Wireless Home Networking for Dummies

by Pat Hurley, Edward Ferris, Danny Briere

Book Overview

Get hooked up without getting tangled up in cords, wires, cables or techno mumbo . With Wireless Home Networking For Dummies , you can go wireless without going mad. It shows you how to plan, install, secure, and use a wireless home network for PCs or Macs. See how easy it is to share your Internet connection, files, folders, printers, and other peripherals. Put your gaming console on your wireless network and play multiuser computer games---even...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471749400
• ISBN13: 9780471749400
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: For Dummies
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

You'll Learn a Lot - Regardless of What You Know Now

I was quite impressed with this book. Although I've had a wireless network for several years, I discovered some very valuable things that helped me to have a far better, more secure wireless network. It made things easy to understand and put in use immediately. This book is for someone new to wireless networks or someone who has some knowledge but is not an expert. Those of us who don't make our livings working with networks, naturally don't know everything there is to know about networks. So we need a basic understanding and some tips and tricks to help us have the edge. This books gives that. If you don't buy any other book on wireless networking, buy this one. Keep it as a handy reference. Working with a wireless network can be very frustrating. You need this information at hand. It can save you time and money and lots of headaches. By the way, the book has been updated right up to the the 80211n standard. So you're getting close to the latest information. Couple the book with the current information you can locate in forums and magazines and you'll have more knowledge than most people when it comes to your wireless network.

Well-written primer on wireless networking and connectivity.

This book explains all the networking buzzwords, compares many different types of networking (HPNA, HomePlug, Bluetooth, wired, wireless), and is organized in a way that allows you to read through or use it as a reference. Explains and compares the merits of different security protocols. The book was perfect for me, someone who is computer-literate but got left behind by the networking revolution.

New Updated Edition in 2006

Now available in a new Second Edition that brings everything up to date. The big changes are: New Equipment (that can hardly be a surprise), and Security (that can't be much of a surprise either). I was thinking about a wireless network to go between two buildings that were just across the street from each other but in an area where I couldn't run a wire. I went to a couple of computer stores to look at what I needed. The salesmen (hardly more than boys from my advanced age) tended to speak in a lot of computer jargon that I'm not really so sure they understood either. I came away with this book instead and more than anything else learned about the names that people give to things. I was then able to go back to the computer store, I knew that these were the features I wanted so it was a question of brands and prices. For me the 'For Dummies' books have just the right amount of technical information, that enough to do what I want without being so much that I get lost, and put in just enough humor to keep me from going to sleep. I especially like the cartoons that lead em from chapter to chapter.

Wireless once again!

This book is a terrific resource. I knew very little about networks or wireless accessing and just had wireless installed. We were up & running for less than a week before I lost my wireless connection. I LABORED over re-connecting for hours and then days. Pure torture. Even the ADSL guys (as well as the Linksys-router folks) couldn't help us. Finally, I found this book and read it cover to cover. Within 10 minutes of finishing it, I was reconnected, AND I now understand so much about how this system works. Reading this book prior to having wirless installed is like taking your driver's license test prior to driving alone. (And the humor is always uplifting). I definitely would recommend this book!

Don't let the title fool you

This is a great book, and a resource for anyone, not just dummies. Wireless networking can get complex. Some of this info was really basic for me because I know what an access point does, but I learned a lot I did not know. I was impressed with how much they crammed in this book, because any one of these topics could take up a whole book unto itself. I checked out a number of books before settling on this one. I went to the bookstore and passed on Wi-Fi Home Networking (not complete enough), Home Networking for Dummies (I wanted wireless focus), and a few others. I'm happy with the choice, and would recommend it highly.