Dragonman wrote:
> Can anyone out there help please?
>
> I've had my PC for about 4 years now. It does not have a wireless card.
> It is connected to broadband via an ethernet cable into a new router (BT
> Home
> Hub). The router is wireless enabled.
>
> I've just bought a new laptop and want to set up a home network including
> my
> PC and the laptop. The laptop connects wirelessly to the internet via the
> BT
> Home Hub. BT supplied me with a plug-in USB wireless adapter device
> Voyager 802. 11g device when I acquired the new router about a month ago.
>
> My PC runs on Windows XP SP2 and the laptop Windows Vista Business
> Edition.
>
> If I install the Voyager wireless adapter into a free USB can I then just
> follow the Wireless Network Set Up Wizard to enable the 2 computers to
> communicate?
This is a multi-part process.
1. Set up the wireless portion of your router so it is secure.
2. Install the USB wireless adapter into the Vista laptop.
3. Enter the encryption key that you set in Step 1 into the wireless
configuration on the laptop. Surf the Internet
4. Set up file/printer sharing between your two computers.
A. Step 1 - Configure the wireless router
Have a computer connected to the router with an ethernet cable. Examples
given are for a Linksys router. Refer to your router manual or the router
mftr.'s website for default settings if you don't have a Linksys. Open a
browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox and in the addressbar type:
http://192.168.1.1 [enter] (this is the router's default IP address, which
varies from router to router so check your manual)
This will bring you to router's login screen. The default username is left
blank and the Linksys default password is "admin" without the quotes. Enter
that information. You are now in the router's configuration utility. Your
configuration utility may differ slightly from mine.
Click on the Administration link at the top of the page. Enter your new
password. WRITE IT DOWN SOMEWHERE YOU WILL NOT LOSE IT. Re-enter the
password to confirm it and click the Save Settings button at the bottom of
the page. The router will restart and present you with the login box again.
Leave the username blank and put in your new password to get back into the
configuration utility.
Now click on the Wireless link at the top of the page. Change the Wireless
Network Name (SSID) from the default to something you will recognize. I
suggest that my clients not use their family name as the SSID. For example,
you might wish to name your wireless network "CastleAnthrax" or the
like. ;-)
Click the Save Settings and when you get the prompt that your changes were
successful, click on the Wireless Security link which is right next to the
Basic Wireless Settings link (where you changed your SSID). If you have a
newish computer, you will be able to set the Security Mode to
WPA2-Personal. Do that and enter a passphrase. The passphrase is what you
will enter on any computers that are allowed to connect to the wireless
network. WRITE IT DOWN SOMEWHERE YOU WILL NOT LOSE IT.
At this point, your router is configured. Your new laptop's wireless feature
should see your new network. Enter the passphrase you created to join the
network and start surfing.
B. Set up file/printer sharing
Excellent, thorough, yet easy to understand article about File/Printer
Sharing in Vista. Includes details about sharing printers as well as files
and folders:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb727037.aspx
For XP, start by running the Network Setup Wizard. 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 2006/07) which acts as a firewall, then you're
fine. If you have a third-party firewall, you'll need to configure it to
allow the Local Area Network (LAN) as trusted. Do not run more than one
firewall.
For ease of organization, put all computers in the same Workgroup. This is
done from the System applet in Control Panel, Computer Name tab.
Create matching user accounts and passwords on all machines. You do not need
to be logged into the same account on all machines and the passwords
assigned to each user account can be different; the accounts/passwords just
need to exist and match on all machines. If you wish a machine to boot
directly to the Desktop (into one particular user's account) for
convenience, you can do this. The instructions at this link work for both
XP and Vista:
Configure Windows to Automatically Login (MVP Ramesh) -
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Autologon.htm
If one or more of the computers is XP Pro or Media Center:
1. 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.
2. 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.
E. 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. See the first link above for details about Vista sharing.
Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!
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