Lesson 2- Installing a USB Wireless Network Adapter
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Introduction
In Lesson 2 we go to the Familyroom computer and connect a USB wireless network adapter. We show installing the software that comes with the adapter along with the options to choose during the install. We then plug the adapter into a open USB port on the back of the computer. We will get the computer connected to the router and on the Internet in Section 4.
Recommended Networking Hardware
Installing USB Wireless Network Adapter Software
The process of installing wireless network adapters is a little
different than any other component you add to your computer. Normally
when installing a new piece of hardware you would install the hardware,
Windows would detect it and then ask for a driver for the new
hardware. With a wireless network adapter it's the opposite.
The adapters ship with a CD that you put into your computer and
install a program. This program installs the drivers for the adapter
onto your computer. It also installs a utility that you will use to
configure the adapter. There's usually an option given during the
installation to use the configuration utility that ships with Windows
to configure the adapter. We'll choose to use the one that came with
the wireless adapter for now. We can change this later. We'll use
this configuration utility in Section 4 of the lessons to get the
wireless adapter connected to the router. Be sure to read the manual
that comes with your wireless network adapter for specific instructions.
Connecting the Adapter to the Computer
Now that the drivers and configuration utility are installed we can connect the wireless network adapter to this computer.
It's a USB wireless adapter so we'll be inserting it into an
available USB port. The computer has a few open USB ports on the front
of the case. We can insert the adapter here, but it's not the best
place. The adapter sticks out the front of the case and is very easy
to break. We'll insert the adapter into a open USB port on the back of
the case, but there is a problem common to most USB wireless adapters.
The adapter is too thick and won't go in next to another USB cable.
The adapter ships with a short USB extension cable that we will put
between the wireless adapter and the USB port.
On the computers monitor, in Windows Vista, a prompt shows up next
to the clock saying Installing Device Driver Software. If we click it
we see it's searching for a driver for the device that is already
available on the computer. It finds one and says it's ready for use.
In Windows XP this process is essentially the same, the wording is just
a little different. Down by the clock we have a new icon. If we hover
over the icon it gives the name of this wireless adapter and says it's
disconnected. This means it's not yet connected to a wireless router.
In section 4 we will use this utility to connect to our router and get
this computer online.
Next we'll install a PCI card wireless adapter into a desktop
computer. First we need to install the driver and configuration
utility that came with the card.
{/reg}
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