How to install wireless network home

The average US adult spends 24 hour per week online. Sometimes, the solution can be as simple as changing up where your router is located within your home. There are a variety of different signal issues that can come up when trying to provide wireless coverage to your entire home. In most cases, this is exactly where a mesh network can be most useful, allowing you to spread apart nodes that all provide direct access to your network. It may cost more than alternative solutions, but for larger homes, the investment will likely be worthwhile.

There are many different types of WiFi extension products on the market, and not all of them are made equally. All of these types of products are meant to do the same thing: make strong WiFi available in more of your house. These types of products are some of the most common you will find in retail stores and online.

In some situations, this may not be too much of an issue, but in homes with many users or connected devices, it can ultimately mean disappointingly slow performance. My customers often ask me the differences in the various modems, routers, range extenders and other networking components that our company sells and I will cover these differences in steps 2 and 3. Your Internet Service Provider is the company you pay regularly usually a monthly basis for your internet service.

It is possible you do not have one, but usually most people have their internet plans packaged in with either cable television, home telephone, or even cellphone data plans. If you don't know who your ISP is, I would either ask your head of household or landlord.

I would say as a generalization that most people either have cable internet or DSL internet. These are the main types commonly referred to as "high-speed internet" in advertisements. The main difference between the two is that cable internet is run through various areas the same way as cable television and DSL internet is provided through existing phone lines. Satellite internet is also an option; however, service can be unpredictable with weather and plans are usually a lot more expensive.

The importance of knowing your ISP and knowing the service plan you have is that you know the internet speeds you are paying for. This does not mean that you should go out and get the most expensive plan. My current roommates are all online gamers and we were able to find a great deal for what we have.

Many times the ISPs will send out advertisements for current promotions they are having if they provide service in your area. An internet modem is the device that takes the signals it receives and converts it into a usable signal that it sends to the router for distribution.

Modem stands for modulator-demodulator and what it basically does is rapidly encode and decode the signals it sends and receives. Similarly the information it receives needs be formatted for immediate use.

Without the modem itself, you won't be able to access the internet. Most Internet Service Providers will try to provide the modem and charge you an additional rental fee in your bill every month.

I usually recommend people replace these modems, because their network can be more effective overall and in the long run they can save a lot of money. Above is an example of a Motorola Surfboard modem. This is an entry level modem that should work well in any small to medium sized home. When considering what modem to get, we need to look at the specifications that it has. Upstream and downstream channels are a general measure of how quickly the modem can send and receive data packets.

If you live alone or don't have too many connected devices it might just be better to have something at or slightly above entry level. Reduce interference. Some networking equipment uses a 2. This is the same frequency as most microwaves and many cordless phones. If you turn on the microwave or get a call on a cordless phone, your wireless signal might be temporarily interrupted.

You can avoid most of these issues by using a cordless phone with a higher frequency, such as 5. Security is always important; with a wireless network, it's even more important because your network's signal could be broadcast outside your home.

If you don't help secure your network, people with PCs nearby could access info stored on your network PCs and use your Internet connection. Change the default user name and password. This helps protect your router. Most router manufacturers have a default user name and password on the router and a default network name also known as the SSID. Someone could use this info to access your router without you knowing it.

To help avoid that, change the default user name and password for your router. See the documentation for your device for instructions. Set up a security key password for your network. Wireless networks have a network security key to help protect them from unauthorized access. See the documentation for your router for more detailed info, including what type of security is supported and how to set it up. In Windows 7 or Windows 8. Select Set up a new network , then choose Next.

The wizard will walk you through creating a network name and a security key. Write down your security key and keep it in a safe place. You can also save your security key on a USB flash drive by following the instructions in the wizard. Use a firewall. A firewall is hardware or software that can help protect your PC from unauthorized users or malicious software malware. Running a firewall on each PC on your network can help control the spread of malicious software on your network, and help protect your PCs when you're accessing the Internet.

Windows Firewall is included with this version of Windows. Select the Network or Wifi icon in the notification area.