Wireless Networking Standards

I have to setup a wireless router here and wanted to do some reading while I wait for my items to arrive.

I found a decent beginners article on the TigerDirect Site that has some pretty good information, includging a nice breakdown of the differences between the four standard protocols; 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n.

802.11a - Bandwidth up to 54 Mbps
Due to a higher frequency range, this standard may not have as much distance as other options. Was created about the same time as 802.11b

802.11b - Bandwidth up to 11 Mbps
Uses the 2.4GHz radio signal, which is common for other devices such as microwaves and wireless phones, so it may have trouble with interference from other devices.

802.11g - Bandwidth up to 54 Mbps
Uses the 2.4GHz frequency, but supports more users and has a greater signal strength.

802.11n - Bandwidth up to 300 Mbps
Uses the 2.4GHz frequency, and supports more users than 802.11g and has the best signal strength of the 4 options.

It is also important to note that 802.11g and 802.11n are backward compatible with 802.11b.

Hamachi Instant VPN

Ever since hearing about this great little tool from Steve Gibson's Security Now! podcasts I have gotten a ton of use out of Hamachi.

I needed to access my desktop from outside our NAT at my last job. I needed to let an Exchange consultant into our server here for a one time fix. I needed to change a setting on my backup job here on a server, but I was at home. I wanted to check my email from an insecure wireless access point in a public location.

There are times when you need a VPN solution that is not over complex or expensive, like the instances mentioned above. I have found that in these times, Hamachi does everything that I need it to do.

If you are new to VPN entirely, I recommend this site to help you get your head around the idea. If you know what a VPN is and you know you need one, give Hamachi a try. It is easy to install, very easy to use, and best of all, it is free for personal use.

Also, I highly recommend a subscription to Steve Gibson's Security Now podcast for anyone new to computer support who needs to get up to speed on all things security related.

Basic Networking Helps

I have not had much opportunity to do much physical networking other than connecting to them in Windows, so I am trying to catch up and figured I may as well start at the beginning. For that reason, I have been reading the Ciscopress book CCNA ICND1 (yes, I do hope to someday become CCNA certified).

In the book, they recommend a website that I have just been looking through, which seems like a great place for beginners to start. The website is LearnTCPIP.com and it has video/powerpoint presentations on TCP/IP, Subnetting and some other beginner networking tutorials. Don't get me wrong, this is very basic information, but it does explain it well. I wish I had known of this site when I first started out.

Another site that I have found to be very useful is the Petri IT Knowledgebase. There is a wealth of information here, and my favorite post, and honestly one of the most useful for gaging how I am doing on learning all I need to know is this series on Interview Questions.

How-to Setup a Managed Switch

In yesterday's post I mentioned that I switched a switch. I replaced a 24-port switch with a 48-port switch, and went from an HP to a Netgear switch, both managed.

So I can remember what I did, I am listing the steps I took to setup my switch:

1. Plug in the modem cable that came with the switch to a computer on-site and the switch console port.

2. Plug in power adapter.

3. Connect to the switch via HyperTerminal if using Windows XP, if using Vista, you will have to download a terminal emulation program. In HyperTerminal setup a new connection with the following settings:

• Baud rate - 9,600 bps
  
• Data bits - 8
  
• Parity - none
  
• Stop bit - 1
  
• Flow control - none
  

4. Typed in user and put in the values given. Then typed ezconfig.

5. I setup the network parameters, giving the switch its network address.

6. Logged out of HyperTerminal and logged into the switch via the web to finish the configuration.