You may have already made the decision to use a wireless network connection for your next computer installation because of the lower installation price alone. Yes, a wireless connection of some kind costs more than a few hundred feet of twisted pair networking-ready cable, but it costs less than what you'll pay for the cable installation. Multiply the costs if your state demands union labor or if conduit for all cable runs is required by your building code. Multiply again if your building falls inside any protected historical areas, because you'll have to get government or historical district permission to drill any holes in walls or floors to run network cable. Funny how network cable doesn't always turn out to be inexpensive or cost effective.Small offices with two or three computers are good candidates for wireless networking from the start. Installing wireless network connectors in three computers sitting in the same small office allows peer-to-peer networking with no need for additional equipment. Each computer's wireless network adapter communicates with all other network adapters in the area and can share the computer resources of another computer (assuming that computer has had its resources configured as shared resources). Share the printer of the person at the far end of the room? No problem. Let that person use the spreadsheet template you have stored on your hard drive? Again, no problem.
An access point provides either a link between the wireless and wired networks, or a distance extender for the wireless network. Because most existing networks use at least some wired devices, connecting the wireless network packets to the wired network requires an access point to link the two networks. Access points may have extra network management or security features, but many just help the wireless network clients access the wired network.Access points can sometimes be used as distance extenders. Let's imagine that our three-computer network customer needs to add a fourth computer in the shipping room. If the shipping room is next door, the Wi-Fi network will almost certainly include all four devices. If the shipping room is four doors down, however, you'll need to add an access point between the existing office and the shipping room. For example, you may put an access point in the third room down from the original office to boost the signal from the shipping room computer so it will reach the office.Connecting to the outside world requires another piece of equipment to act as go-between for your internal wireless network and an outside network (like the Internet). Although some access points include software to link to an outside network, those functions usually come in gateway products.You say gateway and I say router, and they both do the same job. Look past these interchangeable names and instead focus on the functions provided. Gateways include software to provide security (NAT, or Network Address Translation, routing) and network node management (DHCP, or Dynamic Host Control Protocol). NAT changes the unique IP address for a node into another IP address for use on another network. ISPs (Internet service providers) allow small customers only one or two IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, forcing the use of a NAT device to allow multiple internal computers to connect to the Internet by allocating each outgoing packet an identifying extension so the incoming packet can be properly routed back to the originating system. This also provides a valuable security function, especially when the internal network addresses use one of the ranges not allowed to run across the Internet (such as the 10.0.0.0 network address range). Internal systems can't be seen or identified by outside hackers, increasing security.DHCP parcels out the IP address and network configuration information to network devices when those devices boot up and look for information. Because these DHCP servers must be up and running at all times to support other network devices, using a gateway or router makes sense for this service.So the rule is that access points link networks but don't always provide extra functions beyond that. Gateways and routers link networks as well, but include additional network management and security. When you need these extra features, either a gateway or router will generally fit the bill.
Placing access points and their antennas carefully maximizes your coverage and minimizes leakage of the wireless signal (which opens security holes). Whenever possible, place your wireless access points in the middle of the room rather than by an outside wall. Wi-Fi radio signals penetrate both walls and glass, so placing an access point by a window may attract war drivers, hackers who look for Wi-Fi signals from careless users so they can surf the Web for free (at best) or hack into your network (at worst).Access points situated high up and in the clear cover large, open areas best. A warehouse, for instance, can use a wireless network to great advantage. Wireless access points require electricity, but not a network cable connection. Although it may be prohibitively expensive to run network cables across the ceiling of your warehouse, you already have electrical power up there for lights. Take advantage of that and network-enable a warehouse for a fraction of the cost of wiring cable.Wi-Fi networks degrade gracefully when you push their distance limits. Typically, a client will get a good signal from an access point 75 to 150 feet away. Open areas like outdoors or in the aforementioned warehouse may allow full signal strength up to 1,000 feet. Thick interior walls may cut signals altogether, creating a need for an access point in each room. 802.11a's higher frequency provides greater bandwidth but spans a shorter distance.Use a signal strength meter or a laptop client's wireless connection utility to verify adequate coverage before tying down your access point locations. Sometimes relatively minor placement changes of your wireless access point can make a big difference in your signal strength, so build some flexibility into your network design.Experienced network users in your company will notice little or no difference when moved to a wireless connection from a wired one. Users of wireless laptops will appreciate the freedom to move yet stay connected, as we show in the use it section.
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