How to Setup a Wireless Access Point in Your Room

Setting up wireless network connectivity is both cheap and easy nowadays, with many manufacturers selling wireless access points for under $100.  This page is intended to guide students through setting up a wireless access point in their room, both the physical connection and the security features.

First off, you need to purchase a wireless access point (sometimes called a wireless router or hub).  Any brand will do, Netgear, Ebelkin, 3com, D-Link, etc.  Secondly the computer you are wishing to use for wireless access needs a wireless network card installed in it.  Many modern laptops have these built into them, and wireless network cards for desktop computers are easily purchased at Staples, CompUSA, Wal Mart, etc.  Although other operating systems will work OK with wireless, it is suggested that you use Windows XP or MAC OS X to do so.

Once you purchased a wireless AP(access point), the first thing you will want to do it is plug it in and setup the security features of it.  This includes features such as SSID, Encryption Keys, and Admin passwords.  The manuals that came with your wireless router should have instructions for setting the security options.  Also, you can look at http://www.jiwire.com/wi-fi-security-home-networks-1.htm to inform yourself of why wireless security is important.  Remember, setting up the security is YOUR responsibility, and YOU are responsible for everyone and everything that connects to your wireless router.  If "open" wireless access points are found on campus, the user's network ports will be shut down until they have secured it.

The next step is to setup the wireless router to act as a hub only.  Many modern routers include the ability to be a DHCP server, which will not function on this network.  Each PC on the network must obtain its IP address  from the Maryville College DHCP server.  For instructions on how to turn off DHCP on your router, see your instruction manuals, or the manufacturer's website.  Until this is done, computers connecting to the wireless hub will not be able to log-in to Smart Enforcer.

Once you have completed the above step, you should be able to connect your device(s) to the wireless hub.  Enter the encryption key on each device that you setup in the security features section above.  Once this is completed, you should be able to connect wirelessly to the hub.