84 CHAPTER 8 GETTING EVERYTHING UP AND (Web hosting bandwidth)
84 CHAPTER 8 GETTING EVERYTHING UP AND RUNNING Joining a Wireless Network A wireless (also referred to as Wi-Fi) network is, as its name suggests, a network that does away with cabling and uses radio frequencies to communicate. It s more common for notebooks and handheld computers to use wireless connections, but some desktop computers also do. Notebooks and PDAs typically use built-in wireless network cards, with an antenna built in to the case. However, some notebooks might use PCMCIA cards, which will have an external square antenna, as shown in Figure 8-3. Figure 8-3. If you use a PCMCIA wireless card, it will most likely have an external antenna. Configuring a Wireless Card The process for configuring a wireless network card is quite similar to configuring a standard Ethernet card, meaning you can follow the instructions for configuring a network card in the previous section, with the following differences: The wireless card will be identified as Wireless Connection. If your computer also has a standard Ethernet adapter in addition to wireless capabilities, you ll need to make sure you select the wireless card when choosing an adapter to configure. You need to select the base station you wish to connect to in the Network Name (ESSID) drop-down list or, if your base station is configured so it doesn t broadcast its name, you should type it manually into the Network Name (ESSID) field. If you work in an office environment, you may need to speak to your network administrator to find out the base station name.