Technical Report

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Stuart Searles
25 April 2013
Abstract: The purpose of this report is to detail the steps in which an individual will follow to
personally establish and maintain a wireless network. Different sections will cover topics relating
to the material such as network and computer related needs. How many devices you have will
contribute to what type of router you need and help you choose the appropriate internet speed
from you local provider. Once the network is established this report will show the user types of
viruses and harmful programs are on the internet and what types of programs such as antivirus to
use in order to better protect ones data. These sections are setup as to organize how one should
go ahead with setting up a wireless network from beginning to end.
Keywords: wireless router, internet speed, network, virus, antivirus, passwords

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Networking in the Home
Introduction
This report aims to give a better idea of what is needed while preparing and setting up a
home for WIFI and keeping it secure. Before the wireless router, homes used long Ethernet
cords to connect their computers to the internet or the home computer had to be placed next to
where the phone jack was located. All devices had to be hardwired into each other in order to
work together. Now the with the use of the wireless router those cords can be discarded and
people are free connect to their laptops in any room they choose. Music and pictures can be
shared from multiple computers and devices so while one computer may have a song you want
to hear you can play it from a docking station in your kitchen. Homes with multiple wireless
devices are becoming common and need a well put together network in order to work efficiently.
There are many ways in which to accomplish this including but not limited to wireless routers,
range extenders and the speed of your internet service. Security is also an issue not only with
other people using your personal bandwidth but also the possibility of stolen identity and viruses.
How Many Devices Need Service?
Many people only consider how many computers they have when selecting a wireless
router for their home. Not taken into account are the multiple smart phones, wireless printers,
gaming machines, smart televisions and countless other gadgets that use the internet and

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network. People not living in the house may also come over and want to access your personal
WIFI. All of these devices will be pulling from the bandwidth and slowing down or completely
crashing the network if the proper router is not selected. Technology is getting easier and
cheaper to get so thinking of future purchases might be something to consider when calculating
the number of devices.
What Type of Router to Purchase.
The router is the device that transfers the information sent from your internet providers
modem to the multiple devices throughout your home. Sticking with top companies such as
Cisco(Figure 1-1), Belkin, D-Link or NetGear are all good choice. These companies have had
years of good reviews and offer reliable devices and competitive prices("2013 Best Wireless
Router Comparisons and Reviews"). There are a variety of choices including single band or
dual band, some have built in storage for holding media files. What type of router you get is
very important to how efficient the network will run. The speed of your internet and also how
many devices you have will determine the quality that is needed. Single band routers use the
2.4Ghz band and is used primarily for single person homes who don't need much range and have
very little to no video streaming or gaming. Dual band routers as the name implies uses the
2.4Ghz band as well as a faster 5Ghz band and a much longer range(Horowitz). Although people
may not think that HD movies or online gaming is what they need, the vast opinion is to go with
the dual band to make sure in the future you are covered. Many options are available when
choosing what type to get. Some offer a one touch connection option that allows the user to
simply push a button on the router and the device your trying to connect can then be added
without having to enter any passwords. This can be very helpful in households with little

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networking experience. Others offer built in hard drives so you can store multiple files right on
the router instead of using your computers space. Many router are now packaged as a modem
combo cutting out the need for extra hardware, saving on space and a extra outlet.
Figure 1
How Much Speed do You Need?
Depending on your internet provider many options are available for how fast you upload
and download items to and from the internet. Internet speed is measured in bits and bytes per
second and with your download speed being how fast information is received from a website and
upload speed is when information is sent out, like emailing pictures. Most providers such as
Comcast or Embarq offer speeds ranging from 3Mbs to 20Mbs. What you are using your service
for should determine your speed. Basic internet browsing with no real interest in high definition
videos could pass with a very inexpensive service such as 3Mbs. Streaming movies from
websites such as Netflix or Hulu is more taxing on your network and needs a faster service to
handle the information if you wish to watch these programs in high definition("Internet
Connection Speed Recommendations"). Online gaming with home consoles such as Xbox Live
or PlayStation Network are very popular and like movies requires a great deal of bandwidth in
order to play online with large groups of people efficiently. There are websites such as

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www.speedtest.net, that are setup so you can accurately check just how fast your internet is and
how it compares not only with other households in the United States, but globally. For example
a speed of 10Mbs of download speed and a upload speed of around 1Mbs is considered a C- for
the United States and only slightly better when compared to the rest of the world.
Setting Up Your Network
To start with finding a place that in your house that is centrally located and away from
walls and objects that could block the signal is the first step in setting up your new router.
Multiple walls can drop the signal from a router by as much as 20% - 30%, if there is no way
around this devices called range boosters can amplify your signal in order to get better coverage
and reduce drop spots from your home(Mitchell). Most routers for home use come with a DVD
in order to get you started. These will set up your network allowing you to name your signal so
you can identify it and also allowing you to put password protection on your network so others
can't use it. If there is no DVD and no instructions a manual install is necessary to make sure
your WIFI is secure , this requires going through the routers IP address which can be found with
a quick Google search and place that into the web address bar of your internet browser. This will
take you to the login screen for your new router and there you will need to enter the password to
get in. Most routers come with a basic first time password, Linksys (Figure 1-2) for example
uses no username and its default password is admin. Once into the router you can easily find the
wireless tab and create the new password for your WIFI, this password is what will let your
devices connect to the network. Many new routers also come with a guest signal that also has its
own unique code to access the network, this signal is separate from the main one and generally

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slower. This feature is nice when dealing with short term guest who need might need a WIFI
signal and you don't want to give out the password for your main network.
Figure 2
Programs to Use.
The Internet is a breeding ground for people who would do nothing else but to cause your
computer and your bank accounts harm. Email and fake websites are just a couple of the ways
that people are trying to get any personal information that may help them steal your identity.
Viruses come in various forms and can cause major problems in your computer including slow
performance, crashes and loss of valuable data. Trojans viruses for example are made to look
like something safe such as a email from a friend. When you click on the email a virus is loaded
on to your computer and to help replicate itself most times a similar email is sent to everyone on
your contact list posing as you. These can be simple annoyances like messing around with your
mouse and keyboard to a key logger which waits till you type in passwords and sends them to the
maker of the virus. Other attempts to get in your computer are from companies trying to sell you
something. This is called adware and it will cause pop ups to happen on your screen offering

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you something to buy. More recently another type of virus has shown up, this is called Ransom
Ware and what this does is locks down your computer, tell you that they have found illegal
material and if you don't pay them some type of amount of money they will report you to the
authorities. Lastly there are now people making fake virus protection programs called scareware.
These programs are downloaded by the computer user thinking they are getting basic free
protection, but in fact they create false positive results showing the user they have viruses and
they need to pay for the removal process. A quick look up on Google can show many of these as
fake and shouldn't be downloaded(Mcoyle). Many companies make millions by creating
software to protect against these viruses. MacAfee and Norton to name a few are selling their
software from $50 to $100 dollars in up depending on what type of coverage you want. There
are a lot of free to use programs that will do most of the same basic things as these pay
companies. Avast and AVG are very reputable programs that will cost nothing if you just want
to use the basic set up. The library of known viruses as well as new harmful programs is updated
daily automatically as to provide up to date protection. These set up monitoring of your
computer to detect anything trying to download without the permission of the user. Websites are
tracked and a warning will either pop up when the user is entering a potentially unsafe site or the
website will not be allowed to open at all. Programs that are allowed to download are usually
placed in what is called a sandbox. What this does is quarantine the program and opens it to see
if any harmful program tries to execute. A full scan of every file on your computer is
recommended every month. A boot time scan is also advised, this will scan the root of your
computer as it boots up to make that nothing is executing that isn't suppose to. You can set these
scans to run automatically once a month at a time that is convenient to your personal schedule as
these detailed scans take quite some time to run. Make sure that you set the antivirus software

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that you choose to delete any viruses it finds. Some programs like Avast just move the unwanted
programs to quarantine and leave it there as their default settings. Going in and setting up your
own custom scan is always a good idea just to make sure.
Conclusion
. Setting up a network can seem challenging for anyone who isn't proficient with
technology or maybe just hasn't done this before. Companies like Geek Squad will come to your
house and set up the network for you but also charge you a hefty fee, anywhere from $50 for set
up and close to $300 if you have any viruses or programs that need to be taken care of. With
some help anyone should be able to do this without spending too much money. This report has
shown the steps necessary on how it can be easy to setup and maintain a running wireless
network in your home. From starting out with the what type of router to choose and where to
place it, to how fast you might want your internet speed and certain types of viruses to look out
for and what software is out there to protect yourself Once the network is up and running it
should really take no effort on the users part to keep it going.

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Sources
"2013 Best Wireless Router Comparisons and Reviews." Wireless router review. N.p., n.d. Web.
9 Mar 2013. <http://wireless-router-review.toptenreviews.com/>.
Horowitz, Michael. "Buying a Wireless Router — Simplified." PCWorld. 07 09 2009: n. page.
Web. 9 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.pcworld.com/article/171554/buying_a_wireless_router_simplified.html>.
"Internet Connection Speed Recommendations ." NetFlix. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Mar 2013.
<http://support.netflix.com/en/node/306>.
Mcoyle, . "Scareware/Ransomware." Rutgers Office of Information Technology. n. page. Web. 9
Mar. 2013. <http://rusecure.rutgers.edu/blogs/mcoyle/scarewareransomware>.
Mitchell, Bradley. "How to Build a Wireless Home Network." Introduction to wireless computer
networking. n. page. Web. 9 Mar. 2013.
<http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/wirelessproducts/a/howtobuildwlan.htm>.

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