If, after adjusting the placement of your router, you still need more range than
it seems to be able to provide, consider either a repeater (range extender) or
an aftermarket antenna for your router. There are even a number of do-ityourself
antenna projects for both the router and client (e.g., laptop), including
the creative use of a Pringles?„? can.
358 | Chapter 7: Networking and Internet
To display the ???Connect to a network??? window, open the
Start menu and click Connect To (if it??™s there). Or, click the
network icon to the right of the notification area (tray) and
then click the Connect to a network link. Or, if you??™re in
Control Panel, open the Network and Sharing Center, and
click the Connect to a network link on the Tasks pane on
the left side. (Note that this window is not needed at all if
you??™re connecting your PC to a network with a cable.)
A WiFi sniffer is a program (or device) that scans for and lists the WiFi networks
within range. This is where the SSID Broadcast setting in the previous
section, ???Set Up a Wireless Router,??? comes into play: as long as your
router is broadcasting your SSID, any sniffer within range will see it.
Just highlight an entry in the list and click Connect. Now, if a network is
identified as a Security-enabled network, you??™ll need its encryption passphrase
or key to connect to it. Provided it??™s your own network, you can just
paste the passphrase from step 13 of ???Set Up a Wireless Router,??? earlier in
this chapter; otherwise, you??™ll have to get it from the administrator of that
particular hotspot.
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