Wireless Tips
10
The following are some general wireless tips to help minimize the impact of interference within an
environment.
Assign your network a unique SSID
Do not use anything that would be identifying like “Smith Family Network”. Choose
something that you would easily identify when searching for available wireless networks.
Do not turn off the SSID broadcast
The SSID broadcast is intended to be on and turning it off can cause connectivity issues.
The preferred method of securing a wireless network is to choose a strong form of encryption
with a strong and varied encryption key.
Change the channel
Most wireless access points and routers are defaulted to channel 6. If you have a site survey
tool that will display the channels you can plan your channel selection around neighboring
access points to minimize interference from them. If your site survey tool does not display
the channel try using channels 1 or 11.
If using 802.11n you should be securing the network with WPA2 security.
Note: Due to Wi-Fi certification considerations if you choose WEP, WPA or WPA2-TKIP
encryption this device may operate in legacy wireless mode (802.11b/g). You may not get
802.11n performance as these forms of encryption are not supported by the 802.11n
specification.
Please also make sure that the wireless hardware is not placed in any type of shelving or
enclosures.
Avoid stacking hardware on top of each other to prevent overheating issues. Maintain
enough free space around the hardware for good ventilation and airflow. There should also
be plenty of free space around the antennas to allow the wireless signal to propagate.
Note: after setting up the SSID, encryption type and encryption key/passphrase, please
make a note of them for future reference. You will need this information to connect your
wireless computers to the wireless router/access point.