Learn Your Way Around Networking in Windows 7 is a quick walkthrough of the wireless changes in Windows 7. Thankfully, Microsoft has made the wireless stuff easier to access!
I found this edition of Ask the Wi-Fi Guru to be a good look at how to extend the range of your wireless network without using wires, and using two routers.
The methods I explain Wireless for Dummies All in One are to use a repeater, or to wire up a second router on a different channel. The article above skips the long wire, and uses one router to join the original network, and bridges that to a second router on the new expansion channel.
A clever idea, you just need an extra router!
http://s2n.merunetworks.com/2009/09/802-11n-approved-official-notification/
Just as a reminder, anything that’s been Wi-Fi certified (draft1/2) can be field upgraded to the final spec through a firmware update, though I’m lead to believe that everything will work without it.
As I was writing about 802.11g I made a comment along the lines of “if you have even one 802.11b client on your 802.11g network, the whole network runs at 11mbps”. The technical editor flagged that. He was right, I was oversimplifying things.
This article looks at the various compatibility modes in 802.11g. It’s a very technical article but even if you don’t care about the finer points of the frame headers and timing, the text is easy to digest.
The usual stuff on b/g vs n, but also some interesting comments on using power lines for connectivity.
I’m not a big fan of the repeaters/range extenders they mention because for the money (or less), you can wire up a second router as an access point and get more range.
I’m often asked by friends and family what kind of network gear to buy, so I’m listing the questions I ask them.
The first three questions try to figure out 802.11g vs 802.11n-2.4GHz vs 802.11n dual band. It depends on money and what cards the person has.
The last two questions help choose which product to get once you’ve figured out which technology to use. However, there’s no point in choosing a worse technology just to get one of the features, such as picking a worse router just to get a wireless parallel port adapter!
Also be on the lookout for combo packs, such as a router that comes with a card. Again, make sure it’s the card you want — if you’ve decided to go with 5GHz don’t get a combo pack that has a 2.4GHz card just because it’s being offered.
For under $200 you can get a dual band 802.11n Cisco/Linksys router with 4 gigabit ports and a USB storage port:
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Cisco makes a good product, the only downside is that there is a dizzying array of options in the web interface. The device is plug and play, but you know how some people like to play around…
In the $100 range is a nice device from NETGEAR, the WNR2000.
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It’s 2.4GHz only, but if you want to get a good device for low cost, NETGEAR offers some great value.
If you decide to go with 802.11g, keep your eyes out for sales. There’s not much point in getting a whiz-bang 802.11g router when you can get a decent one for $30 or so. Amazon has a NETGEAR for $40 
, though a quick walk through your local electronics store should be able to do better.
One thing I didn’t cover in the book was the third party firmware that some routers can run. It falls outside of the “For Dummies” technical level.
The Linksys (now Cisco) WRT54G series of routers have some models that run Linux, and can be reflashed with a variety of Open Source software to do way more than was originally intended. Wi-Fi Planet as an article on Coova.
Another option is Fonera. It’s a wireless AP/router combo that gives a public and private SSID. People using the public SSID have to pay for access, and you can either get a cut of the revenue or forgo that to use any public FON device in the world. I had one of the earlier models and it worked great. The latest model has an impressive list of features, including acting as a NAS.
According to PC Magazine, we can expect 802.11n to be approved in mid September.
As a reminder, anything certified with the Wi-Fi alliance “802.11n Draft 2.0″ logo should be upgradeable to the 802.11n final standard by flashing the firmware.
Some more interesting comments about the changes between 802.11n Draft 2 and 802.11n final. In a nutshell, most consumer 802.11n draft 2 stuff already implements the final version.
I was at a conference last week called Sharkfest, which was devoted to the open source Wireshark packet analyzer. A packet analyzer grabs network traffic and decodes it. This year there was a lot to do with Wireless analyzing.
Mike Kershaw of Kismet fame gave a great talk called Get Thinking about WiFi Security!. It was a look at many attacks against 802.11 networks.
After the talk, many people wondered what was safe. There were so many attacks, so many ways to find out what data was going over the wire. At the same time, many of the regular protections were still in place.
Your effort in protecting yourself should be commensurate with the cost of the data you’re trying to protect. A bank would set up a different wireless network than you would in your home. A couple of people joked that they don’t use any security on their wireless networks, but at the same time, they live in a country house with no neighbours for miles.
