Questions and answers about home wireless WLAN technology

Wireless networks are becoming increasingly popular, and we can build a small wireless network at home, which inevitably reveals some problems. So let's take a look at some of the home wireless WLAN technology to help you with the answers to the questions.





Home Wireless WLAN technology Q&a 1.WLAN=GPRS?





once had a lot of friends asked, equipped with wireless network card notebook computer in connection with AP can be anywhere wireless internet? Given this incomplete understanding, it is necessary to elaborate. To be precise, WLAN is not really a wireless internet technology, which is defined by its definition (wireless LAN), it is a kind of wireless connection form of LAN. Meanwhile, nor is wireless APs a modem-like modem-switched modem device, which is actually a wireless switch that converts data received from a wired network (such as the Internet) into a wireless signal and sends it back to the wired network by converting the received wireless signal to data. Therefore, if the wireless AP understood as similar to GPRS, anytime, anywhere access to the device is wrong, this "wireless" is not the "wireless".





Home Wireless WLAN technology Q&a 2.EEE 802. 11b or IEEE 802. 11g?





This is a topic that people often discuss, undeniable in performance, the IEEE 802.11g has a great advantage, 54Mbps transmission rate to meet the high bandwidth requirements of the network applications. However, the author believes that the IEEE 802.11b is still the best economic choice for the construction of home wireless LAN. Although its transfer rate is only 11Mbps (the actual value is 500~600KB per second), but this speed is higher than the DSL, LAN and other common broadband type of access speed, fully meet the needs of home users wireless broadband sharing Internet.





Home Wireless WLAN Technology Q&a 3. Wireless network security?





Because wireless networks are not as geographically restricted as wired networks, they can be linked as long as they have wireless signals, so security concerns are a concern. Home wireless network requirements for data confidentiality, although not as strict as the business sector, but in the face of increasingly congested network speed, who do not want their limited bandwidth to be unfamiliar with others to share, so the home wireless network should also choose the appropriate encryption method. There are two main types of comparisons: 64-bit/128-bit WEP data encryption. This is a high degree of security, but because the encryption/decryption process consumes a portion of the wireless network bandwidth, the transmission speed of valid data is affected. The second is to turn off the AP's SSID wireless label, this means that the SSID of the wireless network does not appear in any available network connections, and that the user can only connect when the SSID is entered, and that the AP's SSID is optionally changed when managing the AP (similar to the username and password entered in the login mailbox). Therefore, this method can also play the role of "encryption" without losing the transmission speed and effectively prevent unauthorized users from invading, which is the best precaution for home wireless network.





Home Wireless WLAN Technology Q&a 4. What is the initial authentication password?




As noted earlier in the
, most APS now provide web-style management, and when users first enter the admin interface, they need to enter a username and password (as shown in Figure 3). In general, the manufacturer will indicate the default user name and password of AP factory in its product specification. If you buy second-hand products, no manual can be checked, it is only to the manufacturer's homepage to download the corresponding product manuals. For those wireless APs that have been set up with special accounts and passwords by the "former owner", the default value can be restored by the "factory reset Key".





Home Wireless WLAN Technology Q&a 5. How to put in place?




The placement of
AP is also scientifically available. The wireless signal is essentially a radio frequency signal, there is a problem of interference, and the antenna is a directional element, it can only go to a specific direction of radiation high-intensity Energy, so the placement of the antenna-wireless AP Placement position in a large extent will affect the RF field effect, thus affecting the signal quality and signal strength. For this wireless AP placement, should try to choose the location of open, barrier-free, in general, "centered" position is the best position to obtain the best signal coverage effect.





Implementation to the specific situation, 100 square meters under the general room for two rooms, in the layout of wireless network, wireless AP placed in the living room or several rooms of the intersection, the effect is most ideal, placed in other room signal will be slightly worse. 150 square meters above the huxing, such rooms are generally more complex, the same wireless gateway placed at the intersection of the best effect, placed in other rooms, the signal needs to be tested before you can find wireless signal dead ends.





Home Wireless WLAN Technology Q&a 6. How to view signal strength?





If your computer is using Windows XP or Windows 2000 operating system, you can learn the wireless signal strength by clicking on the Wireless network status icon in the taskbar when the wireless network is connected, which is the most intuitive method of detection.





In addition, the current market most of the PCMCIA interface wireless card with a special management software to match, use it can be detailed query wireless network status, set various functional parameters. Taking Lucent Orinoco as an example, through its own Orinoco Client Manager management software, can realize signal viewing, channel selection, wireless encryption and other functions, set up is also very convenient.





While some branded computers are equipped with proprietary management software that is often more powerful, such as the IBM ThinkPad laptop, with the IBM Access connection software and the wireless adapter, the detection value of the wireless signal strength can be accurate to 1%.





Home Wireless WLAN Technology Q&a 7. What to do when the signal is weak?





This is the problem that every network user may meet, mainly reflected in poor signal quality, data transmission instability and other symptoms. In general, it can be improved by adding an external antenna, setting up a wireless channel, and adjusting the placement of the wireless AP. If the above method still does not resolve the issue, you should consider refreshing the wireless adapter's firmware and upgrading the driver.





Home Wireless WLAN Technology Q&a 8. Is there any interference in the home wireless network?





This is for sure. The material of the room wall, the furnishings of the furniture, and even the switch of the door will affect the wireless signal. Because the working band of the 802.11b/g is 2.4Ghz, and the frequency band of many equipments in industry is also in this frequency band, the 802.11a is much better in terms of anti-jamming. Also noteworthy is that the mobile phone signal to the wireless network interference is relatively large, so in use should be kept away from the wireless AP storage point, so as not to affect the quality of wireless network connection.