| Tornado Computers
is your full service stop for wireless networking. No longer is
wireless networking only for notebook users and big companies.
Today everyone can take advantage of existing and emerging wireless
technologies like 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g. We can show you
how to quickly and easily implement a wireless network that is both easy
to use and secure, and that won't empty your bank account. |
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What is Wireless? |
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Comparing Wireless Features |
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All I have is 2 computers, do I need the
access point? |
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Why use Wireless? |
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What about security? |
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Glossary of common wireless terms |
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What is Wireless? Wireless networks
operate much like your cordless telephone with each computer talking to
a "base station" known as a Wireless Access Point. In fact the
802.11b and 802.11g wireless networks utilize the same 2.4Ghz bandwidth
use by cordless phones; while the 802.11a wireless network uses the
newly opened up 5Ghz bandwidth range. Today the majority of
wireless networks are using 802.11b with a growing number starting to
support 802.11g; the difference between these two is that 802.11b
tops out at 11Mbps and 802.11g at 54Mbps. Several companies, like
D-Link and Linksys are offering "turbo" modes to these two protocols
which allow 802.11b to achieve 22Mbps and 802.11g to reach 72Mbps.
However, you generally must use an access point from the same
manufacturer as your Network interface Card or NIC to use these "turbo"
modes. Meanwhile 802.11a runs at a maximum of 54Mbps without these
"turbo" modes. The other difference that will become apparent
immediately is cost. 802.11b is relatively inexpensive to setup
and operate. 802.11g is becoming less expensive and is designed to
be backward compatible with 802.11b hardware, while costing
only 10-25% more. 802.11a is expensive, costing as much as 50%
more than 802.11b. So where does "WiFi" fit into all of this?
WiFi is simply 802.11b. If you have a device that is WiFi
compatible or compliant then you have an 802.11b device. |
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Comparing
Wireless Features
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All I have are 2
computers, do I need the Access Point?
No, all three of
the wireless standards provide for what is known as AdHoc networking;
whereby two computers can talk together via a wireless connection
without the need for a wireless access point. |
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Why use
wireless?
- Freedom to work anywhere
- Quick, effortless installation
- No cables to buy
- Save cabling time and hassle
- Easy to expand
Wireless networks are rapidly
becoming more popular and coming down in price. Since they don't
require cables, you can use the devices anywhere in an office or
home, even out on the patio. There's no need to roll out an Ethernet
network cable to each room of a house; you can network
anywhere—without wires. Outside of the home or office, wireless
networking is available in hotspots at coffee shops, businesses,
airports—great when you're on the road and need to get some work
done. |
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What about security?
In most wireless networks
security is important. Even in your home network you will
probably want to implement at least minimal security to keep
unauthorized people from accessing your network. Almost all
wireless access point devices include at least WEP encryption and
allow you to control what devices can connect via what is known as
an access control list or ACL. WEP has received a lot of
publicity as not being adequate security for a wireless network.
It is certainly true that given enough time a hacker equipped with
the proper hardware and software can break WEP encryption.
However, simply implementing WEP will keep the majority of home
networks safe from intrusion. Adding an ACL will add another
layer of security that is significantly more difficult to breach.
In general there are 5 things you can do to protect your wireless
network:
- Change the administrative
password for your wireless access point
- Change the SSID (System
Name) your
wireless network uses
- Do not broadcast the SSID
- Implement 128-bit WEP
encryption.
- Implement a hardware ACL
We implement all of these
when we install any wireless network, even in a home environment;
and we encourage all customers to change their administrative
password again once we complete the installation after we have left.
Implementing just the last two items on the above list will secure
most networks from intrusion and will keep 95% or more of the people
out of your wireless network unless you allow them access. |
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Glossary of Common Wireless
Terms |
| 802.11a |
5Ghz
54Mbps Wireless Protocol. Not compatible with 802.11b or
802.11g |
| 802.11b |
2.4Ghz
11Mbps Wireless Protocol. Interoperable with 802.11g |
| 802.11g |
2.4Ghz
54Mbps Wireless Protocol. Interoperable with 802.11b |
| Access
Point |
Wireless
Base Station. This is the central "hub" of a wireless
network. |
| Access
Control List (ACL) |
Usually a
list of devices that are allowed access to a network or
network resource. This is sometimes known as MAC address
filtering. |
| Access
Point/Router |
This is
an Access Point that also includes a Broadband Router. |
| Broadband
Router |
This is a
device that allows one or more computers to share a broadband
(i.e. DSL or Cablemodem) network connection. Most often
these also include a firewall to prevent unauthorized access
from the broadband or wide area network connection and a DHCP
server. |
| DHCP
Server |
The DHCP
server supplies valid IP addresses to a device or system that
makes such a request. In Windows when you have your
TCP/IP settings set to "obtain an IP address automatically"
you are telling the system to look for a DHCP server and get a
valid IP address. These addresses are usually obtained
from a list or pool of addresses and expire after a number of
hours or days. |
| MAC
Address |
A unique
12 digit (96-bit) hex address that is unique and hard-coded
into every network device. The first 6 digits can be
used to identify the manufacturer of a network device while
the remaining digits are like a serial number. No two
devices will have the same MAC address. |
| SSID |
This is
the name by which your wireless network is known.
typically it is broadcast by your Access Point; however, for
security reasons you may want to disable SSID broadcast.
If SSID Broadcast is turned off then you must remember what
the SSID is to connect to your wireless network. |
| WPA
Encryption |
Wireless Protected
Access or WPA is the replacement encryption for WEP.
It is supposed to be more secure since the encryption keys
changes for every packet of data that is transmitted between
the devices based on the device's hardware MAC address |
| WEP
Encryption |
Wireless
Equivalent Privacy Encryption is the most common encryption protocol for
802.11 wireless networks. It's comprised of a 54 or 128
bit key which is used to encrypt/decrypt every packet that is
transmitted via wireless. Since the same key is reused
over and over it is possible, given enough packets, to
determine the WEP key and hack into a wireless network.
However with 128-bit it is prohibitive, timewise, to attempt
to do so. When used with an ACL you have an acceptable
level of security for all but the most sensitive networks. |
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