Wi-Fi Information and Advice

Example: A household has a PC, laptop and a Windows Mobile device. The house has a broadband connection, and all three devices want to connect wirelessly.

There are several different ways of enabling a house or small office for wi-fi, but we'll concentrate on one of the more common options. Also, as they're such a range of wireless devices out there, we can't hope to offer a walkthrough for every situation, so we're keeping it general:

• In a basic 'wired' setup, a PC is connected to broadband via a USB modem. For the setup we're going to cover in this example, you'll need a wireless router combined with a broadband ADSL modem. You'll need to replace the existing broadband modem with a wireless network access router. Most wireless routers have one or more ethernet connectors, allowing a direct cable connection to the PC. If you're looking for a wireless router, take a look at one of the BT Voyager range, or if you're with www.bt.com/btbroadband/, consider a Home Hub, which is a wireless broadband router.
• You will need to connect the router to your phone socket (for broadband), and then establish a connection between the router and the PC - you will need a PCI or USB ethernet adapter for this (available from the likes of PC World and Dabs.com).
• Once connected, you can then use your PC to connect to the router and set up access to the Internet and the other wireless devices
• If the laptop or PDA have built-in wi-fi, then setup should be straightforward, otherwise you may need to get a connectivity card. Once the mobile device is wi-fi enabled, it's a case of setting up the device to connect to the Internet via the router

If you're looking for more guidance, ask in our wi-fi forum - it'll help us to get this page updated too...

Update: BT offering free wi-fi router, the BT Home Hub on selected broadband packages - see www.bt.com/btbroadband/

Try disabling security (WPA or WEP) at both ends, at least until you can establish an insecure connection. As soon as you get the connection working, remember to re-enable WPA or WEP, for security purposes. On the PC, this can be set from Control panel | Network connection | <wifi card icon> | Wireless Network tab | Properties.

Remember to re-enable your WPA or WEP for a secure connection.

Temporarily turn off any firewalls you may have to see if that solves things. On our test network, we had a copy of Norton Security's firewall, and although we'd configured the firewall to allow our PC to connect to the Internet, the firewall saw the attempt by the Pocket PC to connect to the PC as an intrusion and blocked it. The workaround for Norton Personal Firewall is to allow the IP address of the Pocket PC through (Personal Firewall | Configure button | Networking tab | Add trusted | IP address).

Remember that turning off your firewall presents a risk of others accessing your system.

To stop people accessing your Internet connection or your network, you need security. Originally, this was done using WEP, but now more commonly with WPA.

The basic security used for wireless networking involves having a 64-bit WEP key. In fact this is only 40-bits, and is normally expressed as a ten digit hexadecimal key. (Hexadecimal is the number range 0-9 and A-F). An example of a suitable WEP key would be: 4C72F08AE1.

WPA is a more secure security protocol, and should be used as a preference over WEP

Both ends of a secure WiFi connection need to use exactly the same WPA or WEP key. Your router hold the WPA or WEP key and each bit of equipment connecting to it will need that key.

If connecting via work, ask your administrator. In a home setup, go to the PC wi-fi utility and enter the same key as the one set up on your router.

You already know what a webcam can do for you... but what about a wi-fi camera? Having a camera without wires allows you to position a webcam in a load more places, and means that you're not required to keep your PC powered.

This opens up a range of options, such as: wireless security camera, the ability to keep an eye on your pet while you're at work, a door-entry camera, time-lapse photography, or covert monitoring. These are now available for under £100

More details on our wi-fi Webcam page

If you're looking for a wider choice of radio, consider a wi-fi radio - these can pick up stations from around the world... stations that have made their services available as a stream over the Internet. There's thousands of stations available.

If the idea of a huge radio choice appeals, you may wish to take a look at the Revo range of Internet Radios. These use wi-fi to access streaming radio stations from around the world, and support Real Audio and Windows Media formats. They makes use of an existing wi-fi network to access the world's Internet stations without relying on a USB dongle connected to a PC. You also don't need to have your PC switched on.

As an alternative, there's also the Acoustic Energy Wi-Fi Internet Radio, which is available from Play for £150.

Something wifi-related for TV addicts - In June 2006, the Slingbox became available in the UK - this connects into your TV system and your wi-fi network, so that you can watch TV from elsewhere over the Internet (at work, while travelling, etc). If you have a PVR (such as Sky+), you can take remote control and set your recorder while you're out. Clever stuff.

Available from AdvancedMP3players. More on Radioandtelly's Slingbox page

wi-fi 802.11 has a typical range of around 140 metres (outdoors, with clear line of site). Indoors, you can expect around 38 metres with 802.11b/g - this will be less with each wall/floor the signal passes through. This increases with the newer 802.11n protocol. wi-fi devices with a decent, directional aerial can obviously get a better distance than PDAs and USB sticks that don't have a decent aerial.

If you can't get the range you need, get a wi-fi range extender. We've found one at Maplin, the Network Range extender. These can be placed around your home or office to fill in dead spots or to extend range. You can also try Dabs.com for wireless network extenders.

More suggestions: Listen to our podcast on the subject: Wi-Fi Issues

Even wider range? wi-fi does have a fairly low range. There are proposals for a service called WiMax, which will offer a coverage measured in miles not metres, but it's not here yet. If you need to get Internet over a wider distance - consider getting Mobile Broadband using a USB dongle. More on our USB Dongle page

Apple's popular iPhone and iTouch are both wi-fi enabled. It's possible to surf the net, access emails, browse Google Maps and do a whole stack of other things with an Apple iPhone or iTouch and a wi-fi connection.

If you need help setting up wi-fi on an Apple iPhone or iTouch, see our Apple iPhone FAQ.

If wi-fi isn't the answer for you, but you need a way of sending data around your house without wires - a HomePlug might be what you need.

HomePlugs, also known as Powerline Adapters use your home's mains wiring to send and receive data. Get a pack of two, and use them for Ethernet wiring. Clever eh?

More on our HomePlug page.

Featured product: The Tritium Flatenna

If you're looking to extend the range of your wireless network, you could splash out on some booster hardware or powered aerials, but you may find a simpler and cheaper solution - the Flatenna. This rather novel product is a reflector that slots over the top of your wireless access point aerial, and allows you to focus the wi-fi signal to target another piece of wi-fi equipment.

Tritium's site boasts that the product offers a 7db increase, and in our tests using a Belkin wireless router connecting to a Pocket PC with a Netgear wi-fi card, we did indeed see a signal increase (between 12% and 34% depending on the location we moved to). We also saw an increase of range as long as we stayed within the target direction. Line-of-sight with no objects

The Flatenna is supplied 'flatpacked' with instructions, and it was easy to put together. The Flatenna, from UK firm Tritium, is 280 x 90mm when constructed, and is available for £6.99 from www.tritium.co.uk