Dummies, Wireless

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Part V: The Part of Tens
� I can connect to the Internet by using an Ethernet cable but not by using
my wireless local area network (LAN). What am I doing wrong?
� How do I get my video games to work on my wireless LAN?
� My videoconferencing application doesn’t work. What do I do?
� How do I secure my network from hackers?
� What is firmware, and why might I need to upgrade it?
� Isn’t Network Address Translation (NAT) the same as a firewall?
� How can I find out my Internet Protocol (IP) address?
� If everything stops working, what can I do?
If you don’t see in this list the particular question you’re asking, we recommend
that you at least skim through this chapter anyway. You never know:
You may find your answer lurking where you least expect it, or you may
come across a tidbit of information that may come in handy later. And,
throughout this chapter, we also steer you to where in the book we further
discuss various topics — which may in turn lead you to your answer (or to
other tidbits of information that come in handy later). What we’re saying is
that reading this chapter can only help you. Also check out Chapter 18,
where we give you some troubleshooting tips.
If you’re new to Wireless Home Networking For Dummies, this chapter is
a great place to start because you get a good overview to the things many
people ask (when they haven’t read the manual or this book!), and you can
get to some meat (we hope you’re not vegetarian!) of the issues surrounding
wireless. Don’t feel bad if you feel like you’re reading the book backward.
Just don’t read it upside down.
We firmly believe in the power of the Web and of using vendor Web sites
for all they’re worth. Support is a critical part of this process. When you’re
deciding on a particular piece of equipment for your home network, take
a look at the support area on the vendor site for that device. Look at the
frequently asked questions (FAQs) for the device; you may find some of those
hidden gotchas that you wish you had known about before buying the gear.
Q: Which standard is right for me?
As we discuss in Chapters 2 and 4 (among other places), several standardized
version of Wi-Fi wireless network exist: 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g, and
802.11n. When you shop for wireless networking equipment, you find that
the vast majority of wireless gear on the market is based on the 802.11g
standard. That’s a good thing because it makes it easier to choose gear —
we absolutely recommend that you choose equipment that’s compatible with
(and Wi-Fi certified for) 802.11n. Notice we did not say 802.11g (no, it’s not a
typo). 802.11n draft 2 equipment is fully compatible with 802.11g equipment
and will fully replace 802.11g within the next year or two.