• Microsoft Vista Home Networking Setup and Options
The most daunting part of upgrading to Windows Vista may be trying to figure out where in the layers of menus the networking and file-sharing options are hidden.
• Tips for Securing Your Home Router
Seemingly minor and easily overlooked settings can still have profound security implications. Here are some steps you can take to make sure your wired or wireless home router — and by extension, your network — is as secure as possible.
Most Popular Reviews
• Microsoft Windows Home Server
If you have a home network, you'll welcome the easy file sharing, remote access and the image-based backup features of Windows Home Server.
• Iomega StorCenter Network Hard Drive
Iomega's fourth generation StorCenter Network Hard Drive brings many of the features found in higher-end storage devices down to an attractive price.
• MikroTik's The Dude
This free tool delivers many of the same capabilities that you'd find in pricey network monitoring tools. As long as you don't mind tinkering, The Dude is a decent network utility that should be worth the download.
802.11b (WiFi) cards can communicate in two different modes:
"Ad Hoc"- For direct card-to-card
communication.
"Infrastructure" - For communication
through an Access Point. [see
this page]
NOTE:
Some cards also provide an 802.11 Ad-Hoc mode. This
really isn't just there to confuse you, but to accomodate the fact that
there are different implementations of "Ad Hoc" networking
supported by different manufacturers:
802.11 Ad-Hoc is the newer implemenation and
requires cards to be set both to the same
channel and have the same ESSID in order to
communicate.
Ad-Hoc is an older implemenation and requires only
that cards be set to the same channel and ignores
the ESSID setting.
We recommend that you use the "802.11 Ad-Hoc"
setting if your cards provide it, since it's slightly more secure.
If you are trying to set up a network of all wireless devices and do not
have an "Access Point" to connect the wireless network into an
Ethernet network, you will need to set your cards to operate in
"AdHoc" mode.
When you install your client cards, set the wireless Properties as follows:
1) Channel
Set your card to any channel. But all computers that need to
communicate need to be set to the same channel number.
2)
Mode (or Network Type)
Set to 802.11 Ad-Hoc (or AdHoc if that's
your only choice).
3) SSID
(or ESSID [Extended Service Set IDentifier])
You may choose any code (subject to the rules and limiations of your
driver software), but use the same code for all cards that need to
communicate.
NOTE: This is not the same as the BSSID (Basic Service Set IDentifier),
which is usually based on the MAC address of the card.
4)
Encryption (or WEP)
Set to disable. You can set this up after you get your connection
working. See this page for
help.
If you've set all the above wireless Properties correctly and can't
get a connection, check your TCP/IP properties.
If you have a DHCP server available on one of the wireless LAN
clients, you can use it. Just set the wireless card's TCP/IP
properties to obtain IP info from a DHCP server (or obtain info
automatically). Be sure that there is no gateway info
entered and that DNS is disabled. Sometimes doing a manual Release All / Renew
using either winipcfg or ipconfig
will get things working, even after a reboot.
If you don't have a DHCP server available, you'll need to set
your TCP/IP properties manually. If this is a brand-new
network, the Client
setup instructions on this page should work. The
most important thing is that you have the IP address of each card
set to a unique number in the same "Class C"
subnet.
Example: If you choose to use the 192.168.0.X
subnet, make sure your client cards are each set to a different
IP address such as 192.168.0.2, 192.168.0.3,
etc. Use a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0
NOTE:
Some cards also provide an 802.11 Ad-Hoc mode. This
really isn't just there to confuse you, but to accomodate the fact that
there are different implementations of "Ad Hoc" networking
supported by different manufacturers:
