Netgear WN203 User Manual - Page 15

ProSAFE Single Band 802.11n Wireless Access Point WN203 What You Need Before You Begin You need to consider the guidelines and requirements in the following sections before you can set up your wireless access point. See also System Requirements on page 8. • Wireless Equipment Placement and Range Guidelines • Ethernet Cabling Requirements • LAN Configuration Requirements • Hardware Requirements for Computers on Your LAN • Requirements for Entering IP Addresses Wireless Equipment Placement and Range Guidelines The range of your wireless connection can vary significantly based on the location of the wireless access point. The latency, data throughput performance, and power consumption of wireless adapters also vary depending on your configuration choices. Note: Failure to follow these guidelines can result in significant performance degradation or inability to connect wirelessly to the wireless access point. For complete performance specifications, see Appendix A, Supplemental Information. For best results, place your wireless access point according to the following general guidelines: • Near the center of the area in which the wireless devices will operate. • In an elevated location such as a high shelf where the wirelessly connected devices have line-of-sight access (even if through walls). • Away from sources of interference, such as computers, microwaves ovens, and 2.4 GHz cordless phones. • Away from large metal surfaces or water. The time it takes to establish a wireless connection can vary depending on both your security settings and placement. WEP connections can take slightly longer to establish. Also, WEP encryption can consume more battery power on a notebook computer. Installation and Basic Configuration 15