Linux® For Dummies®, 8th Edition

Step 1: Plan Your Network

As with any other network implementation, it pays off to plan what you want to do before you start. The disadvantage to wireless networks is that they are extremely susceptible to environmental conditions. Wireless radio waves have limited range, and have difficulty penetrating some substances, such as walls made of metal, brick, or even solid wood.

Using a normal PC wireless network card as an access point aggravates these limitations. Most wireless network cards designed for PCs use a small antenna to be as unobtrusive as possible. Although this may look nice, it doesn’t do much for wireless network range.

The first part of the plan is to try to find a network card that uses a large antenna, or has the capability of being connected to an external antenna. You don’t need to set up an amateur radio antenna farm, but having something larger than a stub sticking out of the back of your PC is helpful.

Wireless access points also share a rule with real estate — location, location, location. Where you place your wireless access point is crucial to how well it will operate. Obviously, if you have a wired Internet connection, you need to locate your access point somewhere within reach of the Internet connection, but try to make that as centrally located as possible.

After you’ve decided on your location and antenna configuration, you’re ready to start configuring your Fedora system.