Wireless Tips - TRENDnet TEW-421PC Quick Installation Manual

Wireless Tips

T he follow ing are som e general w ire le ss tips to help m inim ize the im pact o f in terfere nce w ithin an
environm ent.
A s s ig n y o u r n e tw o rk a u n iq u e S S ID
Do not use anything that w o uld be identifying like "Sm ith F am ily N e tw ork" . C hoose
som ething that you w o uld easily id entify w h en searching fo r a vailab le w ire le s s networks.
D o n o t tu r n o f f th e S S ID b ro a d c a s t
The SS ID broadca st is intended to be on and turn ing it o ff can cause conn e c tivity issues.
The preferred m ethod o f securing a w ire le s s netw o rk is to choose a strong form o f encryption
w ith a strong and varied encryption key.
Note: a fte r setting up the SS ID , encryption type and encryption key/passphrase, please
m ake a note o f them fo r fu tu re reference. You w ill need this inform ation to conn ect yo u r
w ire le ss co m puters to the w ire le ss router/access point.
C h a n g e th e c h a n n e l
M ost w ire le ss acce ss points and routers are defaulted to chan nel 6. If you have a site survey
tool that w ill display the cha n n e ls you can plan y o u r chan nel selection around neighboring
acce s s points to m inim ize in terfere nce from them . If yo u r site survey tool d oe s not display
the channel try using cha n n e ls 1 or 11.
C h a n g e th e c h a n n e l b a n d w id th
If you are using an 802.11n router or access point you can also m ake the follow ing changes.
C h ange the chan nel ban dw idth to 20/40M H z. T his w ill provide the highest possible
perform ance using an 8 0 2 .1 1n device. A lso, if using 802.11n you should be securing the
netw o rk w ith W PA 2 security.
Note: Due to W i-Fi certification consid e ra tio n s if you choo se W EP, W P A or W P A 2-T K IP
encryption this device m ay operate in legacy w ire le ss m ode (802.11b/g).
8 0 2 .1 1n perform ance as these fo rm s o f encryption are not supp orted by the 802.11n
specification.
A v o id s ta c k in g h a rd w a re o n to p o f e a c h o th e r t o p re v e n t o v e rh e a tin g is s u e s
M aintain enough fre e space around the hardw are fo r good v entilation and airflow. There
should also be plenty o f fre e space around the a n tenna s to allow the w ire le ss signal to
propagate. Please also m ake sure that the w ire le s s hardw are is not placed in any type o f
shelving or enclosures.
You m ay not get