If you don’t want to have cables and the unsightly mess of wires around your home, nor do you want to have holes drilled through your walls, then a wireless network is the best solution for you. The cost should not be an issue either because Wi-Fi is now fast AND affordable, as well as being more secure than before.

More and more households are switching to a wireless network. The enormous increase in broadband and the fact that many households have two or more computers has led to people wanting to share their internet connection in addition to the printer or scanner.

In its simplest form, Wi-Fi technology is much the same as the wireless DECT technology that is used with modern telephones. Using DECT, you can make calls from virtually anywhere in the house or even outside, so long as you are in range of the base, and with Wi-Fi you can, amongst other things, access the Internet from anywhere in your home or even sitting in the garden! The comparisons also continue because in both cases, you only need one external telephone line. In the case of Wi-Fi this is an ADSL or Cable connection.

The 5 Most Important Advantages of a Wireless Network

1.  No messy cables over the floor, desk or tables
2.  No need to drill holes in floors or walls
3.  Simple to expand for more users
4.  The ultimate freedom, Internet anywhere in your home or garden
5.  No need to open up your PC to install hardware

What is Wi-Fi?

Wi-Fi is the popular name for Wireless Fidelity, the wireless network standard 802.11. As with DECT, you need a base station. This base station, known as an ‘Access Point’, is connected to the Internet output of an ADSL or cable modem with which the signal can be transmitted.

In addition to providing an access point for a Wi-Fi signal around your home, the second important component is the wireless network adaptor or wireless network card. Every computer, which is to be connected to the wireless network, should be fitted with one of these adaptors or cards. Many of the modern laptops will already come with Wi-Fi built in, however if this is not the case with your either a card or USB adaptor can be used.

As with radio waves the Wi-Fi signal can pass straight through walls and ceilings. Although on occasions the walls and ceilings can act as interference and weaken the signal. Likewise other signal, such as microwaves, sometimes cause interference with the Wi-Fi signal and can cause it to weaken and your internet to slow or even drop-out altogether. This need not be a problem. New MIMO Routers (multiple-input, multiple-output communications), which have multiple antennas, can help provide a directional signal to avoid interference, alternatively Repeater Stations can be added to a wireless network to extend the signal further a field, to an attic room or maybe a workshop, or there you can simply install aerial extenders to the network card or adaptor on the computer to extend its signal capture.

If you do not feel confident enough to set up your own wireless network, you may require a little assistance. RHCC can provide everything from a simple house visit and advise, to installation of your own equipment, or supply and installation of a whole wireless network from scratch. Please do not hesitate for any advice you require or for a visit.