|
While it won't stop a wireless network from working altogether, interference in
its frequency range can slow it down significantly, as well as reducing its
range. If something is causing interference, the first thing you'll know about
it is when your connection stops working -- unless you know what to look for.
There are two very common causes of wireless interference: wireless phones and
microwave ovens. 2.4Ghz, the most common wireless networking frequency, is also
a commonly-used wireless phone frequency. It is possible, though, to find phones
that use other frequencies. Microwave ovens, on the other hand, operate at
around 2.4Ghz by definition. It should be alright to have devices like these in
your house, but certainly not in the same room as any computer that you plan to
use a wireless connection with.
Wall Construction
Wireless can, in theory, pass through walls and other partitions easily. In
practice, though, some walls are more solid than others, which means that they
are more likely to block some of the signal. Note that it's only your interior
partitions that matter, not the exterior ones. This does, however, include your
floors, if you want the connection to work between levels.
Wireless does well with partitions made from: drywall, plywood, other wood
(including doors), glass.
Wireless has trouble with: brick, plaster, cement, metal, stone,
double-glazed glass.
Basically, it's all to do with how porous the materials are -- ones that let
more of other things through also let more of your wireless signal through.
If you have a wall made of one of the 'bad' materials, it's not the end of
the world. It just means that your wireless connection might have a slower speed
or a shorter range. You may want to spend more than you otherwise would to get
better equipment and overcome this problem.
Decide Your Budget.
You need to stand back, take a look at your needs, and decide how much you're
going to spend. Do you have long distances to cover? Do you want your connection
to go through stone walls? Each factor will help you decide how much you should
be looking to spend -- remember that the more problems you have, the more power
you will need. On the other hand, if you live in a small wooden house, you can
probably just go for the cheapest thing you can find.
Read Reviews.
It's well worth searching a site like amazon.com for wireless equipment, and
taking a look at people's reviews to see what the different brands out there are
like, and what you can get for your money. It is always a very bad idea to buy
something without getting a second, third and fourth opinion, especially if
you're buying it online. If you can, try to get to a computer shop and see some
wireless networking equipment in action before you commit yourself.
Install and Update Windows XP.
Finally, your wireless life will really be improved if you have the latest
version of Windows. Because wireless is such a new technology, it wasn't really
around in any significant way back when Windows 98, ME and 2000 were released,
and support for them wasn't built in to the system. You'll have a lot more
trouble getting wireless to work on systems like these than you would on Windows
XP.
Even if you've got Windows XP, though, that doesn't solve the problem
entirely. Windows XP Service Pack 2 (an updated version of Windows XP) contains
much easier-to-use tools for configuring and using wireless than the un-updated
versions do. If you've been using your copy of Windows for a while without
updating it, you should really make sure you've got all the latest updates from
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com before you go any further.
|
