If you plan to use your new wireless laptop to access the Internet
at work, chances are you have an IT department at work to help make
the transition to wireless pretty seamless. Yet when you first bring
your wireless enabled laptop home you may have a bit of confusion
as to just how things should be set up to make the most of your
laptop.
The average wireless home network consists of a DSL or cable modem,
a wireless gateway that contains four wired network ports into which
each computer in the household will be plugged. You may find it
necessary to configure your home wireless connection using a wire-having
home PC first. There are many helpful guides on just how to do this,
such as the one found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/tabletpc/expert/russell_tabletlaptop.mspx.
Did you know that you can even use your new wireless laptop to
connect to a public wireless access point or ‘hot spot’? Virtual
private networks allow wireless users to connect to their work network
from public Wi-Fi access points or hot spots. The only drawback
of using public access points is that without taking security precautions,
anyone that wants and knows how to can access your computer and
see the packets that you’re sending to the net.
For more information on configuring your wireless laptop for hot spot activity, take a look at the very informative site, Wi-Fi Planet (http://www.wi-fiplanet.com). There is a particularly interesting article on hot spot security that you can access by visiting http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials/article.php/3623061.
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