Hi,
I'm hoping someone can help me set up this supposedly simple wireless
network.
Problem: Notebook not picking up wireless signal.
I have a high speed cable connection with wireless router (Linksys
WRT54G) and a notebook in another room. I know the note book has a
wireless receiver because it has picked up internet in hotel rooms. I
need to know how to set each of these systems up in order to get web
access on my notebook from anywhere in my apartment. As of now I can
see plenty of wireless signals being picked up by the notebook but not
mine. Both PC's are running with WINXP.
Also (if I ever get this set up):
Can I print from my notebook to the printer that is connected to the
host PC, share files, etc?
Do I need a firewall on both PC's?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Geo.

Step one would checking how your router is configured, look for SSID
Broadcast, is it enabled? You'll find this on the routers web page,
generally under the wireless tab.

Show quoteHide quote

Thanks everyone.
I just checked and SSID was disabled!
I can get the internet through the client PC now but with absolutely no
security (so I currently disabled it).
I'm guess I'm confused about what my settings should be on the client
PC and where I should change them. For example, if I set my host to
WPA2, do I also need to set this somewhere on the client PC? same goes
for MAC settings , file and print sharing, etc.
Hoping someone can help, thanks in advance.
Geo


David Hettel wrote:
Show quoteHide quote

KG wrote:
Show quoteHide quotePart of your difficulty is that you have the terminology confused.  You
don't have a "host" or a "client."  You have a network that is
controlled by your router.  With the WRT54G, you can have up to 4
networked computers connected via Ethernet cable and a large [I don't
recall the max] number of computers connected wirelessly.

Each of the networked computers can access the Internet via the router's
connection to your cable modem.

Each of the networked computers also can also share resources with any
of the other networked computers, provided that the network is
configured to let them do so.  In this context "resources" includes both
files that are present on a computer's hard drive and a printer that is
physically connected to a computer.

For wireless security, you set the encryption level and passphrase in
the router.  When you attempt to connect to the wireless network,
whether using your "host" or "client" pc, WinXP SP2, together with the
driver of your wireless adapter, will detect that it is an encrypted
connection and ask you for the passphrase. All you have to do is enter
the correct passphrase.  The main issue here is that all computers on
the wireless network must use the same level of encryption.  That is, if
you set the router to use WPA2 (a good idea), you must make sure that
the wireless adapters in each of the computers will support WPA2.  You
may have to download new drivers, and if your hardware is old, it may
not be able to support this at all.

Similarly, MAC address filtering is set in the router.  Each of the
network interfaces (wired or wireless) in your computers has a MAC
address.  It's built in to the hardware.  Your router can detect the MAC
address of any computer that attempts to connect to it (wired or
wireless) and can be configured to allow only specified MACs.  See your
router manual for further detail.

As to your firewall question, the general consensus is that you should
have a firewall on each computer.  However, you already have a hardware
firewall between your network and the Internet (your WRT54G, unless it's
a mod 1 and hasn't had its firmware updated) and a software firewall
(incoming only) on each Win XP sp2 computer (unless you disabled Windows
Firewall).

Some folks insist that a firewall must also check for outgoing badness
(i.e., to detect if you have managed to get infected with malware that
"phones home").  Windoes Firewall doesn't do this.  If you install a
different software firewall on your computers, you will have to disable
the Windows Firewall and configure your other firewall to allow file and
printer sharing as desired.  See below.

Here is a concise description of how to set up your network,
cut'n'pasted from MVP Malke:

It doesn't matter that some computers connect wirelessly and some
connect wired. You just need to set up your local area network (lan)
and sharing. You didn't provide any information about what operating
systems you are running, but here are some general instructions (and
links) for XP SP2:

Run the Network Setup Wizard on all computers, making sure to enable
File & Printer Sharing, and reboot. The only "gotcha" is that this will
turn on the XPSP2 Windows Firewall. If you aren't running a third-party
firewall or have an antivirus with "Internet Worm Protection" (like
Norton 2005/06) which acts as a firewall, then you're fine. If you have
third-party firewall software, configure it to allow the Local Area
Network traffic as trusted. I usually do this with my firewalls with an
IP range. Ex. would be 192.168.1.0-192.168.1.254. Obviously you would
substitute your correct subnet.

If one or more of the computers is XP Pro:

a. If you need Pro's ability to set fine-grained permissions, turn off
Simple File Sharing (Folder Options>View tab) and create identical user
accounts/passwords on all computers.

b. If you don't care about using Pro's advanced features, leave the
Simple File Sharing enabled.

Simple File Sharing means that Guest (network) is enabled. This means
that anyone without a user account on the target system can use its
resources. This is a security hole but only you can decide if it
matters in your situation.

Then create shares as desired. XP Home does not permit sharing of users'
home directories (My Documents) or Program Files, but you can share
folders inside those directories. A better choice is to simply use the
Shared Documents folder.

If that doesn't work for you, here is an excellent network
troubleshooter by MVP Hans-Georg Michna. Take the time to go through it
and it will usually pinpoint the problem area(s) -
http://winhlp.com/wxnet.htm

Additional useful links:

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp/filesharing.htm (Home)
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_filesharing/index.htm
(Pro)
http://www.bcmaven.com/networking/faq.htm
http://www.bcmaven.com/networking/myths.htm
http://www.ezlan.net/index.html
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/using-network-setup-wizard-in-windows.html

Wireless - Basic Configuration -
http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Config.html
Wireless - Basic Security -  http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Security.html
Tom's Hardware Wireless Security FAQs
http://www.tomsnetworking.com/2006/06/30/wireless_faq_security/index.html

Hi
You have to plug the Router's WAN (Internet port) to the Modem. If your
cable Internet service needs authentication read this,
http://www.ezlan.net/broadband.html It is advisable to have a wired computer
connected to the LAN side of the Router for the initial setting of the
Router. These pages might help with the settings of the Wireless. My New
Wireless does not work - http://www.ezlan.net/wireless.html Wireless, Basic
Configuration -  http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Config.html Wireless
Security - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Security.html
Jack (MVP-Networking).

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For file sharing and network printing I use 1 of these two options:

Option 1:
You could set up a home network after you get your wireless working. Look
here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/setup/default.mspx
at the part about setting up your computer for home networking. After that
you can then go into your Printers and Faxes and use Add a Printer and choose
network printer. Network Printer:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/honeycutt_july2.mspx.

Option 2:
For file sharing you can use an FTP server on one computer -
http://www.guildftpd.com/ - and an FTP client on your other computer
-http://www.smartftp.com/. Then for using your printer you can get and
install http://www.printeranywhere.com/ on each computer and set it up.

-Dan

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