Wi -Fi home set-up

[Chestery]

Hello there, I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop which has Windows XP operating system running on it. I have a Linksys wireless router and I want to configure a Wi -Fi home set-up so that I am able to access the Internet from any corner of the house but a friend of mine is saying it is not safe as other people can use the Wifi connection which could be dangerous. So I want to know how to set up a home Wifi network and to keep it safe? Any help regarding the topic is more than appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Florence_USA]

To configure a Wireless home network, you will have to configure the wireless router properly. If the router is not configured properly then the wireless network will not work properly. To configure the router, open the browser and type the default IP address of the router in the address bar. The default IP address of the router can be found out by referring the user manual. Once the default IP address is entered, the system will prompt for the user name and password. Enter the proper information and open the configuration page. Get the proper settings from the ISP and configure the router as per the settings provided. Save the configuration and reboot the router. Now see if the laptop is able to connect to the router or not.

[Theodot]

Other users can connect to your wireless network only if the network is not password protected. If the network is password protected, the user will be prompted for an authentication password when the network is tried to connect. You can keep a unique password for the network which you have configured. To keep the password for the wireless network, login to the router and open the configuration page, in the validation password tab, enter the password which you want to keep and save the configuration. Restart the router. Now everytime any user tries to connect to the network, password will be prompted.

[Panchu]

There are various channels on which the Wireless network works. You can select the lowest frequency channel which is supported by the router and the laptop which you are using so that the signal is only available inside the house. Normally the G band of Wireless communication has a weak signal than the N band of the wireless communication. Therefore if the router is using G band to communicate with the laptop, the signal will not be strong and hence will not be available to users outside. To select the appropriate channel for communication, login to the router and go to configuration page. Change the channel of communication and log out from the router while saving the changes that are made.

[Otilio]

There is option for encrypting the wireless network which helps in preventing any unwanted user to use the network. There are various encryption types which are available such as WPA, WPA2 and WEP. You can select any of the encryption depending on which is supported by the router and the operating system of the laptop. Once the network is encrypted, the user has to enter a valid encryption key while connecting to the network. If the encryption key is not entered, no connection to the network is established.

[axey-boy]

when setting up your router you can specify a password that you have to enter to access the wifi..