Nibbles & Bytes - Computer Tips, Tricks, and Hints

Q: Our family has two computers. We're currently using America Online, on a dial-up connection. We want to move to broadband. The cable company says we can network the computers, but we don't really know how. Is this difficult, and can we do it ourselves?

A: Lots of people have done this themselves without too much trouble, and you can, too. The most difficult part is setting up security, if you're using wireless. Otherwise, it's pretty straightforward. The basics of networking are pretty simple. There are four ways to do it: Ethernet (with cables), HomePlug (through the electrical outlets), HomePNA (through telephone outlets) and Wi-Fi (wireless). Several companies make networking equipment for the consumer market. Three big ones are D-Link, Belkin and Linksys. All of them have their product catalogs online. Even if you buy at a store, you can learn about the equipment through the Internet.

All three companies offer configurators on their Web sites. These walk you through the buying process step-by-step. You can use them to figure out exactly what equipment you need. Stop the process when you get to the shopping cart, if you're not ready to buy.

Here are the Web addresses:

http://web.belkin.com/config/network2/index0.asp
http://www.dlink.com/configurator_v2.0/index.asp?vendorID=dlink
http://www.linksys.com/configurator/

Even better, Belkin and Linksys offer tutorials. They describe
connections on a very simple level. Most anyone should be able to handle this. The Linksys tutorial is exceptional. It is simple and thorough.

In addition to the hardware, Linksys describes the security settings
that must be made. Wireless has inherent security problems, because the computing is done with radio waves. Without security, anyone can get onto your network and into your business.

Here's where you can find the tutorials:

http://www.linksys.com/edu/
http://www.belkin.com/networking/net_basic/net_basic1.html

So, here's the difficult part. To be secure, data transmitted over a
wireless system must be encrypted. You may run into one of two
encryption systems: WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) and WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access). WPA is the later and much better standard. Be sure your equipment provides it.

WEP is weak because it continues to use the same encryption key until you change it. Someone trying to break a WEP key using specialized hacker software can do so, because it doesn't change. WPA changes the key periodically. An attacker probably wouldn't have time to crack it. Additionally, the WPA key's encryption level is exponentially more difficult to break.

Changes also have to be made in your computers' operating systems. The instructions with your networking equipment should explain that. They should also explain how to set up the firewall in your router. All of these companies offer tech support if you rub into any problems.

Good luck!!

mailto:jr-mitchell@comcast.net

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