setup wireless internet on a laptop 1

[StockcarsRus]

I am in the marketing department and I have no idea how to do this. My boss wants to have internet access at a local fair booth using a laptop. The local utility company is going to put wireless on the roof of the building for all of the vendors. What do I need to do to the laptop to connect to this wireless connection so that he can get on the internet.

Thanks for any help

 

[G0AOZ]

Establish what type of wireless access is being provided, i.e. 820.11b, 802.11g or 802.11a. The "b" and "g" standards use the same frequency band (2.4GHz) and are generally interchangeable with "g" offering faster data transfer. The "a" standard uses the 5GHz band and will not talk to "b" or "g".

Assuming your laptop doesn't have built-in WiFi already(many modern ones do), you probably have two options. Fit a USB Wifi device, or plug in a PCMCIA card, making sure it's suitable for the 802.11 standard being provided. Nor sure how far away your booth is likely to be from the Access Point (AP) on the roof, or how many walls, partitions or obstructions the wireless signals will have to go through to reach it. One or two PCMCIA cards have the option of connecting an external antenna. However, if you need to get a little more height in order to get a solid connection, consider a USB device which could be positioned say, on top of your booth, and connected with a (maximum length) 5m USB extension cable.

Hope that helps...


ROGER.

 

[StockcarsRus]

Thanks Roger,

The laptop is an older Pentium 3, but has an available slot for a card. I won't know what signal they will be using on the roof, so I ordered a card that recognizes A, B and G. Will the laptop just recognize the card when I plug it in, or will I have to configure it somehow? With Windows XP, are there any settings that I need to do on internet explorer so it knows that it is connecting via wireless?

Debbie

 

[ronnyjljr]

If it is a newer card Windows XP should recognize the device. After the hardware is installed, Windows XP will alert you when you are in range of a wireless network and offer you the ability to connect.

If the network is setup to use DHCP, no network configuration will need to be done on the card.

If it isn't, your boss should know the ip addresses to enter in to the card.

Secondly, If the wirless network has WEP or WPA enabled, Windows XP will prompt you for a network key, a password basically. This your boss should also know.

Other than that, you should be golden!

Cheers!
~Ron

/**************
Me: When will the project be finished?
Them: What project?
Me: The one you have been working on for the last 3 years!
Them: Ohh, we can't finish it?
Me: Why?
Them: We don't know how to program...

 

[G0AOZ]

When you get your new card it should come with some drivers on a CD. You will need to install the drivers for it to be recognised as a network device and also to give you client software to configure the card. Depending upon your operating system, installation details may vary.

As far as XP is concerned, it's better to use the card vendor's software to configure it, rather than XP's own. So disable Wireless Zero Configuration.

I'd imagine the utility company providing the wireless AP will be running DHCP, so in that case you'll not need to set an I.P. address.

Important thing to check is that you're getting a good strength of signal AND good quality - the vendor software usually includes a connection/line status screen to indicate this.


ROGER.

 

[StockcarsRus]

Hi,
I purchased two a/b/g card and installed the driver on two laptops. I thought that would be all that I need. I talked to my boss finally and he said that they will probably have an ethernet cable coming down from the roof. He told me to use a wireless access station that has an ethernet port at the back of it to plug the cable into coming from their radio. The vendor said that I will need a router if I need to have two laptops communicating with the radio. I am confused. I am confused as to where the router fits into the scenario. I would imagine that the cards would talk to the wireless access station, and then out through the radio on the roof to the internet. If I do need a router, not sure what to hook it to. I hope this makes sense...

Debbie

 

[G0AOZ]

Well it looks like your boss didn't give you the full story first time round...

You said "...they will probably have an ethernet cable coming down from the roof". Is this the roof of your booth? I'll assume that it is...

As I figure it, they're now telling you that they're putting a wireless Access Point (AP) on the roof of your booth. Ethernet connection out of this roof mounted AP comes down to your desk at ground level in Cat5e cable or similar, and plugs into a wireless router. Wireless router radiates signals all around your booth. You then wirelessly connect each laptop to the router.

Go bang their heads together Debbie and get 'em to interface with one another to give you the right info.

ROGER.

 

[StockcarsRus]

Hi Roger,

Yes.. some banging of heads would be in order. I think that you are right on about the wireless router. I have the cards, but no router, so I am up the creek without a paddle. I am going to try and find one today, as the fair opens on Monday! My boss actually said that they will have a radio (AP I presume) he called it a radio...on the roof of the building with an eth cable coming down from the roof to the inside of the building to our booth. So I plug this into a wireless router, I assume and I am all set? I hope that I don't have to configure the laptop cards, cause I don't know how to do this... Oh... I have a headache! Thanks for your help

Cheers

Debbie

 

[G0AOZ]

Well hopefully the vendor will give you details of the AP he's putting on the roof, IP, Gateway, Mask etc. The router you purchase will need some setting up although I think most routers have some pretty good default settings.

Your laptop cards will require some settings, although if you've got the aforementioned details, these ought to be fairly straightforward. Make the SSID the same as your router, NETWORK TYPE should be "infrastructure", and Channel nbr should be same as the router.

Bear in mind that your wireless signals will doubtless be detectable at varying degrees of strength outside of your booth, and without enabling WEP (encryption), you will be making it easier for unscrupulous geeks to login and even read data on your laptops. My advice would be to have minimal data on your PCs which could be of benefit to rival or competing companies etc.

I don't claim to be an expert in these matters, but hopefully you can get this setup running ok Debbie. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

ROGER.