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•

An IP address and subnet mask

•

A gateway IP address, which is the address of the ISP’s router

•

One or more domain name server (DNS) IP addresses

•

Host name and domain suffix

For example, your account’s full server names may look like this:

mail.xxx.yyy.com

In this example, the domain suffix is

xxx.yyy.com

.

If any of these items are dynamically supplied by the ISP, your firewall automatically acquires

them.

If an ISP technician configured your PC during the installation of the broadband modem, or if you

configured it using instructions provided by your ISP, you need to copy the configuration

information from your PC’s Network TCP/IP Properties window or Macintosh TCP/IP Control

Panel before reconfiguring your PC for use with the firewall. These procedures are described next.

Obtaining ISP Configuration Information for Windows Computers

As mentioned above, you may need to collect configuration information from your PC so that you

can use this information when you configure the WGU624 wireless router. Following this

procedure is only necessary when your ISP does not dynamically supply the account information.

To get the information you need to configure the firewall for Internet access:

1.

On the Windows taskbar, click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

2.

Double-click the Network icon.

The Network window opens, which displays a list of installed components.

3.

Select TCP/IP, and then click Properties.

The TCP/IP Properties dialog box opens.

4.

Select the IP Address tab.

If an IP address and subnet mask are shown, write down the information. If an address is

present, your account uses a fixed (static) IP address. If no address is present, your account

uses a dynamically-assigned IP address. Click “Obtain an IP address automatically”.

5.

Select the Gateway tab.

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If an IP address appears under Installed Gateways, write down the address. This is the ISP’s

gateway address. Select the address and then click Remove to remove the gateway address.

6.

Select the DNS Configuration tab.

If any DNS server addresses are shown, write down the addresses. If any information appears

in the Host or Domain information box, write it down. Click Disable DNS.

7.

Click OK to save your changes and close the TCP/IP Properties dialog box.

You are returned to the Network window.

8.

Click OK.

9.

Reboot your PC at the prompt. You may also be prompted to insert your Windows CD.

Obtaining ISP Configuration Information for Macintosh

Computers

As mentioned above, you may need to collect configuration information from your Macintosh so

that you can use this information when you configure the WGU624 wireless router. Following this

procedure is only necessary when your ISP does not dynamically supply the account information.

To get the information you need to configure the firewall for Internet access:

1.

From the Apple menu, select Control Panels, then TCP/IP.

The TCP/IP Control Panel opens, which displays a list of configuration settings. If the

“Configure” setting is “Using DHCP Server”, your account uses a dynamically-assigned IP

address. In this case, close the Control Panel and skip the rest of this section.

2.

If an IP address and subnet mask are shown, write down the information.

3.

If an IP address appears under Router address, write down the address. This is the ISP’s

gateway address.

4.

If any Name Server addresses are shown, write down the addresses. These are your ISP’s DNS

addresses.

5.

If any information appears in the Search domains information box, write it down.

6.

Change the “Configure” setting to “Using DHCP Server”.

7.

Close the TCP/IP Control Panel.

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Restarting the Network

Once you’ve set up your computers to work with the firewall, you must reset the network for the

devices to be able to communicate correctly. Restart any computer that is connected to the

firewall.

After configuring all of your computers for TCP/IP networking and restarting them, and

connecting them to the local network of your WGU624 wireless router, you are ready to access

and configure the firewall.

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Wireless Networking Basics

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Appendix D

Wireless Networking Basics

This chapter provides an overview of Wireless networking.

Wireless Networking Overview

The WGU624 wireless router conforms to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

(IEEE) 802.11 standard for wireless LANs (WLANs) and a product update will bring the

WGU624 into conformance to the 802.11g standard when it is ratified. On an 802.11b or g

wireless link, data is encoded using direct-sequence spread-spectrum (DSSS) technology and is

transmitted in the unlicensed radio spectrum at 2.5GHz. The maximum data rate for the wireless

link is 11 Mbps, but it will automatically back down from 11 Mbps to 5.5, 2, and 1 Mbps when the

radio signal is weak or when interference is detected. The 802.11g auto rate sensing rates are 1, 2,

5.5, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 54 Mbps.

The 802.11 standard is also called Wireless Ethernet or Wi-Fi by the Wireless Ethernet

Compatibility Alliance (WECA, see

), an industry standard group promoting

interoperability among 802.11 devices. The 802.11 standard offers two methods for configuring a

wireless network — ad hoc and infrastructure.

Infrastructure Mode

With a wireless Access Point, you can operate the wireless LAN in the infrastructure mode. This

mode provides wireless connectivity to multiple wireless network devices within a fixed range or

area of coverage, interacting with wireless nodes via an antenna.