2.3 Wired / Wireless SOHO Network

Question 1

What does “SOHO” stand for?

Answer 1

SOHO = Small Office / Home Office

Question 2

Explain the (over simplified) difference between a router and a switch.

Answer 2

The most basic explanation is that a switch is designed to connect computers within a network, while a router is designed to connect multiple networks together. Even though routers and switches are different, they can be used interchangeably. For example, a router typically has several LAN ports and a single WAN port

Question 3

In the context of wireless networking, what does WAP stand for?

Answer 3

WAP = Wireless Access Point

Question 4

What does a WAP/AP/Access Point do?

Answer 4

A WAP centrally connects wireless network nodes in the same way that a hub connects wired Ethernet PCs. Many WAPs also act as switches and internet routers.

Question 5

Explain the difference between Ad Hoc and Infrastructure mode.

Answer 5

Wireless ad hoc mode network is essentially a computer free for all. Computers wirelessly communicating with each other with no organization. An ad hoc mode network does NOT need a WAP. An infrastructure mode network uses a Wireless Access Point to connect the computer to a centralized point.

Question 6

What does UPnP stand for?

Answer 6

UPnP = Universal Plug And Play

Question 7

What is UPnP used for?

Answer 7

UPnP is used to seek out, find, and connect to other UPnP devices. This feature enables seamless inter-connectivity at the cost of somewhat lowered security.

Question 8

What does NIC stand for?

Answer 8

NIC = Network Interface Card

Question 9

What are the three basic things you need for installing and configuring a wired network?

Answer 9

A Connected NIC (The physical hardware that connects the computer), Properly configured IP addressing (Your device needs correct IP addressing for your network either via DHCP or static), and a switch (Everything connects to a switch in a wired network).

Question 10

Explain the basic statuses of an LED light on a standard NIC.

Answer 10

Solid green light means connectivity. Flashing green light means intermittent connectivity. No green lights means no connectivity. Flashing amber light means there are collision on the network (which is sometimes ok).

Question 11

What are one of the first things you should check when having connectivity issues?

Answer 11

One of the first things you should check is the NIC’s LEDs.

Question 12

What does QoS stand for?

Answer 12

QoS = Quality of Service

Question 13

Explain what Qos is and what it does.

Answer 13

QoS is a router feature that is used to prioritize access to network resources. QoS ensures certain users, applications, or services are prioritized when there isn’t enough bandwidth to go around by limiting the bandwidth for certain types of data based on application protocol, the IP address of a computer, and all sorts of other features.

Question 14

Explain End-User device configuration.

Answer 14

When it comes to end-user device configuration, you may need to configure each device for the wireless settings such as the SSID and encryption settings. End-User devices also include mobile phones wanting to connect to your network.

Question 15

Explain NIC configuration.

Answer 15

You mar need to configure the network cards on some of the networking devices in order to connect them to your SOHO network. For wired network cards, you can configure the duplex (for example full duplex) and speed (for example 1000Mbps) settings.

Question 16

What does IoT stand for?

Answer 16

IoT = Internet of Things

Question 17

What are some examples of IoT devices?

Answer 17

IoT devices include thermostats, light switches, security cameras, door locks, and voice-enabled smart speakers or digital assistants.

Question 18

Explain configuring an IoT device.

Answer 18

IoT devices may need configuration settings applied such as the wireless network settings and IP address settings if they are not DHCP clients. Most IoT devices allow you to configure the network settings so that you can access these devices from your mobile phone across the internet.

Question 19

Explain IP addressing in a SOHO network.

Answer 19

Home and small office routers have a DHCP server built in that assigns IP addresses automatically to wired and wireless devices. From a configuration point of view, you can control the range of IP addresses that are assigned by the home router.

Question 20

Explain Cable/DSL modem configuration.

Answer 20

With a SOHO network, you typically do not have to configure the cable modem or DSL modem with the exception of connecting it to your home router correctly. The cable/DSL modem connects to the WAN or Internet port on your home router, giving you typically four other ports that act as switch ports for clients to connect.

Question 21

What are the basic settings in a firewall on a router?

Answer 21

DMZ, Port Forwarding, NAT, UPnP, Whitelist/Blacklist, MAC filtering.

Question 22

What is DMZ?

Answer 22

A DMZ puts systems with the specified IP addresses outside the protection of the firewall, opening all ports and enabling all incoming traffic. Some routers have a DMZ port that you can use to connect a server you want to expose out to the internet. You mar want to do this if you are going to host a web server, email server, or DNS server on your network.

Question 23

What does DMZ stand for?

Answer 23

DMZ = Demilitarized Zone

Question 24

What is port forwarding?

Answer 24

It is preventing the passage of any IP packets through any ports other than the ones prescribed by the system administrator.

Question 25

What is port triggering?

Answer 25

Port triggering enables you to open an incoming connection to one computer automatically based on a specific outgoing connection. The trigger port defines the outgoing connection, and the destination port defines the incoming connection. If you set the trigger port to 3434 and the destination port to 1234, for example, any outgoing traffic on port 3434 will trigger the router to open port 1234 and send any received data back to the system that sent the original outgoing traffic.

Question 26

What does NAT stand for?

Answer 26

NAT = Network Address Translation

Question 27

What is the purpose of NAT?

Answer 27

It is a means of translating a system’s IP address into another IP address before sending it out to a larger network. NAT manifests itself by a NAT program that runs on a system router. A network using NAT provides the systems on the network with private IP addresses.

The system running NAT software has two interfaces: one connected to the network and the other connected to the larger network. The NAT program takes packets from the client systems bound for the larger network and translates their internal private IP addresses to its own public IP address, enabling systems to share a single IP address.

Question 28

What is MAC Address Filtering?

Answer 28

MAC filtering allows you to blacklist or whitelist devices based on their MAC address.

Question 29

What is a MAC address?

Answer 29

A MAC address is the unique physical address that identifies physical device hardware.

Question 30

What do you use a blacklist for?

Answer 30

Use a blacklist to block specific computers, adding their MAC addresses to the ranks of the undesired.

Question 31

What do you use a whitelist for?

Answer 31

You can use a whitelist to pre-specify the only MAC addresses allowed access.

Question 32

Name the three basic wireless settings.

Answer 32

Encryption, channels, QoS.

Question 33

What is wireless encryption?

Answer 33

Wireless encryption and wireless security protocols allows you to lock down wireless networks. Encryption scrambles the signals on radio waves and makes communication among users secure.

Question 34

What are the most common wireless channels?

Answer 34

1, 6, and 11.

Question 35

What is the difference between setting a channel on automatic, and manually setting the channel?

Answer 35

The only reason to change a channel manually would be to prevent interference from other devices crowding that channel. Otherwise, leaving the channel on automatic will assign a channel for that device from 1 to 11.