Question raised in our Forums by one of the user:

“how can I make sure that only my apartment is a Wi-Fi zone and not my neighbours’ flats too? That is, would it be possible that my next door-neighbours use my Wi-Fi internet connexion?”

This was infact the topic which was to be covered as a final and concluding part to this article. It is nice to see that people are now opening up on the forums to raise questions and we encourage our readers to do the same as well.

Image Courtesy : lifehacker.com

Let us face it. In India, though we have broadband connections, there still exists a ridiculous download limit on most connections. This means that every MB of data counts and after we use up the quota, we are charged quite heavily for the excess usage. So this boils down to the fact that broadband internet usage at homes have to be judicious.

The biggest advantage of a Wi-Fi system is also perhaps its biggest drawback. The internet is wireless and you can enjoy high speed connectivity from any part of your home. But then, so can your neighbour! Imagine that you are careful about your usage whereas your neighbour tends to download a lot of files from internet. At the end of the month, it would be you paying huge bills. We are sure that no one wants to be in such a situation.

And to solve this small issue in the otherwise great Wi-Fi at home we are going to suggest two ways. 

1. Most wireless routers or even wireless modems have an option for encrypting the wireless signals. You could find these options in  the “wireless settings” section of your router. There are atleast two types of encryption available.

1. WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)
2. WPA-PSK (Wi-Fi Protected Access Pre-Shared Key)

Both these types would encrypt all the data which is leaving the device and the same encryption scheme would be used by the laptop as well. All you need to do is choose a key for encryption and enter it on your laptop/desktop.

Some say that since each and every data packet is encrypted, this slows down  the performance. But we do not know the validity of this statement.

2. The second option is to lock your wireless router/modem to a particular computer or a group of computers. Each computer has a unique address called “MAC Address”. Entering the individual computer’s MAC address in the router settings would ensure that only these computers talk to the router and no one else.

Connection being stolen and the risk of running huge bills is perhaps only valid in India. But outside India, where perhaps there are no download limits imposed by the internet service provider, other problems can exist. One example is that, your neighbour can download a lot of files slowing down your connection. This means you get slower speeds to surf the net.

We hope you found this series of articles useful.

Probably Related Post(s)

• Making your home a Wi-Fi Zone - Part 2
• Making your home a Wi-Fi Zone - Part 1
• Internet at home

In our previous article posted on 2nd January, we introduced the concept of Wi-Fi in your home. Today we are presenting the two options in detail which you can adopt in making your home a wireless hotspot.

If you are about to take a new internet connection from your ISP (internet service provider), then option 1 is just the one for you. Most ISP in India like Airtel, BSNL offer the consumers with the option of either hiring or purchasing a wireless modem/router. This is a single device which not only makes high speed internet possible but also gives out the required wireless signal which can be accessed by laptops and desktops having wireless capabilities. The rough block diagram  for the same is given below.

For consumers who are already a broadband customer, you could consider option 2 if you haven’t purchased your modem in the first place. You have an option of getting your modem changed and renting a wireless modem instead. Please note that the monthly rental rates for a wireless modem is typically higher than that of the regular modem.

However, if you already own the modem, then you can purchase a wireless router from the electronic stores and connect it to your modem creating a wireless network in your home. The block diagram for the same is shown  below. Note: In addition to creating a wireless network in  your home, the router also tends to add upto 4 LAN ports. This means you could connect more than one PC to your network and all of them can share the same internet connection. This is an added advantage in purchasing an external wireless router.

In option 1, the wireless modem allows you to connect only one wired device. The number of wireless devices which can connect to the router is not really defined. Here again the wired and wireless devices can use the same internet connection easily.

Common brand names in the wireless router space are Netgear and Linksys. OEM versions in option 1 can be supplied from companies such as Beetel, Huawei, UT Starcom etc.

The wireless standards that exist today are:

• 802.11a
• 802.11b
• 802.11g

The first one gives a speed of upto 54 Mbps with limited range. 802.11b improves the range but the operational speed is 11 Mbps instead. The last one encompasses both “a”and “b” standards giving consumers the best of both worlds.

Some more details can be found here. The most recent development in the wireless space is the 802.11n version. This offers almost twice the speed with improved coverage. Devices complying to this are still expensive. Just to let you know that the broadband speeds in India are the bottleneck today and not the speed at which your router operates !

Part 3 of this article to follow.

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• Making your home a Wi-Fi Zone - Part 1
• Making your home a Wi-Fi Zone - Part 3
• Internet at home

In our article Internet at home posted on 12th November, we introduced internet as a concept to our readers.

Today we speak about “Wi-Fi” for homes. If you are not aware of this term, this article is just the one for you.

Let us look at the scenario in a typical home which takes a broadband connection.

• The service provider connects the telephone line to a splitter - enabling simultaneous talk and surf.
• One part of the connection is terminated into an ADSL/ADSL2+ modem or router and the other is plugged to your phone.
• The modem/router is then connected to your PC via either an ethernet connection or an USB connection depending on what ports you have on your computer.
• The whole thing is usually a messy affair and gets worse if you have more than one PC at home.

Now let us look at the solution at hand - Wireless technology!

For ages we have been using cordless telephones or infra red remote controls and we are sure that you enjoy their benefits.

Today a similar technology is available for internet too. It is colloquially known as Wi-Fi and in strict terms is based on IEEE 802.11 specifications.

So how does one go about making their home a wireless internet zone? The answer is very simple.

• Try and check with your service provider if they give a wireless router for rent instead of the wired router. You can also consider purchasing it from your service provider as a one time investment.
• If you already have a router at home which you have paid for, then an easy way out is to buy a Wireless Router and install it.

What exactly is needed for enabling Wi-Fi at home?

• If you plan to connect your PC/Desktop to the wireless network, you need to purchase a PCI based 802.11a/b/g card for the PC.
• If you plan to connect only your laptop to the wireless network, chances are that your notebook already has a wireless option built in. If not, you could purchase a USB/PCMCIA based wireless adaptor for your notebook.
• And last but not the least, you need a wireless modem/router or a combination of a regular modem+wireless router.

Image Courtesy : geeksquad.com

Who should go in for making their homes a Wi-Fi Zone?

• If you have more than one PC at home, enabling wireless at home can certainly reduce the cable mess.
• If you have one PC + a notebook(laptop) then the situation is ideal to go in for a wireless network. Point to be noted here is that most wireless routers give you an option to connect upto 4 devices, so sharing the same internet connection is a breeze!
• People having a duplex kind of a home, would find wireless internet to be an awesome experience. You could set the equipment some place at home and surf with your laptop from anywhere within.
• Wireless also gives options to people who are into music and gaming.

More details in the next part.

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• Making your home a Wi-Fi Zone - Part 2
• Making your home a Wi-Fi Zone - Part 3
• Internet at home

The very fact that you are visiting our site now is because you have an internet connection at home.  We have come a long way in being a connected home. Today, thanks to some internet revolution in India, millions of homes have access to the worldwide web.

Image Courtesy : istockphoto

Infact it is so ubiquitous that we have decided to include it as part of our “home”. Hence today’s post.

Just a quick introduction on the types on internet connections available in India today:

- Broadband -> The thing that stirred the scene. Thanks to TRAI and their regulations, we have a minimum 256kbps defines as broadband in India.

- Dial-up - > Most of the users got introduced to internet by the dial-up connections. It is still used in many parts of the country.

- Cable - > Some companies like hathway, iquara distribute internet bandwidth via co-axial cables. These are slower than broadband connections but faster than dial-up.

- Wireless (GSM/CDMA) - > Notebook users are familiar with this type. Usually this is a refined dial-up but without the mess of wires. The device is a small card which is inserted into the notebook or can also be connected to a desktop.

- Mobile phones - > Increasingly people access internet through their mobile phones. Speeds are not great, but the freedom of surfing from any place is the best part.

So, with so many options, and you possibly using one or more at you home, there is always a scope for improving things.

• Make sure that you choose your data-plan accordingly to avoid nasty surprises (read- huge bills).
• Keep your cable lengths in check to avoid tripping over and bad signals.
• Try to have a UPS connection for the broadband modem/router as well. This would come in handy at time of voltage spikes. Many a people have lost their power adapter as a result of this and you would have to wait for a replacement.
• If you have more than one computer at home or a notebook, consider investing in a wireless router. (we will have an exclusive post on wireless internet for home soon)
• Keep your username and password safe and change it periodically.
• Schedule your downloads in “free download time” (if available and applicable)
• Use the designated “splitter” to avoid noise in the telephone line. ADSL lines can have simultaneous talk and surf. (Broadband offered through telephone lines is technically referred to as ADSL or ADSL2+)

Comments and suggestions are most welcome.

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