Need help setting up wireless network...

Its a small business with 4 computers, a linksys wireless router, built-in wireless cards, and a printer with a USB port and also a networking port. I have never set up a worless network, so any insight or suggestions would be appreciated. Also, if you have links to a tutorial that might help me, I would appreciate it.

Is this even in the right forum? Its being ignored..please move to correct forum if its wrong

should be EASY! just plug it all in and go. no voodoo to it unless you want to do something specific and obscure. locking/securing the network down is another story....

HeatM1ser2k4 said:

Its a small business with 4 computers, a linksys wireless router, built-in wireless cards, and a printer with a USB port and also a networking port. I have never set up a worless network, so any insight or suggestions would be appreciated. Also, if you have links to a tutorial that might help me, I would appreciate it.

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the first that you would need to do would be setup the router. i would suggest following through the router's manual as they tend to have information on how to secure the network.

i did a quick google search and this site has some very good tips for security:

http://compnetworking.about.com/od/wirelesssecurity/tp/wifisecurity.htm

for wireless security, i would suggest at least WPA (i would not use WEP as it has many security flaws)

with the printer, i would highly suggest using the network port on the printer so it does not rely on a computer being on to work. instructions should be able to be found at the manufacturer's website.

in order to properly setup and secure the network, you may need to do a little bit of research, especially since this is for a business. adding wireless improperly can leave you wide open for attacks if it is not secured.

also, do documentation for all of the settings that you have setup. include all of the things that you have setup (type of security on the wireless, any settings that you change on the wireless router, passwords, etc.) this information may provide very useful in the future as you may not remember what settings you used if you need to make any sort of configuration changes.

What type of business is this? Can't say I'd recommend wireless for many small businesses.

Thanks for the info guys.

I'm not sure of what type of company this is, but I believe they deal with loans in some way, which would make a wireless network unpractical...but they want it, and i was asked to do it.

Now, I graduated with a near-perfect GPA in a network security and administration program, but havent used a single bit of what I learned in about 2 years....so I need refreshing.

What I planned on doing is:
Set up a server and connect it to the router.Connect the printer to the server. Then I would assign static IP addresses to all the computers and the printer. If I enable file and printer sharing, then my assumption is that all the computers will be able to print wirelessly through the server, as well as being able to connect to anything else they would need wirelessly. If I remember correctly, I can set this all up through the router, right?

Also...how would I allow all the other computers to access a partition on the server to write data to?

Your help is appreciated...I am really rusty and have only set up wired networks since I graduated...and those were extremely simple networks.

HeatM1ser2k4 said:

Thanks for the info guys.

I'm not sure of what type of company this is, but I believe they deal with loans in some way, which would make a wireless network unpractical...but they want it, and i was asked to do it.

Now, I graduated with a near-perfect GPA in a network security and administration program, but havent used a single bit of what I learned in about 2 years....so I need refreshing.

What I planned on doing is:
Set up a server and connect it to the router.Connect the printer to the server. Then I would assign static IP addresses to all the computers and the printer. If I enable file and printer sharing, then my assumption is that all the computers will be able to print wirelessly through the server, as well as being able to connect to anything else they would need wirelessly. If I remember correctly, I can set this all up through the router, right?

Also...how would I allow all the other computers to access a partition on the server to write data to?

Your help is appreciated...I am really rusty and have only set up wired networks since I graduated...and those were extremely simple networks.

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when it comes to setting up a share on the server, it is the same as you would for a wired network... right click on the folder, sharing/security and set permissions...

Ok...I encountered a problem this afternoon. I set up the server, connected the printer, found the network on all other computers, shared the printer....all but 1 computer found the printer. I cant figure out whats wrong. It says that its connected to the same wireless network as all the other computers are, but it doesnt detact the printer at all.

The server is running Windows 2000, while the clients are running Vista. How would I go about diagnosing the problem and finding a solution? I've never worked with Vista until today, so finding stuff wasnt as easy as I hoped...so I am a little confused about how to handle this. Any feedback would be appreciated. Please request any other info you might need.

Thanks for the help!!!

Bump...because I need help!

Make sure Vista is set to allow network discovery. Also, check your FW settings on the client machines.

I got the entire network to work, but none of the other computers can connect to the printer. Even when I do get one to connect to the printer, if the computer reboots---its no longer connected to the printer. Very frustrating.

HeatM1ser2k4 said:

I got the entire network to work, but none of the other computers can connect to the printer. Even when I do get one to connect to the printer, if the computer reboots---its no longer connected to the printer. Very frustrating.

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hmm, that's very odd. does the printer disappear from the list or is it just no longer able to connect to it?

mbentley said:

hmm, that's very odd. does the printer disappear from the list or is it just no longer able to connect to it?

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Well, to connect to the printer, I have to manually connect to the server, enter the admin name and password, locate the printer on the server and then right click it to bring up the option to connect. Vista then asks if I want to make it the defalut ptiner. I try to print a test page....but it never prints. Its Vista home edition, and the server is runnign Win2000...I was wondering if I installed a different version of Vista, like a business-oriented version,if it would help. What I need to do is to be able to hook up all the computers to the networked printer, with the capabilities to automatically connect to it on boot-up too.I'm sorry...I just feel so lost in Vista that I dont know were to go from here. I assigned the printer an IP address from the printer itself, and used the default subnet mask 0f 255.255.255.0(which is the same as on the network). I allowed the printers MAC address in the router configuration, allowed that printers assigned IP address to( but I used port 80--maybe that could be the source of part of my problem). Also, every time I tried to locate the printer on each client, it asked for the drivers to be installed ago...then the driver installler went into a "Not responding" state, but eventually installed the printer drivers every time. I dont know where to go from here, and I am looking really incompetent to the company owner...I just wish I knew what I could do from here to get back on the right track.

Thanks for any advice you might offer!

Sorry to bump again, but I really need some help before I go back tomorrow.

HeatM1ser2k4 said:

Sorry to bump again, but I really need some help before I go back tomorrow.

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as long as you know the ip address of the printer, try this assuming that you have the printer setup using a static ip address):

(sorry, the directions may not be 100% accurate as i do not have a vista box in my office)

open printers and faxes up
choose add a printer
choose a "local printer" but uncheck plug and play
choose "create a new port" and make it a tcp/ip port
type in the ip address of the printer (the port name should be automatically populated i believe)
then you should be prompted for a driver.
from there it should be self explanatory.

let me know if that doesn't work.

mbentley said:

as long as you know the ip address of the printer, try this assuming that you have the printer setup using a static ip address):

(sorry, the directions may not be 100% accurate as i do not have a vista box in my office)

open printers and faxes up
choose add a printer
choose a "local printer" but uncheck plug and play
choose "create a new port" and make it a tcp/ip port
type in the ip address of the printer (the port name should be automatically populated i believe)
then you should be prompted for a driver.
from there it should be self explanatory.

let me know if that doesn't work.

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure I did that already...but I'll try again.