Wireless Home Networking - Index of

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Part V: The Part of Tens
Most of the time, this is a configuration issue dealing with your service set
identifier (SSID) and your security configurations with Wi-Fi Protected Access
(WPA2) or Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). Your SSID denotes your service
area ID for your LAN, and your WEP controls your encryption keys for your
data packets. Without both, you can’t decode the signals traveling through
the air.
Bring up your wireless configuration program, as we discuss in Chapter 7,
and verify again that your SSID is set correctly and your WPA2 passphrase or
WEP key is correct. Most configuration programs will find all the wireless
transmitters in your area. If you don’t see yours, you have set up your AP in
stealth mode so it does not broadcast its name. If that’s the case, you can try
typing the word any into the SSID to see whether it finds the AP, or you can
go back to your AP configuration using a wired connection and copy the
SSID from the AP’s configuration screen — keep in mind that SSIDs are case
sensitive.
If neither of those issues is the problem, borrow a friend’s laptop with a
compatible wireless connection to see whether his or her card can find and
sign on to your LAN when empowered with the right SSID and WPA2 or WEP
code. If it can, you know that your client card may have gone bad.
If a card (or any electronics, generally speaking) is going to go bad, most
have technical problems within the first 30 days.
If your friend’s PC cannot log on, the problem may be with your AP. At this
point, we have to say “Check the vendor’s Web site for specific problemsolving
ideas and call its tech-support number for further help.”
Q: How do I get my video games to work on my wireless LAN?
This question has an easy answer and a not-so-easy answer. The easy answer
is that you can get your Xbox, PlayStation 2, or GameCube onto your wireless
LAN by linking the Ethernet port on your gaming device (if necessary, by purchasing
a network adapter kit to add an Ethernet port on your system) with a
wireless bridge — which gets your gaming gear onto your wireless network in
an easy fashion. You just need to be sure to set your bridge to the same SSID
and WEP key or WPA passphrase as your LAN.
That’s the easy part, and you should now be able to access the Internet from
your box.
The tough part is allowing the Internet to access your gaming system. This
requirement applies to certain games, two-way voice systems, and some
aspects of multiplayer gaming. You may need to open certain ports in your
router to enable those packets bound for your gaming system to get there.
This process is called port forwarding (or something like that — vendors
love to name things differently among themselves). Port forwarding basically
says to the router that it should block all packets from accessing your system