Software

Every wireless network adapter needs two pieces of software to function with an operating system: a driver and a configuration utility. Installing drivers for wireless networking devices is usually no more difficult than for any other hardware device, but you should always consult your vendor's instructions before popping that card into a slot. Most of the time, you simply have to let Plug and Play (PnP) work its magic and put in the driver disc when prompted, but some devices (particularly USB devices) require that you install the drivers beforehand. All modern operating systems come well equipped for wireless networking. Even so, it's always a good idea to use the manufacturer's drivers and configuration utilities.

You also need a utility for configuring how the wireless hardware connects to other wireless devices. Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Macintosh OS X have built-in tools for configuring these settings, but for previous versions of Windows, you need to rely on wireless client configuration tools provided by the wireless network adapter vendor. A typical wireless network adapter's client configuration utility. Using this utility, you can determine important things like your link state (whether your wireless device is connected) and your signal strength (a measurement of how well your wireless device is connecting to other devices); you can also configure items such as your wireless networking mode, security encryption, power-saving options, and so on.

You configure WAPs and routers through browser-based setup utilities. The section "Implementing Wi-Fi" covers this process in detail a bit later in this tutorial. Let's look at the different modes that wireless networks use.