introduction
Welcome to Wireless-G
Thank you for purchasing the Microsoft
®
Broadband Networking Wireless Base Station.
This wireless base station is up to five times faster than 802.11b base stations. This
chapter describes your wireless base station and explains wireless (radio) and wired
(Ethernet) connections.
With your new wireless network, you can share an Internet connection, files, and
printers. Besides adding computers to the network, you can add a variety of devices,
provided each device has an available Ethernet port or a wireless adapter (that is
compatible with 802.11b or 802.11g Wi-Fi
®
networks).
For example, you can connect a game console (such as a Microsoft Xbox
®
video game
system), a Pocket PC, a home security or automation device, a digital audio controller,
or even some newer televisions to your network.
Note For more information about 802.11b and 802.11g, see “Understanding Wireless
Transmission Standards” later in this chapter.
About Your Wireless Base Station
The wireless base station comes with other components to help you set up and
connect your wireless network. The box contents are shown in the following illustration.
Setup CD
Install This First!
Power Supply Blue Ethernet
Cable
User’s Guide and
Start Here Guide
Wireless Base Station
(MN-700)
Base Station Stand
(Detachable)
Blank Floppy
Disk
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The Microsoft Wireless Base Station is a multifunctional device:
O
It enables you to share your broadband Internet connection with all the computers
on the network.
O
It helps provide a layer of security between your network and the Internet.
O
It enables wireless connectivity for computers within its range.
O
It helps provide security for your wireless transmissions, using Wired Equivalent
Privacy (WEP) or Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA).
Most people enable all of this functionality, as described in Chapter 2.