Before Buying Wireless Equipment

Purchasing wireless equipment is perilous, due to the complexities involved. Here are some things you need to know before making any wireless purchases.

What's Your House Made Of?

Wireless signals can pass through walls, but some walls are more solid than others. Only interior walls count, unless you plan to work outside, through an exterior wall. Floors, too are important only if you plan to connect through them.

Drywall, plywood, and other woods, as well as glass are usually fine with wireless. However, brick, plaster, cement, stone, double glazed glass, and metal spell trouble. The more porous the material is, the easier it is for a wireless signal to get through.

If you have a "bad" type of wall, your wireless connection might have a slower speed or a shorter range. To overcome this problem, you'll have to spend more on equipment.

Nasty Interference

Interference in the wireless network's frequency won't prevent it from working, but it will slow things down -- a lot. It will also reduce the range.

There are 2 common culprits for wireless interference in the home: a wireless phone or a microwave oven. 2.4Ghz is the most common wireless networking frequency and it is most popular in wireless phones as well. Fortunately, you can find phones that use other frequencies. Microwaves operate almost exclusively around 2.4Ghz. These devices in the same room as the computer can cause problems.

Pricing

Having a budget for wireless equipment is necessary. Long distance operation or going through stone walls will cost extra. The more problems you have, the more you'll have to spend to overcome them.

Read The Reviews

Use reviews on websites such as Amazon.com for wireless equipment. Get some opinions on brand names and common problems, so that you'll know what to expect. If possible, check out a local computer shop to see how their wireless equipment works with your brand of computer before you commit yourself.

Upgrade Your System

Having the latest version of the operating system will help you. Wireless is a new technology that wasn't prevalent when Windows 98, ME and 2000 were released. You'll have trouble getting your wireless to work on these older systems.

To make sure you have the latest version, go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com to ensure that you have everything necessary to allow your wireless network to be all it can be.