Welcome to the wireless broadband page, wireless broadband
is used to deploy your broadband connection all over
your home without cables and makes using the Internet
with broadband much more comfortable. This is because
wireless broadband is mainly used with laptops and as
there are no cables you are not restricted to where
you can use the Internet, you can be lay in bed or sat
on the sofa and you will still be able to use the Internet
instead of being sat at your PC.
To use wireless broadband you have to have a modem
or router that has the wireless feature, there are
broadband packages offered by the likes of BT, Wanadoo,
NTL, AOL that come with a wireless modem or you can
buy a wireless router to use with your current broadband
connection. Getting a broadband package that has a
wireless modem included is better for two reasons:
it is cheaper as you do not have to buy a separate
router and it is also easier to set up as there are
less complicated settings.
If you already have a broadband package then you have two
choices: switch to a broadband package that has a wireless
modem or buy a wireless router. A wireless router is used
by plugging your broadband modem into the wireless router
which then broadcasts the broadband Internet connection all
over your home, they also usually have ethernet ports so that
you can also connect computers that are close to the wireless
router using ethernet cables. Setting up a wireless router
requires the settings of your broadband connection which you
will have usually got when you signed up, these are usually
the user name and password and a few other settings.
A wireless router basically creates a wireless network so
as well as being able to use broadband wirelessly you can
also access files on other computers on the wireless network
or play network games. To use a wireless router you will need
to configure the computers that will access the wireless router,
this is quite simple as it usually involves using the Windows
control panel to set up a wireless network and making sure
that all of the computers on the wireless network use the
same Windows Workgroup (you can just leave this as the default).
An important consideration when using a wireless network is
that the signal can be broadcast over a large area so there
may be other people that have a wireless laptop and may be
able to access your computers and files by accessing your
wireless network. This can be prevented by using a network
key, this is like a password that you set in the wireless
router's control panel which you then have to enter into every
computer or laptop that accesses your wireless network. The
router will then encrypt all of the data that is broadcast
and the computers and laptops will not be able to decipher
the data unless they have the network key, Windows will remember
the network key once you have entered it so there is no need
to keep re-entering the network key so you can easily prevent
unwanted access to your computers while using a wireless network.
To use wireless broadband you will need a laptop that has
a wireless connection, you can get wireless USB adaptors for
laptops that do not have a wireless connection but these can
be cumbersome as they are easily caught when moving around.
Most laptops now have a wireless connection built into the
laptop which are very easy to use as they usually have a button
on the laptop that turns the wireless connection on or off.
Most wireless modems and routers have a large range so you
can use your laptop with the wireless broadband Internet connection
all over your home and even in the garden, it is so nice to
be sat outside or lay on your bed using broadband and so much
more comfortable than being sat at your PC!
There are also devices that you can buy to enhance your wireless
reception in your home, if you have very thick walls or a
very large house you may have reception problems and some
other devices can interfere with the wireless reception. You
can buy larger ariels and more powerful routers that can broadcast
the wireless signal over very large areas, these are very
rarely needed though for home usage as the vast majority of
homes will be fine with a standard wireless modem or router.
So it is easy to enjoy wireless broadband in your home and
be set free from your PC, all you need is a broadband Internet
package that includes a wireless modem such as those offered
by AOL, BT, NTL or Wanadoo or you can buy a wireless router
to make your current broadband connection wireless. Broadband
is very cheap these days and the wireless packages are also
quite cheap, you are best off shopping around at BT, NTL,
Wanadoo, AOL or the other broadband providers to find the
cheap deals.
