User's Manual

Introduction

4. Choose the “quietest” channel for your wireless network

In฀locations฀where฀homes฀or฀offices฀are฀close฀together,฀such฀as฀

apartment฀buildings฀or฀office฀complexes,฀there฀may฀be฀wireless฀

networks฀nearby฀that฀can฀conflict฀with฀yours.฀Use฀the฀Site฀Survey฀

capabilities฀of฀your฀Wireless฀LAN฀Utility฀to฀locate฀any฀other฀wireless฀

networks฀(see฀page฀16฀of฀this฀manual),฀and฀move฀your฀Wireless฀Router฀

(or฀Access฀Point)฀and฀computers฀to฀a฀channel฀as฀far฀away฀from฀other฀

networks฀as฀possible.฀

Experiment฀with฀more฀than฀one฀of฀the฀available฀channels,฀in฀order฀to฀

find฀the฀clearest฀connection฀and฀avoid฀interference฀from฀neighboring฀

cordless฀phones฀or฀other฀wireless฀devices.

5. Secure connections, VPNs, and AOL

Secure฀connections฀are฀connections฀that฀typically฀require฀a฀user฀name฀

and฀password,฀and฀are฀used฀where฀security฀is฀important.฀Secure฀

connections฀include:

•฀฀ Virtual฀Private฀Network฀(VPN)฀connections,฀often฀used฀to฀connect฀

remotely฀to฀an฀office฀network

•฀฀ The฀“Bring฀Your฀Own฀Access”฀program฀from฀America฀Online฀

(AOL),฀which฀lets฀you฀use฀AOL฀through฀broadband฀provided฀by฀

another฀cable฀or฀DSL฀service

•฀฀ Most฀on-line฀banking฀websites

•฀฀ Many฀commercial฀websites฀which฀require฀a฀user฀name฀and฀

password฀to฀access฀your฀account

Secure฀connections฀can฀be฀interrupted฀by฀a฀computer’s฀power฀

management฀setting,฀which฀causes฀it฀to฀“go฀to฀sleep.”฀The฀simplest฀

solution฀to฀avoid฀this฀is฀to฀simply฀reconnect฀by฀re-running฀the฀VPN฀or฀

AOL฀software,฀or฀by฀re-logging฀into฀the฀secure฀web฀site.

A฀second฀alternative฀is฀to฀change฀your฀computer’s฀power฀

management฀settings฀so฀it฀does฀not฀go฀to฀sleep;฀however,฀this฀may฀

not฀be฀appropriate฀for฀portable฀computers.฀To฀change฀your฀power฀

management฀setting฀under฀Windows,฀see฀the฀“Power฀Options”฀item฀in฀

the฀Control฀Panel.