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With more and more people buying notebooks and setting up home networks, the Mac-Forums community fields quite a few questions related to Wireless technology. The goal of this guide is to address some of the more common problem areas related to wireless networking and also to educate you in some key areas in order to keep your connection running smoothly.
If you have any corrections to add, or would like to add to the FAQ, please PM me.
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Wireless issues can generally be separated into three key areas, addressed in the following sections below:
Range and Interference
The location and placement of your wireless router can dramatically impact the effective range of your wireless network. Your router should be placed as centrally within your home as possible, and should be propped up as high as possible. An ideal location in a two-story home would be on the 2nd floor, up on top of a shelf in a room that is central within the house – even if you’re objective is to get a better signal in your basement. If you can’t locate the router centrally, it’s usually best to keep the router away from outside walls – this keeps the signal within your home and not projecting outward, away from it.
Once your router is placed as ideally as possible, given the location of your computers and other network gear, it’s time to take a serious assessment of other devices that radiate signals that might interfere. By far, two of the biggest sources of interference are cordless phones (especially those that run on the 2.4GHz band) and microwave ovens. If you have a cordless phone or microwave, it’s best to keep the router away from it. Screen doors and other materials comprised of wire mesh can also detract from wireless performance.
Your router is equipped with means to overcome interference from other RF devices that operate on a similar frequency. Nearly all routers offer the ability to change the wireless channel that they operate on. Changing the channel alters the frequency slightly – for example, from 2.423 GHz to 2.433 GHz. Typically a small shift in frequency is enough to keep your router’s wireless signal from conflicting with another router in your neighborhood or another device that works on the same frequency.
Firmware Issues
Wireless routers are small computers that run an operating system much like your computer runs Mac OS X. As such, most wireless vendors provide regular updates that include bug fixes and security patches, as well as occasional feature updates. If you are experiencing problems with intermittent connections that require a reboot of the router, it’s possible that your router needs a firmware update. Firmware is much like software in that it is updateable via a utility built into your router’s configuration program. When a firmware update is needed, you will download the update from the vendor’s website, then log into the router and upload the update file to the router.
Wireless Security
Wireless security is by far the most misunderstood aspect of wireless networking technology. Out of the box, most wireless routers have no security enabled. This helps to make establishing an initial connection easier by removing a degree of complexity. It is up to the user to establish some form of security once the initial setup is complete.
When a wireless connection is unsecured, not only is your network and Internet connection freely available to anyone within range of your router, all transmissions to and from the wireless router are transmitted in plain text. Any relatively savvy user can intercept things like passwords, banking information and credit card numbers with ease. Another possible risk (depending on your local government) is that someone can use your Internet connection to send Spam, visit illegal websites or even set up a server to distribute illegal materials. With that in mind, it is absolutely essential to establish a secure network.
The original wireless security protocol is called WEP. It is available in 2 different flavors - 64-bit and 128-bit, which are indicative of the strength of the encryption. Additionally, many people use a technology known as “MAC filtering”, which specifies what network adapters are allowed to talk to the network. These technologies, whether used in tandem or separately, are largely ineffective. Recent developments in readily available hacking tools can thwart a WEP secured connection within minutes. It is highly recommended that you move to a stronger encryption method if you are currently using WEP.
“MAC filtering” (referenced above) is sometimes used in tandem with WEP or by itself. When MAC filtering is enabled, your router will only allow traffic emanating from a specific computer (or computers). MAC filtering is totally ineffective as a means of security because it is very simple to “spoof” a MAC address (the address your network card uses to identify itself on a network). As a hacker, once you’ve been able to determine the allowed MAC addresses (done by “sniffing” packets), you then wait for one of the allowed addresses to drop off the network – then you join the network with that particular MAC address.
Most routers and network cards made since late 2002 support another means of security known as WPA. WPA is a strong, yet easy to use, encryption method. You configure WPA by logging into your router’s configuration web page (or program) and select it from the list of choices under the Wireless Security settings area. Once you’ve set WPA as the encryption choice, you then choose a “passphrase” (sometimes just referred to as a “password”). You should choose a non-English word that includes symbols or numbers so that it cannot be easily broken. Once the password is set on the router, the next time you try to connect with one of your wireless computers, you will be prompted for a password. Enter the password you chose and you should be connected securely.
WPA2 is another variant of WPA that is updated for better speed and security. It works very much in the same way as WPA, but is only supported by newer routers (2004+). If your router offers WPA2, you should choose it instead of WPA.
Another means of securing a wireless network is to choose to disable “SSID broadcast”. Every router has what is known as an SSID (substation ID). This is the router’s name that it broadcasts so that when you look for a wireless network, it shows up in a list of available networks. Traditional wisdom states that you should disable SSID broadcast to obscure your network, thereby forcing someone to guess the network name when attempting to connect. Unfortunately, the SSID is still easy to find using wireless “sniffer” programs that look for obscured or distant networks. So by enabling SSID, the net result is that you achieve no better security, but make it more difficult for your computer to find and maintain a connection with your wireless router. It’s highly recommended that you do not disable SSID broadcast.
FAQ:
Q: How do I access my router’s configuration options?
A: Like with many things, the process will vary depending on the make and model of your router. Typically this is done by connecting a computer via an Ethernet connection to the back of your router directly. Then, open a web browser (like Safari or Firefox) and typing the IP address of the router in the address bar. The IP address, username and password for logging into the router’s configuration page is typically listed in your router’s manual.
Q: Do I need to buy an AirPort wireless base station to use my Mac wirelessly?
A: Absolutely not. Although the AirPort is a decent wireless router, it conforms to the 802.11(a/b/g/n) specification like any other wireless device. These devices are designed to be interoperable. A wireless device can not be described to be 802.11-capable if it does not conform to the 802.11 standards for interoperability.
Q: What wireless vendors support Macs?
A: D-Link and Belkin officially support Macs. Linksys and Netgear do not. That doesn’t mean your can’t use a Netgear or Linksys router (or any other brand for the matter), but if you need help with your router, don’t expect the help desk to assist once you tell them you’re on a Mac.
Q: My Mac connects just fine without security, it’s only when I enable security that it has problems. What gives?
A: Recent security updates have been known to be problematic with some wireless security standards. If you are having difficulty, upgrade your firmware to the latest version. Enable WPA2 if you’re using WPA.
Q: I’m having trouble maintaining a consistent connection recently. I didn’t change anything, what can the problem be?
A: It’s possible that your neighbor hooked up a new router that is conflicting with your router. You should try changing the wireless channel to something different. If you’d like to see what other wireless networks are available in your neighborhood, try the AirPort Radar widget. The AirPort Radar widget will sniff out other networks in your area and tell you what channel and what kind of security they use.
If you have any corrections to add, or would like to add to the FAQ, please PM me.
--
Wireless issues can generally be separated into three key areas, addressed in the following sections below:
Range and Interference
The location and placement of your wireless router can dramatically impact the effective range of your wireless network. Your router should be placed as centrally within your home as possible, and should be propped up as high as possible. An ideal location in a two-story home would be on the 2nd floor, up on top of a shelf in a room that is central within the house – even if you’re objective is to get a better signal in your basement. If you can’t locate the router centrally, it’s usually best to keep the router away from outside walls – this keeps the signal within your home and not projecting outward, away from it.
Once your router is placed as ideally as possible, given the location of your computers and other network gear, it’s time to take a serious assessment of other devices that radiate signals that might interfere. By far, two of the biggest sources of interference are cordless phones (especially those that run on the 2.4GHz band) and microwave ovens. If you have a cordless phone or microwave, it’s best to keep the router away from it. Screen doors and other materials comprised of wire mesh can also detract from wireless performance.
Your router is equipped with means to overcome interference from other RF devices that operate on a similar frequency. Nearly all routers offer the ability to change the wireless channel that they operate on. Changing the channel alters the frequency slightly – for example, from 2.423 GHz to 2.433 GHz. Typically a small shift in frequency is enough to keep your router’s wireless signal from conflicting with another router in your neighborhood or another device that works on the same frequency.
Firmware Issues
Wireless routers are small computers that run an operating system much like your computer runs Mac OS X. As such, most wireless vendors provide regular updates that include bug fixes and security patches, as well as occasional feature updates. If you are experiencing problems with intermittent connections that require a reboot of the router, it’s possible that your router needs a firmware update. Firmware is much like software in that it is updateable via a utility built into your router’s configuration program. When a firmware update is needed, you will download the update from the vendor’s website, then log into the router and upload the update file to the router.
Wireless Security
Wireless security is by far the most misunderstood aspect of wireless networking technology. Out of the box, most wireless routers have no security enabled. This helps to make establishing an initial connection easier by removing a degree of complexity. It is up to the user to establish some form of security once the initial setup is complete.
When a wireless connection is unsecured, not only is your network and Internet connection freely available to anyone within range of your router, all transmissions to and from the wireless router are transmitted in plain text. Any relatively savvy user can intercept things like passwords, banking information and credit card numbers with ease. Another possible risk (depending on your local government) is that someone can use your Internet connection to send Spam, visit illegal websites or even set up a server to distribute illegal materials. With that in mind, it is absolutely essential to establish a secure network.
The original wireless security protocol is called WEP. It is available in 2 different flavors - 64-bit and 128-bit, which are indicative of the strength of the encryption. Additionally, many people use a technology known as “MAC filtering”, which specifies what network adapters are allowed to talk to the network. These technologies, whether used in tandem or separately, are largely ineffective. Recent developments in readily available hacking tools can thwart a WEP secured connection within minutes. It is highly recommended that you move to a stronger encryption method if you are currently using WEP.
“MAC filtering” (referenced above) is sometimes used in tandem with WEP or by itself. When MAC filtering is enabled, your router will only allow traffic emanating from a specific computer (or computers). MAC filtering is totally ineffective as a means of security because it is very simple to “spoof” a MAC address (the address your network card uses to identify itself on a network). As a hacker, once you’ve been able to determine the allowed MAC addresses (done by “sniffing” packets), you then wait for one of the allowed addresses to drop off the network – then you join the network with that particular MAC address.
Most routers and network cards made since late 2002 support another means of security known as WPA. WPA is a strong, yet easy to use, encryption method. You configure WPA by logging into your router’s configuration web page (or program) and select it from the list of choices under the Wireless Security settings area. Once you’ve set WPA as the encryption choice, you then choose a “passphrase” (sometimes just referred to as a “password”). You should choose a non-English word that includes symbols or numbers so that it cannot be easily broken. Once the password is set on the router, the next time you try to connect with one of your wireless computers, you will be prompted for a password. Enter the password you chose and you should be connected securely.
WPA2 is another variant of WPA that is updated for better speed and security. It works very much in the same way as WPA, but is only supported by newer routers (2004+). If your router offers WPA2, you should choose it instead of WPA.
Another means of securing a wireless network is to choose to disable “SSID broadcast”. Every router has what is known as an SSID (substation ID). This is the router’s name that it broadcasts so that when you look for a wireless network, it shows up in a list of available networks. Traditional wisdom states that you should disable SSID broadcast to obscure your network, thereby forcing someone to guess the network name when attempting to connect. Unfortunately, the SSID is still easy to find using wireless “sniffer” programs that look for obscured or distant networks. So by enabling SSID, the net result is that you achieve no better security, but make it more difficult for your computer to find and maintain a connection with your wireless router. It’s highly recommended that you do not disable SSID broadcast.
FAQ:
Q: How do I access my router’s configuration options?
A: Like with many things, the process will vary depending on the make and model of your router. Typically this is done by connecting a computer via an Ethernet connection to the back of your router directly. Then, open a web browser (like Safari or Firefox) and typing the IP address of the router in the address bar. The IP address, username and password for logging into the router’s configuration page is typically listed in your router’s manual.
Q: Do I need to buy an AirPort wireless base station to use my Mac wirelessly?
A: Absolutely not. Although the AirPort is a decent wireless router, it conforms to the 802.11(a/b/g/n) specification like any other wireless device. These devices are designed to be interoperable. A wireless device can not be described to be 802.11-capable if it does not conform to the 802.11 standards for interoperability.
Q: What wireless vendors support Macs?
A: D-Link and Belkin officially support Macs. Linksys and Netgear do not. That doesn’t mean your can’t use a Netgear or Linksys router (or any other brand for the matter), but if you need help with your router, don’t expect the help desk to assist once you tell them you’re on a Mac.
Q: My Mac connects just fine without security, it’s only when I enable security that it has problems. What gives?
A: Recent security updates have been known to be problematic with some wireless security standards. If you are having difficulty, upgrade your firmware to the latest version. Enable WPA2 if you’re using WPA.
Q: I’m having trouble maintaining a consistent connection recently. I didn’t change anything, what can the problem be?
A: It’s possible that your neighbor hooked up a new router that is conflicting with your router. You should try changing the wireless channel to something different. If you’d like to see what other wireless networks are available in your neighborhood, try the AirPort Radar widget. The AirPort Radar widget will sniff out other networks in your area and tell you what channel and what kind of security they use.
Thank you!
