How to set up a wireless network

Pt. 3 of 5 | 4:30 |

How to set up a home network

Wednesday September 8, 2010

If you want to

connect to a network wirelessly

then you'll of course need to

set up a wireless network

. This is easily done with a

wireless router

but there are some things you should know. In this episode, we'll tell you how to set up your wireless network and how to

encrypt your wireless router

so you can

keep your network secure

Download this episode now

Show Notes

- If you want to connect to your network wirelessly throughout your home and avoid the cable clutter then you'll want your router set up for wireless connections.

- This, of course, means that you'll need a wireless router.

- There are many different types of wireless connection but we recommend 802.11n, which is faster than 802.11g.

- The downside of a wireless network is that others can connect to it and compromise your security, steal your bandwidth or do something illegal... unless you encrypt your network.

- You can encrypt your network with WEP, WPA or WPA2. We recommend only using WEP as a last resort as WPA and WPA2 are much more secure.

- These codes are generally strings of characters. With WPA, they can be letters, numbers, punctuation marks or capital letters.

- The more complex the code, the safer it is but be sure to keep a copy in a secure location so you don't forget it.

- Be aware that wireless connections can be weakened over long distances or if there is too much structure in between the device and the router.

- You can also get more information on router security with our WPA2 tutorial.

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