WiFi For Dummies

A request I get all the time is recommendations on books that are good for non techies to learn about WiFi. If you search long enough on the Internet you can find free information on the web that will answer your questions, no matter what your topic. What is more difficult, is finding free ebooks that are well organized and well written enough to be worth printing it out.

A great and **FREE** ebook in PDF format related to WiFi is can be downloaded directly from here. This book isn’t an official “WiFi For Dummies” book but covers the topic at a similar level. The second edition of the book was released in 2004 but is still great for anyone just starting to learn about WiFi.

In the authors’ own words:

You are about to have in your virtual hands a free version of the second edition of The Wireless Networking Starter Kit. We’ll be frank: the book got great reviews, and we heard from hundreds of readers how they liked it–but it didn’t sell well enough to continue to update it.

That’s why we’re giving this edition from 2004 away at no cost: there’s still much that’s relevant even after all the changes that Wi-Fi has gone through. (What’s really out of date? There’s little coverage of WPA security and nothing on 802.11n.)

Tech Support Via Email

The motivation for sharing the great resource above is that I receive several emails a week requesting tech support via my contact form. If the question is related to a post I have written I usually try to answer the email right away. In most cases the email request is about a very specific issue that I would have to research and would require several exchanges with the reader to fully understand the problem before trying to respond.

While I wish I had the time to answer all tech support questions, it just isn’t possible. So for now my policy is that I only respond to questions that are related to my posts. If the question is generic enough that others would benefit from the answer I usually write post instead of responding to question directly via email.

If you have a generic question about wireless I recommend you download the free ebook mentioned above. Some of the topics covered are below and I suspect in most cases will answer your questions.

Section I: Wireless Basics
1. How Wireless Works
2. Wireless Standards
3. Wireless Hardware
4. Other Wireless Standards
5. Wireless of the (Near) Future

Section II: Connecting Your Computer
6. Connecting Your Windows XP
7. Configuring Your Centrino Laptop
8. Connecting Your Macintosh
9. Connecting with Linux and FreeBSD
10. Connecting Your Handheld
11. Connecting via Bluetooth
12. Creating an Ad Hoc Wireless Network
13. Sharing Files and Printers
14. Troubleshooting Your Connection

Section III: Building Your Wireless Network
15. Planning Your Wireless Network
16. Buying a Wireless Gateway
17. Setting up a Gateway
18. Wireless Gadgets
19. Creating a Software Access Point
20. Bridging Wireless Networks
21. Indoor Antenna Basics
22. Small Office Wi-Fi Networking
23. Troubleshooting Your Wireless Network

Section IV: Wireless Security
24. Wireless Worries
25. Preventing Access to Your Network
26. Securing Data in Transit
27. Protecting Your Systems

Section V: Taking It on the Road
28. Finding Wi-Fi on the Road
29. Configuring WISP Software
30. Using Cellular Data Networks
31. Prepping for the Road
32. Working on the Road

Section VI: Going the Distance
33. Long-Range Wi-Fi Connections
34. Long-Range Anntena Basics

Appendix A. Networking Basics
Appendix B. Configuring Your Network Settings
Appendix C. How to Troubleshoot

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Filed under: How To Guides