Wireless Networking

Now you have chosen your player and started ripping your music, you will need a wireless network for it to run off.

Setup Recommendations

I won't go into details on setting up the actual network here as it varies, depending on the router/access point, so will offer a few recommended settings:

• Some sort of security, WEP-128 or WPA preferred (see below)
• If the device supports it, 802.11g (54 Mbit/s) gives a faster network
• Don't worry about the 108Mbit/s options at the moment as these players don't support it
• If you can, wire the server directly to the router, each wireless step increases the risk for drop-outs (Server attached to Router to Player is better than Server to Router, Router to Player)
• If the range isn't as long as you would hope, look into adding a wireless repeater, or possibly the new network over mains options.

Wireless Security

WEP:

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a scheme that is part of the IEEE 802.11 wireless networking standard to secure IEEE 802.11 wireless networks (also known as Wi-Fi networks).
Because a wireless network broadcasts messages using radio, it is particularly susceptible to eavesdropping.
WEP was intended to provide comparable confidentiality to a traditional wired network (in particular it doesn't protect users of the network from each other), hence the name.
Several serious weaknesses were identified by cryptanalysts, and WEP was superseded by Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) in 2003, and then by the full IEEE 802.11i standard (also known as WPA2) in 2004.
Despite the weaknesses, WEP provides a level of security that can deter casual snooping.

Read more Here

WPA:

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2) is a class of systems to secure wireless (Wi-Fi) computer networks.
It was created in response to several serious weaknesses researchers had found in the previous system, Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP).
WPA implements the majority of the IEEE 802.11i standard, and was intended as an intermediate measure to take the place of WEP while 802.11i was prepared.
WPA is designed to work with all wireless network interface cards, but not necessarily with first generation wireless access points.
WPA2 implements the full standard, but will not work with some older network cards.
Both provide good security, with two significant issues:
either WPA or WPA2 must be enabled and chosen in preference to WEP. WEP is usually presented as the first security choice in most installation instructions.
in the "Personal" mode, the most likely choice for homes and small offices, a passphrase is required that, for full security, must be longer than the typical 6 to 8 character passwords users are taught to employ.

Read more Here

WEP vs WPA

WPA is the safer option of the two, but it is also the least compatible with the current crop of players.

For most home users, WEP at 128-bit with a strong key should be enough, but for the security conscious, WPA with a supported player will be safest.

Read more on it Here

Recommended Hardware

The vast majority of wireless hardware should work fine with any of these devices, the three below are simply those that we know work.

• Netgear DG834G
• D-Link DI-524
• Linksys WRT54G

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