Wireless Networking Tips
For those using a wireless network already but who may not be experts on it just yet or for those thinking about investing in wireless, here are some tips to help you get the most out of this great facility.
What affects wireless?
Firstly let’s look quickly at what affects wireless networks. Wireless devices work best by line-of-sight, their performance is affected by steel framed homes, concrete structures and often other wireless devices. This is because the signal bounces off these obstacles, however more often than not the signal is still reliable despite these influences. Also, because the frequencies that wireless uses are unlicensed, there are a lot of other devices operating on or around these frequencies. Whilst wireless is designed with this in mind, it can sometimes be a source of interference.
Speed
Speed wise, wireless networking is a bit slower than the wired alternative so it may not be suited to large networks, large file sharing or high bandwidth usage. When discussing speeds there are a number of protocols that wireless devices use that determine their speed. This information is usually displayed on the equipment and are:
- 802.11a – very rare protocol and had a speed up to 108mbps but closer to 50mbps in real world over short distance
- 802.11b – older protocol used in first wireless devices with a speed up to 11mbps but closer to half that in real world
- 802.11g – the most popular protocol amongst manufactures with speeds up to 54mbps
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- 802.11n – the newest and most advanced protocol, claims raw speeds up to 600mbps but is more likely near half that and in the real world around 70mbps
Range
As explained above there are a number of protocols which wireless devices are manufactured to comply with. These protocols determine what frequency levels and ranges wireless devices operate within; with out going in to too much detail the frequencies they work at determines the range of the devices. As discussed earlier when we described what affects wireless it is important to note that the ranges are affected by the environment they are in. The advertised ranges of these protocols are:
- 802.11a – due to it unique nature it’s range is very short probably no further than 20 – 30m
line of site
- 802.11b – has a range of about 100m with a clear line of site
- 802.11g – as a slight upgrade on
- 802.11b it’s range is approximately 150m with a clear line of site
- 802.11n – has an advertised range of approximately 175 – 200m with a clear line of site
In a real world environment, with concrete walls and other obstructions the range is effectively half that advertised.
Security
There are a few options for wireless security like MAC filtering and wireless encryption. MAC filtering is not the most trusted form of wireless security and is less flexible in it’s set-up so we’ll be discussing WEP and WPA encryption.
WEP Encryption
WEP is not the most secure encryption option as there is evidence it can be cracked in under 3 minutes. In some cases it may be the only option available as some older wireless devices don’t support other encryption options.
WEP stands for Wireless Equivalent Privacy and essentially involves using a special key combination of random numbers and letters (a-f) as a password, for example a 64 bit key is 656f632f69. There are usually three options available, 64, 128 and 256 bit, one thing to consider is the higher the encryption you choose the more latency, or delay, it will add to your wireless connection. You can find websites online that generate a WEP key for you. To enable this encryption method you’ll need to change the settings on your wireless device such as your modem, and more than likely you’ll need to change it on your PC or laptops wireless network settings.
WPA Encryption
WPA encryption stands for WiFi Protected Access and is similar to WEP encryption setup in that it uses a key code to authenticate a user. The difference is that it automatically changes the key code regularly to make it harder for “hackers” to find out the key combination.
Just like WEP, WPA involves changing the settings on your wireless device and on your PC or laptop. Most computers will have a wizard to help you set it up.
WPA is the most effective encryption available to everyday wireless users and there is very little evidence of certifiable cracks to WPA security. There has however been talk about it affecting wireless devices as the use of WPA security requires a lot more processing power from the device. It has also been rumoured that it can stall devices if too many connections are made.
Hidden SSID
Each wireless access point broadcasts what’s called a 'Service Set Identifier', or SSID for short. When you search for a wireless network, the names you see are the SSIDs. Another security option is hiding ones SSID, this essentially involves hiding your wireless device so your neighbours don’t stumble upon it and have a 'crack' at it.
Interested in getting wireless? See last months Hot Tips for more information on setting up wireless modems and routers in your home.
That’s all we have on wireless for this issue, we hope you found it informative.
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