Ah, the joy of wireless networking! No more tripping over messy cables or taking turns on the internet. Whether it’s a PC in the bedroom or a notebook PC in your garden, wireless networking, or Wi-Fi, means you can use a computer where it suits you without a cable in sight.
Well that’s the dream anyway. In practice Wi-Fi can be quite a different story. You might find that the signal runs out of steam in the next room, let alone reaching upstairs. Then again maybe it goes too far and lets your neighbours surf the web at your expense.
If that’s not bad enough, perhaps your signal suddenly disconnects for no apparent reason, or maybe the latest piece of Wi-Fi kit refuses point-blank to communicate with anything else you’ve bought.
Sound familiar? When Wi-Fi problems arise, we’re here to help. We’ve spoken to owners and trawled our forum to identify the most common Wi-Fi woes. We will explain why they happen and how they can be resolved. We’ll help you make Wi-Fi wonderful again.
Compatibility
Probably the biggest problem with Wi-Fi is compatibility. Sometimes two Wi-Fi products simply fail to communicate or do so at a much lower speed than expected. The reason is that there are several different types of wireless networking technology and they’re not all compatible.
Some manufacturers also tweak the standards or adopt new ones before they’ve been finalised to deliver superior performance, but by doing so often reduce their compatibility with products from other companies.
This is where Wi-Fi comes in. Wi-Fi isn’t a wireless standard, but a certificate of compatibility. If two products have the Wi-Fi badge, they should work together with no problems. This system worked well when there was just one wireless standard but, as new technologies that support greater bandwidth have been developed, the Wi-Fi badge has become slightly tatty.
Today there are three popular wireless standards, known as 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g, although the letters don’t stand for anything specific. To make things easier we will now refer to them as Wireless A, Wireless B and Wireless G.
Wireless B came first, offering a maximum data transfer rate of 11 megabits per second (Mbit/s). Wireless A followed, screeching away with a very nifty 54Mbit/s and fewer problems with interference, but it was expensive and, most significantly, incompatible with Wireless B equipment.
Next came Wireless G, sporting 54Mbit/s and backwards-compatibility with existing Wireless B equipment. In 2006, the next standard, 802.11n (Wireless N), with transfer rates of up to 540Mbit/s, should be finalised.
Today Wireless A is used by some business or high-end home users, but Wireless G has become by far the most widespread standard. The Wi-Fi badge indicates which standard is supported, with ticks in the appropriate box or boxes.
If two products have a Wi-Fi badge and ticks in the same boxes, they should work together without a problem. You don’t need a Wi-Fi badge for compatibility, but it certainly offers extra assurance. The GHz rating you can see refers to the radio band used.
Wireless A operates in the 5GHz band, while the more common A and B version use the 2.4GHz band. This band is used by other household devices too, which we’ll explain shortly.
If the manufacturer tweaks a current standard to add an extra feature or uses aspects of Wireless N for extra speed which have not been finalised, the resulting product can’t carry the Wi-Fi badge.
If you’re experiencing compatibility problems with existing kit, the best place to start is on the websites of the equipment manufacturers. Some offer firmware updates that solve problems, and most have technical support forums.
An excellent starting point is our own Readers to the Rescue forum. Just type ‘wifi’ in the search window, choose Forums from the drop-down menu and press Enter.
You may also try one of the many online communities dedicated to solving wireless worries, such as wi-fiplanet, wi-fi-forum and wi-fitechnology.
Occasionally, changing a single setting can rectify the problem, but with so many manufacturers, and so many possible combinations of wireless devices, it can be tricky to isolate the loose thread between your equipment.
You may simply need to swap the offending product for one that’s guaranteed to work with your router. To be certain, either buy products which are Wi-Fi certified with ticks in the same boxes, or stick to products from the same manufacturer and range.
Range
After compatibility, the second biggest complaint about Wi-Fi is range concerns. Wi-Fi routers promise to work over impressive distances, but when you get them home the reality can fall short. The dream of accessing the signal throughout the house seems shattered. So why is the promise sometimes so far from the truth?
The reason is simple: Wi-Fi uses radio waves. While these can pass through walls, doing so diminishes their strength. Thick walls or those containing metal can virtually stop Wi-Fi in its tracks. It’s not just walls: furniture, TVs and even you and your family absorb the signal, reducing its strength and range.
Since Wi-Fi is so dependant on its surroundings, it’s virtually impossible to say how well it will work until you actually try it out for yourself at home. However, there are ways to extend the wireless signal and thankfully none involves sanding down your walls to make them thinner.
Most important is the position of the router. Since household objects can absorb the signal, try to place the router above them. This applies particularly to routers on the floor or positioned behind TVs or sofas; raising them by just a foot or two could make the world of difference.
Also, think about its overall position in the house. Radio waves extend outwardly in a circle, like ripples from a stone dropped in a pond, so try to visualise how those circles would reach parts of the house or garden. To deliver a good signal throughout your home, try and place the router as close to the middle as possible.
It’s possible to buy accessories to extend coverage. First are extension leads for routers, which have removable antennas. These let you keep the router hidden, but locate the antenna high on a wall where it can enjoy an unobstructed position.
Check with your router’s manufacturer to see whether antenna extensions are available. If using an extension lead, you might also wish to swap the antenna for a more powerful one with greater range.
Alternatively, Wi-Fi also supports the use of multiple wireless access points throughout a building, each with their own antenna; the signal skips from device to device like stepping stones. Ask the supplier about this if you have a particularly large area to cover.
Dropped connections
Another common complaint about Wi-Fi is dropped connections, where suddenly and for no apparent reason the signal stops dead. The most likely culprit here is simple interference.
The type of radio waves used by Wi-Fi are also shared by a number of other wireless products. If they’re in range, they could interfere. This could greatly reduce the speed or range of a wireless connection, or even temporarily stop it working altogether.
The annoying thing is that the interference might not even be coming from your own home; a wireless product used by your neighbour could be to blame.
The Wireless B and G standards both use the same frequency (2.4GHz) as that of wireless baby monitors, some cordless phones, Bluetooth products and even microwave ovens. Another potential culprit is the type of device that enables you to watch TV from a set-top box such as Sky on a TV in another room.
If any of these are operating within range of your Wi-Fi network, then it will almost certainly be affected, and the Wi-Fi signal will also interfere with the other wireless products. Two or more Wi-Fi networks can also clash, which is annoying if you and a neighbour each have one.
There are ways to share the same frequency without interference. Most wireless products can be set to operate on different radio channels. If two wireless products are within range and interfering, switching them to different channels often solves the problem.
Wi-Fi routers normally let you change the channel using their web-based setup pages, while other wireless products often just have a switch or a dial on the back or under a cover. The only trouble is that there’s a limited number of channels available from which to choose.
Wi-Fi routers supporting Wireless B and G may give you 11 or 13 channels to choose from, but most actually overlap and only three of them are completely independent: channels 1, 5 and 9. So while these three channels allow three Wi-Fi networks to operate within close proximity, any more and some interference can’t be avoided.
If you suffer from lots of interference, consider swapping your router for one that uses Wireless A. This works at a different frequency, putting it well out of the range of most other wireless equipment, and it supports more channels. The equipment is pricier, though, and you’ll need Wireless A adapters for your computers.
Dropped connections can also be caused by conflicting software. If you’re running Windows XP Service Pack 2, Microsoft’s wireless manager may be conflicting with the software utility supplied with the Wi-Fi adapter.
The answer here is to use only one and either disable or uninstall the other; try disabling one then the other, but using the XP tool at least means you will be dealing with the same interface for each device on the network.
Security
Security is an important issue for any wireless network. Without security, a neighbour or passer-by could piggyback onto your network and enjoy free internet access. If you have a metered broadband account, eavesdroppers could soak up your data allowance and more besides, resulting in charges for data you haven’t used.
Rather more sinister is the possibility that the eavesdropper could be accessing illegal material using your internet connection. The Computer Misuse Act makes it an offence for anyone to access a network without authorisation – and indeed someone was recently fined £500 for doing so in London – but if illegal content was accessed you would be the first port of call for the police as the account holder. The likelihood of this happening is very slim, but it makes obvious sense to keep your network private.
Fortunately Wi-Fi equipment offers a wealth of security options to protect you from uninvited guests. Few manufacturers enable security features by default but they are very simple to set up. There’s two main types: one requires a password before you’re granted access, and the other only allows specifically listed products to connect.
The majority of Wi-Fi routers have a sort of built-in website that stores the required settings. To view or change any settings, open your web browser and enter your router’s IP address – this will be in the supplied instructions, but it’s normally 192.168.0.1.
You’ll then be asked for a username and password, again supplied with your instructions. Note that you will need to have your computer physically connected to the router using a network cable while adjusting wireless settings, and these are always supplied in the box.
All routers present their settings differently, but there will always be a section dedicated to security, often under a wireless settings page. The most basic wireless security is called Wired Equivalent Privacy, or WEP for short.
This uses a code called a key, which once entered into the router must subsequently be entered into any product that wants to connect via the router – just like a password. The key has to be a special code, but most routers can generate this by scrambling a word of your choice. So enter a word, generate the key, then make a note of it and enter it when connecting to your router in the future.
The latest Wi-Fi products also support a newer security system called Wi-Fi Protected Access, or WPA for short. This again is based on a password, but the word you enter in the router is the same you’ll enter on the device – no complex code keys to remember. WPA is therefore easier to use, but is only supported by Windows XP and the latest products.
An alternative security system is MAC Address Filtering, which locks out every wireless product apart from those you specifically list. Every networkable product has a unique code called a Media Access Control (MAC for short) address written on it somewhere.
By entering this address into your router, you can effectively build a guest list and reject everything else. See the instructions with your router for details on setting up these security options.
File sharing
Most people buy Wi-Fi to enjoy wireless access to their internet connection or to share it between multiple computers, but it also allows you to easily transfer data from one computer to another. If you have two or more computers connected to a Wi-Fi router, it’s possible to share files or folders. You can specify which files or folders to share, keeping everything else private.
If certain computers on the network are unable to share files in either direction, ensure that each has the same Workgroup name. To find out your current Workgroup name or change it, right-click on the My Computer icon, choose Properties, then click on the ‘Computer Name’ tab; you’ll see the name of the Workgroup.
To change this, click on the Change button, make sure that the Workgroup button on the next screen has a green dot in it, then enter a suitable name. Now click on OK in both boxes and restart Windows if prompted.
Once all the computers have the same Workgroup name, simply choose which files or folders to share. To do this, right-click on any folder on the hard disk, choose ‘Sharing and Security’, then tick the box to ‘Share this folder on the network’. This will let any PC on the network read the files in that folder. If you want to allow them to make changes, tick the box to ‘Allow network users to change my files’. Click on OK when you’re done.
Finally, open My Network Places, either from an icon on your Desktop or from the list in Windows Explorer (the keyboard shortcut to this application is the Windows key and E). This will show all shared folders on the network and enable you to use the files, such as music or video files, as if they were on your own PC.
File sharing over a network is also a great way to transfer personal data from an old computer to a new one, or for backing-up important data onto a second system. The important thing to remember is that you’re effectively giving access to files to anyone that is connected to that network; it’s another good reason to make sure that Wi-Fi security is set up.
Speed
In the earlier compatibility section we mentioned how mixing certain standards can reduce the speed at which wireless products operate. Even if all wireless products are fully compatible, though, you won’t actually enjoy the speeds promised on the packaging in real-life.
Network speeds quoted by manufacturers are ‘gross’ figures, which are never achieved because a PC loses a proportion transporting your information and assembling it at the other end. In practice, most networks end up delivering between half and two-thirds of their quoted speed, at best.
As mentioned earlier, though, there are other compatibility issues that can further slow the transfer rate. Wireless A and G are today’s fastest standards, operating at gross rates of 54Mbit/s, so anything claiming to be faster is either making unapproved changes to the current standards or using future ones which haven’t yet been officially agreed.
Since most manufacturers perform their tweaks differently, they’re rarely compatible with other brands at these enhanced speeds. Until the Wireless N standard is finalised, the only way to enjoy these enhanced speeds is to use equipment from the same manufacturer.
If your router and adapter come from different manufacturers, they’re likely to default to a standard speed of, say, 54 Mbit/s.
You can run into similar problems even if you mix different types of standard Wi-Fi on the same network. The common Wireless B and G standards run at 11 and 54 Mbit/s respectively and, while they may work together, the speed of the network may suffer.
Some routers can keep equipment using the two standards separate, preventing the older equipment from compromising the speed of newer ones. Other routers struggle and downgrade the speed of the entire network to the Wireless B speed of 11 Mbit/s. The best practical advice is to ensure that all wireless devices on your network use the same standard.
Bluetooth aches
It’s not just Wi-Fi that can cause headaches. Bluetooth is another wireless standard that has suffered from its fair share of problems. Bluetooth is commonly fitted to mobile phones, wireless headsets and many portable computers. In theory, two Bluetooth products should be able to communicate with each other, but in practice they will also need to support the same Bluetooth profiles.
There are profiles for file transfer, dialling the internet, mobile headsets, printing and many other applications. It’s crucial to ensure that a new product has the right profile to make the desired link with your existing kit, or it simply won’t work – and you can’t update them.
Some Bluetooth headsets and hands free car kits have failed because they’re not compatible with certain phones. Our advice is to tell the shop assistant what you want Bluetooth for, and the kinds of devices you want to link. If buying online, call or email first.
What about infrared?
Radio waves, as used by Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, are just one way of achieving wireless communications. Infrared is another that has been used for years by TV remote controls. Infrared can also be used to connect mobile phones or link two notebook PCs to transfer data.
The downside to infrared is that the products need to be facing each other, and anything in the way will break the link. The infrared used by portable PCs and phones also has a much shorter range than TV remote controls, so the products must be within a few feet of each other.
Infrared standards are also very slow when transferring data. On the upside, such short-range, line-of-sight links can be seen as a security benefit compared to radio, which transmits in every direction.
Simple solutions
Like all technologies, Wi-Fi has its problems, but they’re all solvable once you know how. We’ve covered the most common complaints, but for anything more specific, it’s worth entering the name of your router and the a few words about the problem into an internet search engine, such as Google. Chances are someone else has had the same problem and knows how to fix it.
We also recommend trying the forums. These often have discussions by people who’ve discovered that changing just one setting can fix certain compatibility issues. For Windows-specific issues, you may also find what you’re looking for at the Microsoft Knowledge Base.
Before long you’ll be up and running and enjoying what wireless was designed for: easy, cable-free access to the internet and your other computers and peripherals.
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