FAQ
Q: Why Build a Wireless Home Network?
Q: What Hardware is Required to Build a Wireless Network?
Q: How Many Computers Can Share a WiFi Network?
Q: Can a Wireless LAN Share Dial-up Internet Service?
Q: Can Two Routers Be Used on the Same Home Network?
Q: Is 5 GHz Wi-Fi Computer Hardware Better than 2.4 GHz?
Q: Is It Legal to Use Open Access Wi-Fi Internet Connections?
Q: What is WiFi Ad-Hoc Mode?
Q: What is WiFi Infrastructure Mode?
Q: Are 802.11b and 802.11g Compatible?
Q: How Can I Get 300 Mbps Speed on My 802.11n Network?
Q: What Are the Limitations of WiFi Ad-Hoc Mode Networking?
Q: Do Wireless Routers Support Hybrid Networks?
Q: What is Wi-Fi Bridging Mode?
Q: How Does Wi-Fi Use Affect Computer Battery Life?
Q: Can Wi-Fi Be Turned Off for Computers and Routers?
Q: What Is Wireless Spread Spectrum Communication?
Q: What Is Wibree?
Q: Are Wireless Networks Secure?
Q: What Are WEP Keys?
Q: What Is a Passphrase?
Q: What Is Wardriving?
Q: WEP - Wired Equivalent Privacy
Q: WPA - Wi-Fi Protected Access
Q: Enable WEP or WPA
Q: Why Build a Wireless Home Network?
A: A network (either wired or wireless) increases the usefulness of your home computers. Wireless home networks offer even more benefits than wired ones.
Q: What Hardware is Required to Build a Wireless Network?
A: Strictly speaking, no hardware other than wireless adapters is required to build a small wireless LAN (WLAN).
Q: How Many Computers Can Share a WiFi Network?
A: The exact number of devices that can connect and effectively share a WiFi varies but is probably larger than you think.
Q: Can a Wireless LAN Share Dial-up Internet Service?
A: Try either of these two approaches for setting up shared dial-up Internet access on a home WLAN.
Q: Can Two Routers Be Used on the Same Home Network?
A: Installing two routers on the same home network can be useful when building a hybrid wired and wireless network or generally expanding the existing capability.
Q: Is 5 GHz Wi-Fi Computer Hardware Better than 2.4 GHz?
A: Mainstream wireless network equipment used in routers and computers generally signals in either a 2.4 GHz range or a 5 GHz range. However, just because it carries a bigger number, 5 GHz hardware is not necessarily better than 2.4 GHz hardware.
Q: Is It Legal to Use Open Access Wi-Fi Internet Connections?
A: Wi-Fi technology simplifies the sharing of network connections between multiple computers and people. However, using someone else's Internet service may not be legal even if it is open access.
Q: What is WiFi Ad-Hoc Mode?
A: On wireless computer networks, ad-hoc mode is a method for wireless devices to communicate with each other peer-to-peer.
Q: What is WiFi Infrastructure Mode?
A: In wireless networking, infrastructure mode bridges a WLAN with a wired Ethernet LAN and allows Wi-Fi networks to support more clients with greater reach.
Q: Are 802.11b and 802.11g Compatible?
A: 802.11b and 802.11g are both popular standards for Wi-Fi home networking.
Q: How Can I Get 300 Mbps Speed on My 802.11n Network?
A: 802.11n network equipment supports up to 300 Mbps of rated bandwidth under certain conditions as described here. Unfortunately, sometimes an 802.11n network will operate at much lower speeds.
Q: What Are the Limitations of WiFi Ad-Hoc Mode Networking?
A: WiFi ad-hoc mode networking allows devices to connect wirelessly without the need for a central access point or router. However, ad-hoc WiFi also suffers from some key limitations as described here.
Q: Do Wireless Routers Support Hybrid Networks?
A: Many (but not all) wireless routers support hybrid local area networks containing a mix of wired Ethernet and WiFi clients.
Q: What is Wi-Fi Bridging Mode?
A: In Wi-Fi networking, bridging mode allows two or more wireless access points (APs) to communicate with each for the purpose of joining multiple LANs.
Q: How Does Wi-Fi Use Affect Computer Battery Life?
A: The Wi-Fi network protocol requires electric power to operate the radios used to send and receive data. Using Wi-Fi on a computer or handheld device can significantly increase its power consumption (shortening battery life).
Q: Can Wi-Fi Be Turned Off for Computers and Routers?
A: To save power and somewhat improve your network’s security, you should consider turning off the Wi-Fi radios on both the router and all computers when not using wireless connections.
Q: What Is Wireless Spread Spectrum Communication?
A: A set of techniques that have been used in radio communications for decades, spread spectrum is also employed in modern Wi-Fi networking to enhance reliability, increase bandwidth and/or improve security of wireless computer connections.
Q: What Is Wibree?
A: Wibree is not much related to Wi-Fi the name notwithstanding; instead, Wibree is a short-range wireless technology more comparable to Bluetooth.
Q: Are Wireless Networks Secure?
A: No computer network is truly secure, but how does wireless network security stack up to that of traditional wired networks?
Q: What Are WEP Keys?
A: A WEP key is a security code used on some WiFi wireless networks. WEP keys allow a group of devices on a local network to exchange encoded messages with each other. A WEP key is a sequence of digits and sometimes letters.
Q: What Is a Passphrase?
A: A passphrase is one or a few small words chosen for use as a security setting. In computer networking, the passphrase represents a long password. In Wi-Fi home networking, the passphrase may be used to generate static WEP keys.
Q: What Is Wardriving?
A: Legal and ethical issues aside, the practice of wardriving has helped to raise awareness of the importance of WLAN security.
Q: WEP - Wired Equivalent Privacy
A: WEP is a helpful but controversial security feature for Wi-Fi home networks that scrambles wireless network traffic so it can not be easily interpreted by humans.
Q: WPA - Wi-Fi Protected Access
A: The WPA wireless security standard improves on the WEP standard by supporting authentication and stronger encryption.
Q: Enable WEP or WPA
A: Use WPA encryption on your WiFi network as the preferred choice but, if necessary, consider WEP as an alternative.
