest provider, and offers software for free download at http://www.tmobile.com/hotspot.

Wardriving and the Wireless Pirates

Thanks to the manufacturers' default settings leaving wireless encryption switched off, thousands upon thousands of wireless connections everywhere are completely insecure. New breeds of wireless users have started to take advantage of this 'free' bandwidth appearing everywhere: the wardrivers and the wireless pirates.

Wardriving.

So what's wardriving? Well, to put it simply, it's when someone drives around with their laptop looking for unsecured wireless networks to connect to. This allows people to circumvent the physical security of large companies and connect to their networks: the network is said to be leaking out of the building. Wardriving used to be very difficult, but now there is easy to use software such as NetStumbler that searches for open networks automatically.

Wardriving works well because wireless networks, by default, are set up to provide access to any wireless-enabled computer that comes within range. This is very convenient and easy to use, but also extremely insecure.

The legal status of wardriving is dubious to say the least, but most of the people doing it don't have any malicious intent. There are some, of course, who will abuse the massive amount of bandwidth (download capacity) they can get access and download enormous files at amazing speed. There is also a small minority who may try to use access to a company's network -- or even an individual's -- for nefarious ends.

Wireless Piracy.

It is a point of contention among wireless users whether it is possible to 'pirate' wireless Internet access. Sure, if you go and sit outside someone's house in a car, you're probably doing something you shouldn't be. But what if you just use one of your neighbours' wireless networks instead of paying for your own ISP and Internet connection? Is that wrong?

The trouble is that it is impossible to tell whether an open network has been left that way intentionally or not. Many people have thought it through, and prefer to leave their network open for anyone to use, seeing no harm -- I am one of these people. Others just have no idea how to turn on security. The problem would be solved overnight if wireless equipment would come with encryption turned on by default (meaning that you would have to change the settings if you didn't want it). Unfortunately, the incompatibility of the two current encryption standards makes this unlikely to happen anytime soon.

In the end, until things change, the answer has to come down to your own individual ethics: you're probably not doing much harm if you use your neighbours' connections, as long as you don't download so much that you cause their connections to go slower.

The line is more blurred, of course, in areas where ISPs charge for access by the gigabyte. If you're not sure one way or the other, it's probably best to stick to your own network.

Should You Be Worried?

Some people are unnecessarily worried when someone tells them that their network is insecure: they think hackers are going to come and steal all their credit card numbers or something. You might even run into people trying to sell you 'wireless intrusion detection' software. Remember, though, that the Internet is designed to operate over wires that anyone could tap into: all sensitive data is encrypted anyway.

While you don't need to be scared about someone sniffing your web data, though, you should be a little more concerned about any files or folders you have shared. If you don't want to encrypt your network, you shouldn't share anything that you wouldn't want others to see, and you certainly shouldn't give the network write (change) access to anything you don't have a backup copy of.

Of course, if you really want to keep other people off your network, it's not like it's hard to do yourself with a little configuration. Take a look at the next article, 'Dealing with Security Threats: Wireless Encryption', for a brief guide.

Dealing with Security Threats: Wireless Encryption

If you don't want your network to fall victim to snooping or people 'borrowing' your bandwidth, then you're going to need to lock down your network. Luckily for you, all wireless technology has encryption built in -- it's just a matter of turning it on.

WEP Vs. WPA.

Security on wireless networks does have a flaw, though -- there are two completely incompatible standards, which makes it a pain to set up a whole network to use encryption.

How did this happen? Well, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) was the original standard for encryption over 802.11 wireless networks. Back in 2001, though, a research paper was published called 'Weaknesses in the Key Scheduling Algorithm of RC4'. This paper demonstrated critical flaws in the security of WEP that made it trivial for someone to break into, if they wanted to.

Essentially, it is too easy to discover the secret 'key' used for WEP, and once you have the key, you can get into the network and stay in for as long as you want. People quickly recognised that it was almost useless to use WEP on their network -- but by the time its weaknesses were discovered, the WEP method was built into almost every piece of wireless equipment out there.

The WEP standard had to be replaced, and in 2003 WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) was introduced as its replacement, fixing most of its flaws. WPA is much more secure than WEP. Unfortunately, though, WPA took a long time to reach the market, and WPA devices were expensive when they were released. Combine this with the fact that WEP is still the default in a lot of software (because it's supported by more devices), and you end up in the confused situation we're in today.

Always Use WPA.

If you're going to enable encryption, always use WPA. Devices bought after 2003 or so should be compatible with it, as the upgrade was made a mandatory part of the standard.

It is true that WEP is better than nothing -- it will, at least, deter the casual intruder, who won't try any more than double-clicking to get onto your network. WEP can also make you less of a target for wardrivers, since there will be so many completely open networks that they might as well use instead. However, it's silly to use WE nowadays when WPA is so easily available.

Turning on Encryption.

Turning on encryption in Windows isn't too difficult, but it does involve quite a lot of clicking -- no wonder so few people bother.

The first step is to turn on encryption for your wireless router or access point. The exact method for this will vary between devices, but you can usually do it by visiting the router or access point's configuration page in your web browser, finding the encryption settings, and then choosing WPA. If you have any trouble, refer to your manual.

Once you've done that, you need to change the encryption settings on your computers. Open the 'View Available Wireless Networks' screen by right-clicking on your wireless connection in the bottom-right of the screen and choosing it from the menu that appears. Then click 'Change advanced settings'. Go to the Wireless Networks section of this box, click your network's name, and then click Properties.

Now, where it says 'Network authentication', select WPA. Click OK on everything you've opened. Once you've done that -- this is the really fun part -- you're going to have to do it for every computer on your network!

It's Easier for New Networks.

While the process is quite troublesome for existing networks, it's much easier for ones that haven't been set up yet. You'll still need to turn on encryption at the wireless router or access point, but once you've done that you can set up encryption as you set up the network using the Wireless Network Setup Wizard.

Unfortunately (and stupidly) Windows now turns on WEP by default when you set up your wireless network. This means that each time you go through the wizard, you need to remember to tick the box on the third screen that says 'Use WPA encryption instead of WEP'. Still, it's easier than changing the settings manually later on.

Wireless Troubleshooting: 5 Things to Try

Wireless Troubleshooting: 5 Things to Try.

Wireless networks can be funny things. They'll work for weeks or months and then suddenly, one day -- bang! They're dead. But what can you do to try and resuscitate a dead wireless network?

The Simple Things.

Before you go to too much trouble to fix your network, you should try the simple solutions. No-one's quite sure why they work, to be honest, but they have a surprisingly high success rate.

To get Windows to attempt to fix problems with a wireless connection, double click the connection's icon in the bottom right corner of your screen. Go to the Support section of the box that appears, and then click Repair. Windows will deactivate and reactivate the connection in an effort to get it to work.

Once you've tried this, the last-ditch simple solution is that Windows classic: restart the computer. If that doesn't work either then, well, you'll have to try something else.

Has Your Wireless Card Come Loose?

If you have a USB or PCMCIA wireless card, you should check now to see whether it's come loose. The best way to do this is to disconnect everything and reconnect it. USB devices are especially vulnerable to gradually coming loose -- make sure you unplug your USB wire at both ends of the connection, if possible.

Of course, if you have an internal PCI wireless card, you might want to try a few other things first before you go to the trouble of opening the computer to take a look at it.

Have the Networks in Your Neighbourhood Changed?

Sometimes, if someone sets up a new network near you, it can cause some interference and take precedence over your own network, especially if you're in a part of your house where your network's signal is weak. Once your computer is connected, though, there's no guarantee your computer will be granted -- the other network could be set up in any number of strange ways. This leaves you in a position where your computer has connected to a network that it thought was 'better' without telling you, even though it turns out that network is useless to you.

You need to go to the 'View Available Wireless Networks' screen and take a look at what you're connected to. If it's something you don't recognise, you should double-click your own network in the list to connect to it. If this works, make sure you remove other networks' names from your 'preferred networks' list, to avoid connecting to them in the future.

Check for New Sources of Interference.

If you find that your connection will work if you put your computer right next to the source of the Internet signal, but stops working as you get further away, then the cause could be interference. You should consider any changes you've made to your home recently. For example, did you just get a new cordless phone? They can often interfere with wireless networks. Treat any equipment that uses radio waves as suspect -- try switching each thing off in turn and see if the performance of the wireless network improves.

Reset Equipment to Factory Settings.

With routers and access points, one thing that might work is to log in to their admin control panels (using a web browser) and click the option to restore to factory settings. This removes all your settings and makes the router or access point 'like new' again, meaning that any problems it was causing should be solved, unless it has been physically damaged.

If none of these things work, but the network was working fine before, the chances are that you've got a hardware failure somewhere on your network. This could be as simple as someone having sat on a USB device, or knocked an antenna on a router. You need to try unplugging things in turn to figure out where the failure is, and then call the manufacturer to report the fault -- be prepared that you might need to replace the item yourself, though, if it's not their fault or the equipment is outside warranty. Even if it turns out not to have been a hardware failure, they should be able to help you fix your network.

Bluetooth: Personal Wireless

If you've got a wireless network for your computers already, well, you might get a bit excited about what I'm going to say next. How would you feel if your PDA, your mobile phone, your mp3 player and almost everything else you connect to your computer could be wireless too? You'd like that? Well, it's already a reality. Read on...

Personal Area Network.

Using wireless networking with your personal gadgets is often called PAN, which stands for Personal Area Network. The idea is that, in the future, we'll all have laptop computers with their batteries charged and no more need to connect any wires to them at all -- you just place your Bluetooth device near the computer, and the computer sees it and can use it straightaway.

Bluetooth has been around and in-use since 1999, and it's only getting more popular. It was designed to be secure, low cost, and easy to use from day one.

There are two classes of Bluetooth that are in popular use: class 1 and class 2. Class 2 is the most common and cheaper standard, allowing you to use a device that is up to 10 metres (32 feet) away. Class 1 is rarer, but you can still find devices that use it easily enough, and it has ten times the range: 100 metres or 320 feet.

How Does It Work?

Bluetooth is more flexible than 802.11 wireless networking, in exchange for the shorter range. Essentially, a Bluetooth-enabled computer has one Bluetooth receiver installed in it, and this receiver can then be used with up to 7 nearby Bluetooth devices. On the other end, wireless devices do not need to have Bluetooth installed if they support it -- it is already integrated.

Like 802.11, Bluetooth works by using radio signals to create bandwidth. It is not, though, the same thing as an old-style wireless mouse or keyboard, which required a receiver to be plugged into one of your computers' ports, and didn't have range or stability anywhere near that of Bluetooth.

Many computers now come with built in Bluetooth, especially Apple Macs. If you want to add Bluetooth to a computer that doesn't come with it pre-installed, you should probably use a USB to Bluetooth adapter, although internal Bluetooth devices to install in your computer are available. If you have a laptop and a spare PCMCIA slot, you can get Bluetooth cards for that too.

What Can You Do With Bluetooth?

Mobile phones with Bluetooth are very popular, and so are PDAs -- the instant synchronisation of addresses and calendars to a computer is a useful feature. Other than that, almost anything that would usually use USB can be done using Bluetooth, including digital cameras, mp3 players, printers, and even mice and keyboards. If you take a look through the comprehensive list of Bluetooth 'profiles' (kinds of devices that could, in theory, be Bluetooth enabled), it includes cordless phones, faxes, headsets, and even video.

Basically, more than anything, Bluetooth is a replacement for USB: some say that while 802.11 wireless networking is wireless Ethernet, Bluetooth is wireless USB.

Not Just for Computers.

Part of the power of Bluetooth is that it isn't just used to connect things to computers -- it can be used to connect almost anything to anything else, if both things are Bluetooth-enabled and recognise each other.

Mobile phones, in particular, take advantage of this. Hands-free headsets often use Bluetooth to communicate with the phone. Some cars, for example, now have on-board computers that will connect with a Bluetooth phone and allow you to make hands-free calls, regardless of where the phone is in the car (even if you've left it in your bag in the trunk!)

On top of that, of course, Bluetooth devices can communicate with each other. This has led to some people sending messages from their Bluetooth PDAs to others in close range -- not an especially useful feature, but quite fun. This is called 'bluejacking', and the first recorded instance of it was a man who sent a Bluetooth message to another man's Nokia phone while they were in a bank together. What did the message say? 'Buy Ericsson'.

Since then, it has become possible to send images by bluejacking, and it is widely believed to be the newest advertising medium -- yes, it lets billboards send messages to your phone, a practice known as 'bluecasting'. Whether you think that's cool or annoying, of course, is your choice.

RFID: Wireless Shopping

So wireless networking has got rid of your network wires and your USB wires... what can it do next? Well, the answer might surprise you: wireless is going shopping.

RFID: Electronic Barcodes.

Yes, that's right: RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a replacement for the barcode, using wireless radio technology. But what's wrong with barcodes, you ask? Well, they need to be scanned, for a start. Supermarkets and other shops have small armies of staff in their stores, in fact, doing almost nothing but scanning barcodes and taking money.

RFID lets barcodes be replaced with radio signals, which can automatically be scanned. In theory, you could have a shopping cart full of RFID-labelled products, put it near an RFID scanner, and the things in your cart would be detected and their prices added up instantly.

Imagine being able to stop in front of a machine at the supermarket's exit, and do nothing but put your credit card in a machine before you leave (if your credit card is RFID-enabled too, you might not even need to do that). You can checkout in a matter of seconds! It's a win-win situation: it saves you time, and it saves the supermarket money. The only people who lose out are the ones getting paid to sit around scanning barcodes, but hey, that's technology for you.

How on Earth Does It Work?

Believe it or not, RFID tags contain tiny antennas, allowing them to transmit small amounts of data by radio. The majority of tags in use today do not have their own power supply (a power supply makes the tag larger and more expensive), which means that they must rely on power they receive through the air by radio. This is such a tiny amount of power that it is only just enough to transmit an ID number. This does work, however, from as much as five metres away.

For shopping use, tags that send numbers are sufficient -- a barcode is just a number in the form of lines, after all. These tags are now as cheap as 40 cents, and mass production means the price is only going to come down -- RFID is likely to become widespread in the next decade. The smallest RFID tags are already thin enough to be almost invisible.

Privacy and Other Uses of RFID.

There are privacy concerns around the use of RFID, simply because it makes it so quick and easy to tag just about anything -- and the tags can be scanned without any human interaction. This, however, is also what makes the system very useful.

Pets are already implanted with RFID tags so that they can be identified if found, and the idea of humans being made to have RFID implants as a replacement for identity cards isn't as science fiction as it sounds -- it is possible today. As long ago as 1998, a professor was able to implant a tag in his arm. The technology is being considered for used on prisoners. In countries that already have ID cards or that will have them soon, RFID tracking probably won't be far behind.

If RFID shopping tags are left on things, then people could leave tags on their clothes or other products without realising it. This has all sorts of implications -- someone might be able to point an RFID scanner at your house and get a list of everything in it that still has a tag, for example.

RFID is already widely used in many industries. Warehouses use them to track pallets of goods, some libraries put them in books and airlines use them to track baggage. Usage is particularly common in building access control (the ID cards for employees that open the door automatically).

Travel is another growth area: many parts of the USA have the option of using RFID cards to pay at toll booth's, and the London Underground now uses RFID payment cards known as Oyster cards. There are even RFID car keys that can open the door while they're still in your pocket, without you doing a thing.

Environmental Concerns.

As a footnote to all this, many people are concerned about the environmental impact RFID could have. Although they are small, using computer chips as a replacement for barcodes could lead to the equivalent of many thousands of computers being thrown away every year.

What Else Can You Do Over a Wireless Network?

Well, you'd be surprised. There really are all sorts of things you can do with wireless networks -- you're only really limited by your imagination! Here are a few weird and wonderful ideas to get you started, but don't be afraid to try out anything else you think of.

Store Files in Your Car.

If you put a small wireless-enabled hard drive in your car, you can use it as a mobile file server, avoiding the need to send files around on the Internet or burn them to a CD. This can be especially good if you often move large files around. You could, for example, upload your files to the car-server when you're at home, and then download them again when you get to work.

There are other uses of this too -- you could, for example, send music files from your computer to the car to play on your journey, without having to physically move anything at all.

Build a Real 'Network Neighbourhood'.

You can extend wireless networks as far as you want, using repeaters and directional antennas. If some of your neighbours put repeaters in their houses, then any networks in the area could be extended to cover a gradually larger range.

Ultimately, if you have co-operative neighbours, you could turn your whole street into a wireless hotspot: you could even all share one super-fast Internet connection, paying less per person than you usually would for a much slower one. There is even a name for this: a 'freenet' or 'community net'. People who have tried it find that it makes people feel much closer to each other, bringing back long-lost social ties within the local community.

Bear in mind, though, that you're basically running your own ISP if you decide to do this, with all the support issues that could involve. You might want to ask your ISP's permission first, in case they get upset about you sharing your connection so freely. Whole books have been written about this topic -- for more information, you might want to read one of them, such as Rob Flickenger's 'Building Wireless Community Networks'. If you live in a big city, you might even find that someone's already trying to do it in your areas.

Make Cheap Phone Calls.

If you get a Bluetooth-enabled headset, you can use your wirelessly networked computer to make cheaper (or free) phone calls. Voice over IP (VoIP) software such as Skype makes it easy to call anyone in the world, and using a headset makes it even more convenient than using a phone -- you can do whatever you want while you talk.

Most VoIP software is limited to calling other VoIP phones, which is free. Services like Skype, however, allow you to call real phone numbers too. Since the call is made in whatever country the number is in and then routed over the Internet to you, you can call worldwide for not much more than the cost of a local call. There are few things more fun than chatting to your friend half the world away for an hour and knowing it only cost you 50 cents -- and that all they had to do was pick up the phone.

Watch Media on Your TV.

There is a new wave of wireless media devices that connect to your TV like a cable box or a DVD player, but allows your TV to play media files you have shared on your wireless network. If you use an operating system like Windows Media Center Edition or similar, it's easy to watch videos from your computer on your TV -- you even get a remote control. On top of that, you can record shows from your TV, TiVo-style, and then share these recordings over your wireless network.

You want things you digitally record on one TV to be viewable on all your TVs? Now they can be. Simply get two wireless-enabled digital recorders and they'll form a network all on their own -- simple as anything.

The Future of Wireless

Wireless is a technology that's cheap, easy and useful right now, and yet it's a technology that's still very young. Here's a quick look at what the future could hold for wireless.

The Radio and the Phone.

Wireless networks will always win over wired ones, in the end, simply because it is cheaper for signals to travel through the free air than it is to install and maintain wires. If you want an example of this, consider that telephones were originally used for sending and receiving news reports. When radio was invented, this stopped almost overnight -- why bother going to all that expense when it's free over the air?

It's the same way with computer networking. Imagine you have a choice between a wired Internet connection and a wireless one. Why would you choose the wired one? Because it's cheaper? That will change soon. Because you know how to use it? Wireless is easier. There's no reason why anyone wouldn't switch in an instant, if they had the opportunity.

WiMAX.

You remember that wireless networking today uses a standard called 802.11? Well, WiMAX is 802.16 -- the next generation of wireless. It's still a work in progress, but the possibilities are exciting.

WiMAX stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, and is designed to complement existing wireless equipment rather than replace it. The biggest advantage of WiMAX is in its vastly increased range: instead of being measured in square metres, WiMAX ranges will be measured in square kilometres. Some say the strongest WiMAX stations could transmit for up to 50 kilometres -- over 30 miles!

This obviously opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Wireless access would move from LANs to MANs: Metropolitan Area Networks, covering a whole town or city with wireless access. The question would no longer be whether there was a hotspot in the area where you were, but which of the many WiMAX networks you wanted to connect to.

Other benefits of WiMAX include speed of up to 70Mbps (almost 10 MB per second), and stronger security. Imagine a future where ordering Internet access is as simple as connecting your existing wireless equipment to the network, opening your web browser, and buying a low cost subscription. That's it -- done. No more access points, no more routers, no more configuration... just wireless Internet, everywhere. WiMAX is going to take the world by storm.

For the latest news on WiMAX, take a look at the WiMAX Weblog at http://wimax.weblogsinc.com, or visit the WiMAX Forum (a non-profit industry group set up to promote WiMAX) at http://www.wimaxforum.org. WiMAX has been in development since 2001 now, and the first WiMAX equipment is currently expected to hit the market as soon as the end of 2005.

Bluetooth in Everything.

While Bluetooth's most obvious purpose is to replace USB, it is designed so that it can eventually replace almost every wire there is (except power cables). That means that someday your TV could be connecting to your DVD player by Bluetooth, or your speakers could connect to your radio with it, and so on and on.

As you get older, expect to see fewer and fewer wires. I know people said the same thing about paper, but it turns out people like paper and don't want a 'paperless society'. How many people do you know who have a thing for wires? Exactly. Once someone figures out a way to provide reliable wireless power (better batteries?) we'll be set!

A Simpler Life.

When you read about the potential of wireless technology for a while, one thing sticks out in your mind: it all sounds so convenient. Wires have so many flaws, especially when they go long distances, and the overall wireless project is to remove them from our lives -- and then charge us less! That has to be worth supporting, doesn't it? I'll make a prediction now: I think that, within a decade, wireless access will be making everyone's life much easier, and they won't even notice it's there. That's the future of wireless. See you there.