How to Set up Wifi at Home

[jut703]

Best place to buy PC parts for me is Gilmore. I frequent PCHub, but other stores there that offer good prices are PC Options, PC Worx, Gaisano, and occasionally, depending on the item, PC Express.

Prices for whole desktop systems are roughly 3-5k cheaper in Gilmore than in Greenhills when you add them all up. For indivudal components, like say a router, it'd be a few hundreds cheaper on average.

TP-Link was brought up a few posts back. I have a TP-Link router, the WR642G, and I've had it for over 5 years now. It's on 24/7 and it's in our living room that has no airconditioning. Yet, it runs without a hitch, doesn't overheat, and is strong enough to cover our entire house.

Setting up a router for WiFi is fairly easy, just plug in the cable from the DSL modem to the appropriate port (it's labeled anyway), then set up the router's SSID (network name) and password through the router's web interface, which can usually be accessed by typing in 192.168.1.1 on your browser. The instructions are generally straightforward from there on. Perhaps the most confusing part would be the type of encryption for your password, but for home use, it doesn't really matter if you use WEP or WPA2.

For your PC, you can still use LAN, just buy a long RJ45 cable (LAN cable) then plug it into the appropriate slot at the back of the router (the connector's the same size and shape as the modem cable, but you plug it into a different hole). Currently I have 2 desktops wired directly to my router, and then some half-dozen mobile devices are also connected via WiFi.