Windows XP Wireless Networking: Addicted to the Wonders of 802.11b
Published: May 18, 2001
By Barb Bowman, Windows XP Expert Zone Community Columnist
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I confess: I'm addicted to the wonders of 802.11b—the popular standard for broadband, wireless networking.
I've discovered that this amazing technology allows for instant networks in unusual places and situations. I use my own wireless home network to make less work and more play whenever and wherever I can. As I delve more and more into its capabilities, I go out of my way to find new and interesting uses for wireless networking.
First, there was the condo association meeting last summer. I sat on a grassy hill in the center of the complex with my laptop, 200 feet away from my wireless home network's access point. I proposed a Web site for the association, and then proceeded to build it, online, in real time, using an Internet server clear across country as host. But the most fun I've had with the wireless network was constructing a wireless "welcome wagon" for a new neighbor.
Wireless Welcome for a New Neighbor
When Janet and her family arrived with their U-Haul truck in early December, an opportunity arose to put wireless networking to the test. While other neighbors greeted the family with brownies, coffee, and soft drinks, I delivered a Windows XP-based laptop, with an AC adapter, and an 802.11b wireless network card. I set up the laptop in their condo, only 100 feet from one of my home's wireless access points, which delivered a rock solid Internet connection.
The Quick Setup
I did not want this "condonet" to compromise privacy on my own networks (one personal, one business), so I prepared by adding a uniquely identified wireless access point to an open port on a hub which was connected to an existing gateway device. I set up the "preferred network" from several that were visible in the network configuration. I then set a unique encryption key for the laptop. This key corresponded to the access point's encryption key, so the laptop could be used in Janet's condo without risking any privacy on my own network which was using a different wireless access point. The gateway device was connected to a cable modem and served private, non-routable IP addresses to the laptop via Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). The laptop, and later a desktop computer used by Janet's kids, were configured with the workgroup name "condonet."
Condonet 802.11b temporary wireless network
Music to Move By
First on the agenda was adding some music to the chaos of the moving party. I'd previously ripped my favorite songs from my own CD music collection, and saved them as WMA files on a 45 gigabyte, Western Digital external firewire hard drive. The drive is normally shared across my personal network. I added permission for Janet's laptop to access the directory containing music files. On the laptop in Janet's condo, we opened the shared drive over the wireless network and turned up the volume. The sound from speakers on a laptop running Windows Media® Player for Windows XP can't quite match a full home stereo, but the quality was surprisingly good, and there's nothing like "movable music to move by." Janet's kids didn't recognize any of the artists from my Woodstock-era song collection, but they thought the sound quality was impressive.
The unwired condonet network points
Day 2. No Phone? No Problem
The local phone company wasn't due for another day, and Janet's cell phone was dead to the world. She turned to the laptop and used Net2Phone over MSN® Messenger to call and order Internet and cable TV service, and other utility accounts. Admittedly, the first call using only the laptop's built in microphone and speakers was a little rough, but adding one of my Labtec Clear Voice headsets made all the difference. Janet placed calls to order cable modem service for high-speed Internet access, cable television, and then Chinese take-out for all of us.
"I Want My E-mail"
Having gone nearly four days without e-mail, Janet's kids were pretty excited when their own computer was finally unpacked and set up. But they still lacked an Internet connection. As an e-mail junkie, I understood their pain. I quickly provided a hub, and a USB to Ethernet adapter for their computer. I installed a traditional 10/100 Ethernet card in the laptop, which became the host for a wired home network in Janet's condo. I set the network name, and then connected the laptop and desktop computers to a five port hub. The Windows XP Professional native networking capabilities on the laptop provided the capability to bridge the traditional PC card to the wireless network client, and voila, instant portable Internet. Janet could control family access times to the Internet by simply removing the USB device and shutting down the borrowed laptop (which had strong password protection as well). It was almost sad to take the condonet down after Janet's own Internet connection was installed.
How Far We've Progressed
When I moved into the condo community just six years ago, broadband had not yet reached my state, and Internet connectivity was limited to a few providers who offered 33.6 kbps dial-up connections at best. Networking was a business-only application and many home computer users had never heard of e-mail. Sharing an Internet connection was not a mainstream procedure, and living with wires was a fact of life. In comparison, the automatic and transparent wireless networking capabilities of Windows XP seem like magic.
Barb Bowman enjoys sharing her own experiences and insights into today's leading edge technologies. She is a product development manager for AT&T Broadband Internet Services, but her views here are strictly personal.
