Information dissemination

Why do you need wireless internet? Is it necessary and can't you do without it? This section is to discuss these questions and also to present some useful information regarding wireless internet setup.

Ofcourse, you can live without it and it is not a mandatory thing while it has its own advantages. For me, out of all the other advantages, the biggest advantage is that I can save one ethernet cable which can be used for something else :-p. Wireless internet is useful when you have the modem, router and all that garbage in some corner of the house where you cannot sit all day. I feel like a dog tied to a chain if I tie my laptop to an ethernet cable connected to the modem. Well, if you have a laptop, that too a sleek, portable, feather weight with all its hype about portability,mobility etc how much of it is really put to use if all you are doing is sitting in a corner tied to your modem or router with a small wire (tripping over it sometimes)?

When we talk about wireless, every lame person immediately points out SECURITY and passes a decree saying that wireless is not secure or he/she doesn't feel secure enough and so does not want to use it. Even the police station is not completely secured and needs its own security. I mean to say, wireless is secure only if you spend enough time in configuring, securing and monitoring it to keep it secure. 

Configuring a Wireless Network at Home:

In order to set up a wireless network, you would need:

1. An internet connection from any of the Internet Service Providers (ISP).
2. A modem (Cable/DSL)
3. A wireless router
4. A wireless adapter or a PCMCIA network card if your computer doesn't have inbuilt wireless capability

A video showing how to set up your wireless network is here Setting up a wireless network. And once you set this up, you would think of how to secure it and here is how: Wireless network security setup.

As a quick reference, the table below shows the default addresses, usernames, and passwords for some common router manufacturers. The links given are the routers home/configuration page links, which are different for different models. Once you connect your wireless router and get onto these pages, you will be able to tweak/set up the settings for your wireless router/network. The username/passwords are the default ones shipped for the router. If you don't have or forgot your router's password, pull the plug from the power socket and hold the reset button on your router for at least 30 seconds and you will have these default settings restored.