Setting Up A Wireless Network for a Home Office or Small BusinessWhat you will need: A wireless router
A broadband Internet connection or an existing Local Area Network (LAN) (Additional fee may be required for Internet access.) |
Wireless Router Installation Dell's Wireless Router Installation Service includes the following: Install and configure one Dell Wireless Router
Install Dell wireless cards and configure wireless PCs
Configure Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption or Wireless Protected Access (WPA) encryption and demonstrate how to change the key
Confirm shared Internet access on wireless PCs, provided a broadband Ethernet connection is available
Enable file and printer sharing between two PCs and demonstrate how to share between additional PCs
Provide a brief wireless hardware orientation
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Setting Up an Access Point If you choose to set it up yourself, there are a few things you can do when you're setting up your broadband router or access point that can help ensure the best performance for you wireless network. Center Your Router
- Place your wireless broadband router or access point near the center of your network.
- Mount the router as high as possible in the room.
- If your network needs to cover two stories, you may need a separate router for each floor.
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Reduce Interference
- Place your broadband router/access point away from computers, televisions, microwaves and cordless phones.
- Dell wireless products operate at 2.4 GHz, the same frequency as many small appliances.
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Connecting Your Router
- Use a Cat-5 ethernet cable to connect your DSL or cable modem to the WAN port located on the back of your broadband router. (See Figure 3.)
- Your access point can also be connected to a Local Area Network with an Ethernet cable.
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Installing a Network Card To transmit data to a wireless network, your laptop or desktop computer will require a wireless PC network card.
PC network cards come in three formats:
- Internal - a card that is hardwired into your laptop. Also referred to as a Mini-PCI card.
- External - a separate PC network card that needs to be plugged into your laptop's PC card slot (commonly located on the side of a laptop. See figure 1.)
- USB Wireless Adapter - a separate device that can be plugged into the USB port of a desktop
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If you ordered a PC card or mini-PCI with your new laptop, the necessary drivers and software should have been installed for you. If you're not sure, please consult your laptop user guide or consult the Dell.com Buying Guide. If you have an older model, you may need to install the appropriate Client Manager utilities from the CD-ROM. If the PC Card and drivers are properly installed, they should appear in the Network Adapters folder found in your laptop's Control Panel. If not, consult the Troubleshooting section of your PC Card user guide. Configuring Your Computer Once all your wireless network hardware is in place, you'll need to create a Configuration Profile or a unique identifier to access the network. This can be done through the Client Manager software installed on your laptop. | 
Center Your Router 
Reduce Interference 
Connecting Your Router 
