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Wireless Networks

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Title: Wireless Networks


1
Wireless Networks
CMS 462Ann Wilson Kingsley
2
Using your wireless network
  • Farmer and His Semi-Truck
  • Advantages
  • File sharing
  • Printer and peripheral sharing
  • Internet connection sharing
  • Free phone calls
  • - VoIP
  • Multi-user games over the network
  • Wireless access on the go

3
Most Used Wireless Standards
4
Starting To Plan a Wireless Home Network
  • Will you be connecting Macs and PCs to the
    network?
  • Will computers on the network be connected by
    both cable and wireless?
  • Which wireless technology will you be using from
    802.11a 802.11 n?
  • Which type of wireless adapter will you use?
    Belkin, Linksys, Net Gear?
  • How many printers will you connect? Are you
    connecting a Print Server?
  • Will you connect through Broadband, Cable, DSL?
  • Are you planning to download MP3s or movies? Will
    you use VoIP?
  • How much money should you budget for your
    wireless network?
  • What do you need to do to plan for adequate
    security?

5
What do you need?
  • Wireless Access Point or base station
  • Bundled feature options
  • - Network Hub or switch
  • - DHCP Server
  • - Network router
  • - Print server
  • Wireless Network interface Adapter types with
    built-in antenna
  • - PC or Express card
  • - USB
  • - ISA or PCI Adapter

6
(No Transcript)
7
Method of Communication
  • Infrastructure Mode
  • - Communication with other devices through an
    AP
  • Ad Hoc Mode
  • - Whenever two or more wireless stations are
    close together they can communicate without a
    Wireless AP however, AP can create a bridge
    between wired and wireless segments of
    network, and facilitates communication between
    hundreds of wireless stations at once

8
Signal Types
  • Narrowband
  • Broadband
  • Spread Spectrum Signals
  • - FHSS
  • - DSSS

9
Antennas
  • Characteristics
  • Up through 802.11g, antennas are usually about a
    5 long dipole antenna.
  • AP transmission output power TX power, the
    higher the power, the longer the range
  • Wi-Fi transmits at an output of less than 1 watt
    by FCC standards for home use and most transmit
    at less than half that.

10
Antennas
  • Antenna gain Antennas on the AP and the antennas
    on the other devices improve the capability to
    send and receive signals. Adding a higher-gain
    antenna at either end of the connection increases
    the range
  • Antenna types
  • - Omni-directional transmits a signal
    in all directions equally. A dipole
    antenna radiates 360 degrees on the
    horizontal plane and 75 degrees on the
    vertical plain in a fat doughnut shape. The area
    above or below the pattern gets a very
    weak signal.
  • - Directional antennas produce a
    spherical signal footprint and are better
    for brownstones and multi floor buldings.

11
Antennas
  • Receive Sensitivity How strong a signal is
    required from another radio device before a
    connection is made?
  • Signal attenuation Signals get weaker as a
    result of interference by other radio signals,
    objects in the path (furniture), distance between
    the radio connections

12
Getting Down to the Basics of Planning
  • Deciding where to install your Wireless Access
    Point -Achieving optimum signal coverage
  • - Install the AP near the center of your
    home or office
  • - Dont wall-mount an AP because its
    diminishes the signal foot print, killing
    the throughput.
  • - The lower to the ground your AP is, the
    more things there are that can block the
    signal. Placing the AP up higher enhances
    the opportunity for more throughput.

13
Planning Basics
  • 802.11gThe operating range is 54 Mbps at 100
    feet, but throughput decreases to 1 Mbps at 300
    feet. Indoors a realistic range is 60 feet for
    maximum throughput because of the many obstacles
    in the path.
  • 802.11nNetworks have a 750 foot range outdoors
    and an indoor range of 210 feet at 248 Mbps. You
    may find that in a crowded urban environment, a
    5GHz system has a better range simply due to lack
    of interference, unlessyou are willing to
    configure an 802.11g or are moving to an 802.11n
    system

14
Planning
  • Construction materials used in walls, floors and
    ceilings
  • - Many construction materials provide little
    impediment to radio signals, but marble, brick,
    water, paper, bulletproof glass, concrete, and
    especially metal reflect some of the
    signal, thus reducing signal strength.
  • - Position of walls, numbers of floors, brick
    fireplaces, heating ducts, metal doors, a
    basement, can
  • partially or completely block the radio
    signal.
  • Movable physical objects such as furniture,
    appliances, plants, and even people can block
    enough of the signal to cause the network to slow
    down or lose connection.

15
Planning
  • Radio frequency wave interference from two APs,
    if the house or office is large enough to need
    more than one AP, or from the neighbors
    network, may create a need to re-configure the
    SSID
  • Other interference can come from electric motors
    and electrical devices that generate RF noise
    such as monitors, refrigerators, and universal
    power supply units. Place the AP at least 3 and
    preferably 6 feet away from these devices.
  • Adding Printer Servers
  • - A Print Server makes its printers available at
    all times from any location. Print from
    poolside.
  • - If your printer isnt the one of the new ones
    equipped with wireless, then consider
    purchasing a wireless printer server, which
    sits beside the printer.

16
Planning
  • Security Choose an AP with NAT security and an
    internal firewall as one of the options. WPA2
    Personal is the best option for home use.
    Remember the war drivers!

17
Planning
  • Wi-Fi Certification standard assures
    interoperability of Access Points and device
    adapters no matter who the manufacturer is.
  • Make sure the devices you are buying support the
    software and hardware platform you are using.
    802.11n must run on a 256 MB Ram system, and
    works better with Windows Vista. Read the fine
    print on the box for manufacturer specs to see if
    it fits your needs - G for XP.

18
The USB form factor
  • Check to see how many USB ports are on your
    computers before purchasing a USB form factor
    instead of a PCI card for each of your computers
    on the network.
  • USB comes in two versions USB 1.1 and USB 2.0.
    If your computer has a USB 1.1 port, the data
    transfer speed is 12 Mbps. USB 2.0 has a data
    transfer speed of 480 Mbps, which is 40 times
    faster. If you are connecting an 802.11g or n
    device, it must be USB 2.0. You can purchase a
    USB 2.0 card to upgrade the port.

19
PC Cards
  • PC cards from some manufacturers have an antenna
    casing no thicker than the rest of a card, if you
    have to optimize your PCI Card slots and cant
    block one of them with a thick antenna.
  • Gaming on the internet
  • 1. Look for a router with DMZ (demilitarized
    zone) and post forwarding features, which expose
    just enough of your system to the Internet to
    play Internet games and transfer files.

20
AP Routers
  • Bundled Functionality in an AP Router
  • - DHCP Service for IP addresses
  • - NAT enables multiple computers to share the
    same internet gateway by providing private IP
    addresses to each device, which also helps
    security.
  • - Switches Wireless AP routers have one to
    eight Ethernet ports with which computers or
    other devices can be connected via cables for
    wired networks
  • To connect a wired network to a wireless, switch
    ports must support at least 100 BaseT Ethernet
    100 Mbps transfer rate and the full-duplex
    variant of 100 Base T. For the best performance,
    purchase a router that supports 1000BaseT.

21
Operational Features to Look for in a Wireless
Router
  • First install your AP on your wired network, then
    add the wireless
  • layer. This reduces the things that can go wrong
    when you add the
  • wireless clients. In other words, dont try to
    configure the AP via a
  • wireless connection.
  • Automatic channel selection This is why business
    class users pay more for extra business-class
    access points. Channel selection can try your
    patience.
  • High-end Access Point Routers, intended for use
    in large enterprises, offer a feature known as
    PoE, which enables electrical power to be sent
    over the Ethernet cable. If electrical outlets
    arent readily available this is the answer to
    the problem, especially if your AP is on the
    ceiling or in the attic.

22
Operational Features
  • Use an external antenna jack to add one or two
    additional antennas for larger homes or offices.
  • Uplink Port or crossover port adds even more
    wired ports to your network by uplinking the AP
    with another hub or switch. This special port is
    normally an extra connection next to the last
    available wired port of thedevice, but it can
    look like a regular Ethernet jack with a little
    toggle switch next to it.
  • Upgradeable Firmware Determine whether you can
    get feature updates and fixes from the vendor and
    whether you can perform updates by upgrading the
    firmware.

23
Installing a Wireless Network
  • If you need to install a new operating system or
    re-install a degrading operating system, do this
    before installing your new wireless network, so
    that there is no problem with adding additional
    functionality.
  • Ensure that everything is working on your
    internet connection first, then install your
    wireless router with a cable connection.
  • Make sure your computers have standard Ethernet
    ports to first set up wired connections.
  • Collect your ISPs network information
  • - Your IP address
  • - Your DNS service or server
  • - Is your ISP delivering your connection via
    DHCP?

24
Installing
  • Collect the physical address of the network card
    used in your computer only if you are already
    connected directly to a cable/DSL modem. Most AP
    manufacturers have added a feature called MAC
    address cloning, so that you only have to pay for
    service for one computer. Some AP routers provide
    a list of MAC Addresses for you to choose from to
    clone. This is why you want to make sure to know
    the MAC address for your NIC card.
  • If you cant get on-line, first unplug everything
    from the power supply, then turn everything back
    on starting with the modem, working your way out
    to your PC.

25
Installing the AP Router
  • First, buy a 100 ft Ethernet cable ( CAT 5e/6
    patch cable) ortwo from an online retailer for
    about 15.00 a piece. This will assist network
    testing and trouble shooting. You keep these
    around like extension cords.
  • Go to the command prompt and type IPCONFIG /ALL
  • Write down all of the networking
    information
  • - Physical address
  • - IP address
  • - Default Gateway
  • - Subnet mask
  • - DNS servers
  • - Whether or not DHCP is enabled

26
Install
  • View the network adapter properties, and get all
    of the information you need there.
  • - Start the AP install by inserting the AP
    router disk and follow the instructions. Be
    sure that you keep track of where you are,
    especially in Windows Vista because Vista uses a
    lot of pop-ups. Make sure when you are saying
    yes to the install and when you are
    acknowledging Windows warnings.
  • When prompted by the setup CD to connect the AP
    router, unplug the network cable that connects
    the broadband modem to your computers Ethernet
    port and plug this cable into the Ethernet port
    that is marked WAN or modem on your networks
    cable or DSL or Internet gateway. When using a
    wireless gateway, run aCAT 5e/6 cable from one
    of its Ethernet ports to the computer on which
    youre running the setup software.

27
Install
  • While most AP routers will automatically try to
    configure everything for you, you will need to
    manually configure the security and some of the
    other information collected in the first Step.
  • Record the following access point parameters
  • Service set identifier (SSID)
  • - Change the default setting assigned by the
    factory to aid security and to keep your SSID
    from being confused with the neighbors if he
    has the same type.
  • All wireless stations must be configured with the
    same SSID. Turn off the SSID broadcast, where the
    AP announces itself to the wireless world in
    general. If using 802.11n, set this to auto.
  • - For 802.11g, configure your channels,
    using Channels 1, 6, and 11 to avoid
    over-lapping, if you have more than two networks
    in your home or to avoid interference from
    your neighbor.

28
Install
  • WPA2 password
  • Always assign a new key or password for
    security, and remember it. If you forget
    your password, you can reset your equipment to
    the factory settings just like you took it out of
    the box.
  • WPA2 Enterprise or Radius for better encryption
    and greater security
  • Router pin, if your system does use WPS
  • - Write down the pin, you will need it to
    configure all wireless stations on your
    network. It can usually be found on a label.
  • - Sometimes this is a pushbutton in the
    software
  • Admin user name and password
  • - Required by some software. Dont use the
    same password you use for WPA2 or you could
    compromise your security.

29
Install
  • MAC address
  • - The number is printed on a label attached
    to the device write it down for
    troubleshooting.
  • Dynamic or Static wide area network (WAN) IP
    address
  • Local IP address
  • - You need to know the IP address to access
    the configuration pages of your ISP by using a
    web browser.
  • Subnet mask
  • - The AP router and all of the wireless
    devices must have the same subnet mask.
  • PPPoE usually found on DSL connections and rarely
    for cable modems
  • Within the AP routers management utility, you
    can modify all the APs settings, such as the
    SSID, channel and WEP encryption key.

30
Installing the Client Software
  • Install the software via the CD first, always, to
    ensure that the AP router has the drivers
    installed.
  • Check the manufacturers website for the most
    recent software as well as the newest firmware.
  • Shut down any antivirus programs you have running
    on your PC first because they may mistake
    installation for a virus. Remember to turn it
    back on when you are done.
  • Dont insert the network adapter until the CD
    tells you to.
  • If the software prompts you to configure your
    network adapter, use the same configurations you
    used on the AP router.

31
Installing the Client
  • Choose Infrastructure mode as opposed to Ad Hoc
    mode, if prompted to choose.
  • Insert the PC card, if you are using a PC card
    instead of a USB when the software asks you
    about restarting, say NO I will restart my
    computer later. Shut down for installation of
    the PC card and unplug the computer, then plug
    in the computer and START.

32
Install With Windows
  • Install with Windows software convenient if you
    lost your wireless software.
  • Windows XP has what is called Zero configuration
    software, so that you dont need the manufacturer
    software for installation. It can download the
    specific driver from the manufacturers web site.
    However, most 802.11n adapters require specific
    hardware drivers to be able to take advantage of
    advanced features of the standard.
  • - When using Windows XP installation,
    install the PC adapter first
  • - Log onto the computer as Administrator and
    go to the status bar and click on your network
    icon to pull up to configure.

33
Now the Network Is Installed
  • Your customer can enjoy wireless from anywhere at
    home and print from any place on his premises,
    even poolside.

34
Troubleshooting
  • Most of the troubleshooting has been covered
    during thepresentation, however, here are a few
    extras.
  • - There is an additional way of increasing
    signal strength, which is a wireless
    repeater or bridge. Meraki sells units,
    which plug into wall sockets to extend the
    signal.
  • - For interference, check your cordless phone
  • frequencies, you may want to get a new
    phone or upgrade wireless equipment.
  • - Wi-Spy 2.4x Chanalyzer software for
    analyzing interference from WiFi, cordless
    phones, microwaves, Zigbee, Radio, Bluetooth,
    and many more.

35
Future
  • ZigBee and Z-Wave will control your lamps and
    check to see if your doors are locked. They will
    be controlling energy management and monitoring
    appliances.
  • Wibree can monitor your bodys physical data and
    send your heart rate to your cell phone.
  • Wibree in watches to control cell phones and
    extend battery life of in office and mobile
    accessories.

36
Future
  • Expect to see every home appliance
  • network enabled to monitor washer and
  • dryer, vacuum cleaner, heating and cooling,
  • and refrigerator.
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