A Quick Guide to Wi-Fi

Setup
By Chris New
2015 Edition

About the Author

Introduction
Basic Concepts
Unmanaged Wi-Fi
Channel Selection
Single AP Environment
Multiple AP Environment
Security Settings
WEP
WPA/WPA2
TKIP
AES
Other Performance Enhancements
Conclusion

About the Author

After studying Sound Engineering and Multimedia Integration at university I entered the
Home Automation Industry in 2007. The systems and technology that I use everyday
have enabled me to build up a professional level of understanding in a number of fields.
I have also completed a diploma in C Programming, and have gain experience in Java and
Lua programming languages, I am also qualified to program a number of well known
Automation Systems. In addition I have completed courses in Network Security and
Wireless Networking run by well known and highly regarded networking equipment
manufacturers.

Introduction
Wireless Networks are all around us, and are used for everything from Bluetooth to
Contactless Card Payment systems to Wi-Fi. With all that clutter and noise out there is it
any wonder that your Home Wi-Fi can be slow or intermittent? So how do we go about
setting our Wi-Fi up so that we can get the best from it and avoid some of the pitfalls
that can lead to excess interference?

Basic Concepts
1. Most Wi-Fi networks use the 2.4GHz frequency as manufacturers do not need to
pay a license fee to use the frequency. For that reason the airwaves can get
pretty crowded as just about any domestic appliance that is wireless will also be
using the 2.4GHz frequency. This includes cordless telephones, wireless security
systems and even your microwave.
2. Some new Wi-Fi devices can use the 5GHz frequency as this has recently been
made free to use. At the moment 5GHz is mostly free of Wi-Fi as few devices have
the brand new hardware required to use this frequency.
3. Both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies are subdivided into channels. There are 13
(14 in Europe) channels in the 2.4GHz frequency and 24 in the 5GHz frequency.
4. Ideally we should avoid overlapping channels. In 2.4GHz channels 1, 6 and 11 are
commonly used as these don't overlap each other. In 5GHz all channels are
non-overlapping.
5. Each device that transmits a wireless signal is referred to variously as a Wireless
Access Point (WAP) or an Access Point (AP), each device that consumes Wi-Fi e.g.
laptop, phone, tablet etc. is referred to as a Client or Host.
There are also two general methods for deploying a Wi-Fi setup, Managed and
Unmanaged. Simply put a Managed Wi-Fi network will have a processor which can
automatically make performance adjustments to the Wi-Fi transmitters such as;
advanced automatic channel selection, self healing, rogue WAP detection. An
Unmanaged Wi-Fi network will stay exactly as originally set up but can have the ability to
change channels automatically (though this feature is usually disabled for reasons I will

cover later). I am only going to deal with Unmanaged Wi-Fi in this guide as Managed
Wi-Fi is quite an in-depth topic and beyond the scope of this book.
Ok now let's get down to business.

Unmanaged Wi-Fi
First of all you are going to need some Wi-Fi analysis software, my favorite is inSSIDer
from MetaGeek (
www.inssider.com)
, you can find some others here (F
ree Wi-Fi Tools
).
When you run your chosen analyser, you will see all of the Wi-Fi networks that are in
range of your computer; it is best to use a laptop (preferably one with a 2.4GHz and a
5GHz Wi-Fi card) for this as you will need to move around. You will notice that many of
the wireless networks overlap and signal strengths move up and down. The more
interference there is on a given channel the more the received signal strength as
perceived by your laptop will fluctuate.
It may be helpful to understand a little about how devices communicate on a Wi-Fi
network. As well as how the IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi standards help us cope with interference.
If we imagine that the devices are all having a conversation then:
Those on different channels are having a conversation in a different room,
therefore there will be little to no interference from devices on other channels
and performance will be maintained.
Those on the same channel are having a conversation in the same room but will
wait their turn to speak (an in-built feature of the Wi-Fi 802.11 standard). This will
slow down performance but limit effects interference. This is referred to as
Co-Channel Congestion.
Those on overlapping channels are having a conversation in an adjacent room,
with thin walls. They will attempt to speak at the same time as those on
overlapping channels and this will reduce performance for devices both channels.
This is referred to as Adjacent Channel Congestion.

Channel Selection
As I mentioned previously non-overlapping channels offer the best performance,
professional three channel deployments use channels 1, 6 and 11 exclusively though you
could opt for a two channel deployment.
To find the best channels for your equipment first position all or your WAPs including
your router if it has in-built wireless for best coverage then we can begin optimising
channels, for this example I will assume we are setting up a three channel deployment.

First sit close to your router with your laptop and using your Wi-Fi analyser select which
of the three channels, 1, 6 or 11, is least congested, this will be our starting point. Then
start moving from one WAP to another assigning the least congested channel to each
one. Try to avoid putting two WAP's on the same channel, if you must put two on the
same channel try and select a channel where the signal from the co-occupying WAP is
weakest. Once you have assigned channels to all of your WAPs you may want to go back
round and adjust signal strength to further reduce congestion.
Some WAPs will allow you to select the 20MHz and 40MHz channel widths, 40MHz is fine
in a single AP environment but in a multi AP environment it will cause interference so it
is recommended that you select 20MHz only.

Single AP Environment
If you have a single AP environment, i.e. you only have your router transmitting wireless
and no other WAP's, then select a channel that is least congested since we don't have to
worry about overlap. Dial into your router/WAP, choose manual channel selection and
choose your desired channel. You may consider leaving auto channel selection on so the
router will automatically attempt to find the best channel. The downside to this is that if
you are using your ISP provided router then it is likely that you neighbours have the
same router with the same channel selection algorithms meaning that there is a high
likelihood that you will end up with excessive Co-Channel Congestion.

Multiple AP Environment
If you have many WAP's then we will need to set each up individually and manually
optimise Channels, Security Settings and Signal Strength (if possible). In this instance it
would be best to keep notes so you can refer back later should you have performance
issues. Also bare in mind that unless your neighbours have set up there Wi-Fi on static
channels as their WAPs auto select channels your own Wi-Fi performance will be
affected. Apart from convincing your neighbours to properly configure their own Wi-Fi
there is nothing you can do about this.

Security Settings
To make your devices or Clients automatically move from one AP to another set the SSID
on all of your Access Points to be the same. The SSID (Service Set Identifier) is the name
of the wireless network. Try to avoid symbols and spaces as some older devices don't
like it; in my experience they will still work but my randomly drop their connection.
Next decide on a password or Pre-shared Key (PSK), this should be easy to remember
but hard to guess and at least 8 characters long. The key to choosing a strong password
is to mix uppercase letters, lowercase letters and symbols into words or phrases. Pets
names, surnames and important dates (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) are the most
common passwords so should be avoided. Instead try to think up words or phrases that
are unrelated to your personal information. For instance:
2BorNot2B
- To be or not to be
@we50me
- awesome
L3tmin!
- Let me in

Now we need to consider what security protocols to use. These must set up the same on
all WAPs and it is best to use the highest security settings that are compatible with all of
your Clients.

WEP
Wired Equivalent Privacy was introduced in 802.11 a and is the original wireless
encryption and has its own security protocol though was found to be vulnerable so was
quickly dropped in favour of TKIP.

WPA/WPA2
Wi-Fi Protected Access whilst included in 802.11g wasnt ratified until 802.11i (never
actually deployed). This also includes the AES security protocol which is part of 802.11n
which is required to reach full speed. WPA2 makes the use of AES mandatory, in other
words devices will not connect to WPA2 unless AES has been deployed.
WPA and WPA2 can be made vulnerable when WPS Wireless Protected Setup is used
due to a loophole which allow the connection pin to broadcast indiscriminately. systems
with WPS disabled are not susceptible to this.

TKIP
Temporal Key Integrity Protocol was a stopgap upgrade to WEP that was software only
meaning that legacy hardware need not be replaced. This is no longer considered secure
and was depreciated in 2012.

AES
Advanced encryption Standard is simply a method of encryption utilised by the most
current Wi-Fi standards.
My go-to settings are WPA2/AES as this is required for 802.11n and above to work and I
always switch WPS off as it has security vulnerabilities.

Other Performance Enhancements

There are several Wi-Fi standards, 802.11 a/b/g/n are the most common.
802.11a has an indoor range of up-to 35m and a max speed of 54Mb/s. It uses the
2.4GHz range and been depreciated so it is not very common to find new devices
that are 802.11a compatible.
802.11b has an indoor range of up-to 35m and a max speed of 11Mb/s. This the
most basic standard that still makes use of the 2.4GHz range. As most devices
these days are 802.11g or better I disable this standard if possible so that I can
maintain better speeds.
802.11g has an indoor range of up-to 38m and a max speed of 54Mb/s. It is by far
the most common standard and makes use of the 2.4GHz range.
802.11n has an indoor range of up-to 70m and a max speed of 150Mb/s. This
standard can use both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz ranges. To make best use of the
speed WPA2/AES must be selected and the security protocol and the 40MHz
bandwidth must be enabled. When this standard is used as part of a multi AP
environment either setup all WAPs on either channel 1 or channel 11 and avoid
channel 6 or disable the 40MHz bandwidth. If you choose to disable the 40MHz
bandwidth then the max speed will be limited to 72.2Mb/s but you will suffer less
interference, therefore you will have a more reliable connection.

Some WAPs may allow you to set a Client Limit, this should be left off unless you are in
the sort of environment where lots of people may be trying to connect at once (e.g. a
Caf, free Wi-Fi). Set a limit to avoid one particular WAP becoming clogged up with lots
of Clients.

Conclusion
Wi-Fi is never going to be as fast or as reliable as a wired connection. However, by having
awareness of the problems and limitations that affect Wi-Fi you can configure your
wireless network to mitigate these. The simple fact is, with good quality Wi-Fi
equipment, that is well setup you can enjoy a solid, reliable connection.