Wireless Home Networking - Index of

In This Chapter
Chapter 6
Installing Wireless Access
Points in Windows
� Doing your proper planning
� Installing a wireless network access point (AP)
� Modifying AP configuration
In this chapter, we describe the installation and configuration of your wireless
home network’s access point. We explain how to set up and configure
the access point so that it’s ready to communicate with any and all wireless
devices in your home network. In Chapter 7, we describe the process for
installing and configuring wireless network adapters.
Chapters 6 and 7 deal solely with Windows-based PCs. For specifics on setting
up and installing wireless home networking devices on a Mac, see Chapter 8.
Before Getting Started, Get Prepared
Setting up an AP does have some complicated steps where things can go
wrong. You want to reduce the variables to as few as possible to make debugging
any problems as easy as possible. Don’t try to do lots of different things
all at once, such as buying a new PC, installing Windows Vista, and adding a
router, an AP, and wireless clients. (Go ahead and laugh, but lots of people try
this.) We recommend that you follow these steps:
1. Get your PC set up first on a stand-alone basis.
If you have a new computer system, it probably shouldn’t need much
setup because it should be preconfigured when you buy it. If you have
an older system, make sure that no major software problems exist before
you begin. If you have to install a new operating system (OS), do it now.
Bottom line: Get the PC working fine on its own so that you have no problems
when you add functionality.