Why Your Wireless Network Won't Work This Holiday Season

The Top 5 Technology Challenges of Wireless Networking

By Scot Zarkiewicz, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SingleClick Systems

Wireless networking gear for the home will no doubt be on the top of many gift lists this holiday season. But the anticipation and excitement of getting new wireless equipment might be quickly replaced with the potential horror associated with getting these devices up and running. The freedom promised by wireless networking products is often trumped by nightmarish configuration and operation challenges. If you take an informal survey of your friends and family that have set up wireless networks this season, you will undoubtedly hear some pointed laments.

Why should this be you ask? Given the plethora of standards-based technologies, one would think wireless networks should be as easy as the “plug-and-play” installs promised by vendors. But when you consider all the moving parts associated with making wireless work - computers, routers, networking cards, and even the broadband pipe (if you plan to access the Internet) - there is no wonder why installs can go awry.

Why should something that is supposed to be so easy be so frustrating? There are hundreds of technical answers, but in short order, today’s most popular computer operating systems (namely Windows) were developed in the late 1990s and early 2000s. These operating systems were not created with wireless networking in mind, and are now being forced to play catch up. Also, in their race to deliver sub-$50 wireless routers and similar, hardware vendors are forced to sacrifice quality and performance for volume - especially at low-end retail where most consumers buy.

These factors combine to present us all with wireless networking hiccups on occasion, even in the most stable environments. Below are the five potential challenges (and fixes) that you may experience when installing your wireless network.

Want IP Address, Need to Travel

Chances are, you have seen the small balloon pop-up in your Windows task bar that says you are “Connected to <> at 11 Mbps.” Sometimes, even when this message confirms all is working properly, you may be unable to connect to the Internet. This occurs because the network cannot identify a valid IP address, thus you cannot access the Internet.

A host of issues could be at fault. But at a high level, wireless protocols were originally designed to operate in corporate or wired LAN environments. As a result, latency is often very low and unreliable, causing the wireless connection to drop frequently. Also, the TCP/IP protocol does not work as well over a wireless connection, and tends to lose significant amounts of information. Combine these wireless stumbling blocks with the fact that you are not getting Cadillac features in your Chevy-priced router, and it is easy to understand that something that should be as easy as obtaining an IP address can be a challenge.

Windows offers basic repair functionality, but in most situations, the software will not repair the problem. If you try the repair function and it fails, rebooting is always an option. Who knows, you may get lucky!

You can also refresh the router connection. Click on the wireless icon in your Windows task and follow the prompts until you see a refresh option. You’ll see the connection become unavailable and available again. You may have to do this many times until it finally takes hold.

Your third option is new third-party software. Companies like SingleClick Systems, with its Wireless Networking Ignition product, promise to help Windows users get and stay connected to their wireless networks. With the company’s free 30-day trial period, there’s no risk in trying it. Choosing this option before calling vendors’ technical support lines or rebooting yet again may a good move.

Avoid Wireless Wandering

Does this sound familiar? One minute you are on your network, the next you are connected to your neighbor’s, and you have no clue how it happened. If your neighbor has a powerful access point and has not enabled encryption you may have a free admission ticket.

To avoid this, you should ensure that you are “locked in” to your network. By using third-party tools, you can configure your network so that only you can connect to approved wireless access points. With Wireless Network Ignition, you can create wireless profiles for numerous locations. For instance, you can setup home profiles, work profiles and even a Starbucks profile. So at home or away, whenever you connect, you are locked-in to a trusted network.

As easy as it is for you to connect to your neighbor’s network, it is just as easy for someone to connect to yours. If you have not enabled encryption, you essentially leave the door wide open for anyone to wander onto your network. To protect your privacy and secure all content on your network, you should enable base encryption, at minimum.

Locking Your Wireless Door

Stories abound about accidental and malicious wireless trespassing. My favorite is a true story of a father who is summoned by his daughter to her room. Once there, he was asked why he was printing to her printer. Turns out, it was not the father$rsquo;s document being printed; it was their neighbor printing his resume. Apparently the man’s home office was close enough to leapfrog onto the family’s network, and without knowing, enabled him to print on the daughter’s printer.

As humorous as some of these stories can be, running your wireless network without encryption is a dangerous thing to do. Encryption can be your best wireless friend. That is the good news. The bad news, however, is that even for the tech savvy, encryption can be confusing and challenging.

To enable encryption, you have several options. First, you can create your own encryption code, using either numbers or pass phrases. Note: Make sure you can remember them. Windows and device software can also create codes for you. Whichever option you choose, remember to hit the “apply” and “save” buttons so the codes go into effect. Also, third-party utilities can offer encryption wizards that take the guess work out of the process. By simply following step-by-step guidelines, you can be protected in no time.

Speeding the Wireless (Molasses) Network

If you are connected to your wireless network for more than 10 or 20 minutes, there is a very good chance that you will see fluctuations in speed. In the task bar you may even see alternating adjectives, including good, very good, excellent, or other vendor-specific language.

Unlike your physical Internet connection, there are many variables that can affect the speed of your wireless network. Anything and everything from the distance between your computer and the access point, to the number of walls the signal has to pass through. Moreover, the general performance of your router can affect the speed of your wireless network. Cordless phones can also cause slow wireless network connections, especially when they are being used near the computer.

There are certain things you can do to improve your connection speed. Try moving closer to your access point or connect in areas without cordless phones. Also, empty your temporary file folders and cache on occasion and keep the number of concurrent windows open to a minimum. Despite your best efforts, there is only so much you can do to improve connection speed. With so many devices and parameters in place, wireless traffic jams are inevitable.

Finding your Home Network

Once you configure your wireless network to connect to the Internet, you may also use it as your vehicle to access your home network. If all does not go well, you will likely find yourself asking, “how come my wireless computer, digital camera, and printer do not show up on my home network?” The short answer is that Windows networking can be a daunting task, even if you get it setup right. The software’s protocols simply may not see your home network and all the devices and content on it. Again, there is new software to help. SingleClick System’s HomeNet Manager, has its own protocols that make sharing networks, even devices, much easier. Through drag-and-drop features you can move all devices, drivers and files around with ease. The software can serve as the dashboard of your home network, allowing you to see all devices and manage connections and device-shares within an easy-to-understand interface.

So after you get through the holidays and begin to install that wireless network, keep these challenges in mind, and know that there are solutions. Tackling these areas first, however, will help you establish a strong and stable platform for consistent and secured wireless connectivity, and enable you to un-tether yourself from the wired world and enjoy the freedom of anywhere-access throughout your home.

About the Author

Scot Zarkiewicz is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SingleClick Systems, a provider of software utilities designed to simplify home and wireless networks. He can be reached at scotz@singleclicksystems.com.