About Computer n

1. JONATHAN G. OBIAS
Computer Instructor

2. Abstract
 This essay is an evaluation of the technical
communication that comes with a wireless
network router. A network router is a device
that serves as a gateway between the
internet and a
home’s internal network (intranet). A
wireless router is an addition to a regular
router, this kind
of router allows for the intranet to be
wireless as well.

3. Introduction
 Wireless routers are used to manage and handle
network traffic traveling from one point
to another. Their main job is to route traffic to its
desired destination. The kind of router that is
being evaluated has the added component of
allowing for wireless signals to be transmitted from
the router to a client; this eliminates the need for
wires to be run all over a house. Being a highly
technical device, there is a great need for clear and
concise technical communication to help
manage and operate a wireless router.

4. Principle and Operation
 A basic router is designed to mange any all traffic
from the internet, and to distribute this
traffic across the intranet to the desired client. The
router does this using an embedded
microprocessor and operating system that is
designed to manage network traffic. In a typical
router setup, the router is connected to the user’s
cable or DSL modem by an Ethernet cable.
Data from the internet connection flows into the
router, and there, based on the destination and
any factory or user created rules setup in the router,
the data is the pushed out to the appropriate
clients.

5. CONT..
 For a wireless router, the situation is the similar.
However, when the data is pushed out it
may be destined for a wireless client, so an
embedded wireless transmitter sends the data out to
any client that is connected. The wireless transmitter
uses the IEEE 802.11g standard for data
transmission. The 802.11g standard defines the
transmission frequency at 2.3 GHz, and the
maximum data transmission rate at 54mbps. The
54mbps is almost half as fast as a wired
Ethernet connection, but what you lose in
throughput; you gain in the convenience of having a
connection that requires no wires.

6. Cont…
 The main difference between a wired and
wireless router is that when using the wireless,
the client must first be able to find the wireless
signal transmitted by the router. Once it is able
to find the signal, the client initiates
communication with the router, and depending
on the way the router is setup, the client may
be prompted to enter a password. This
password is used to prevent unauthorized
access to the wireless connection, because
the wireless is constantly transmitting a signal
so that clients can connect.

7. Evaluation of Technical
Communication
 Now that the basic operation of a wireless router has
been established, the documentation
for operating and managing the router can be
evaluated. The model router is a Linksys
WRTG54L, a standard 802.11g wireless router. This
router was chosen because of its unique
method of technical communication. The first
instance of technical communication that the user
interacts with is a big red sticker on the outside box
that states RUN CD FIRST (figure 1).

8. Figure 1

9.  The router’s manufacturer wanted to empathize that
before you hookup the router, you
run the included CD that will help with the setup.
Inside the box was a tri-fold paper booklet,
containing the aforementioned CD, an advertisement
pamphlet showing the company’s other
products, and a registration card. The tri-fold booklet
can be considered the first piece of
technical communication, as it re-emphasizes to run
the CD first, as well as providing some
images of the software on the CD. On the right flap
there was information listed on how to get
help, either through the software, by telephone or by
going to a web site (figure 2).

10. Figure 2

11.  The CD consists of a simple wizard interface that
guides you through a very basic setup
and simple configuration of the router. The CD
wizard makes sure your computer can connect to
the router, and that the router can connect to the
internet. The CD wizard will walk you through
the setup of the wireless network, letting you pick a
password to protect it. The wizard serves as
an interactive piece of technical communication and
will be all most people will need to
configure the router.

12.  The real configuration takes place within
the routers software, which you can only
reach by typing the IP address of the
router, then entering in the default user
name and password, both of which are
provided on the CD.

13.  Once you have logged in to the router, you are
presented a webpage that serves as the
primary interface for modifying and configuring
the routers settings. This web-based interface
can be considered the primary technical
communication for the device, because it is
the only
piece of technical communication that
describes the functions of the device and how
you should
use it.

14.  The web page provides information about
each and every setting that the device has.
The
web page is divided into four sections, a
header bar on the top, a left side bar with
top level
descriptions of the content in the center
section, and a right hand side bar that is
used to explain
the features in the center section (figure 3).

15. Figure 3

16.  These configuration pages provide a detailed look at
every feature and setting that the
router has. These pages are where more
experienced users can configure the firewall, modify
access rights, and enable or disable the wireless
transmitter. Most users will never see these
pages, once they have followed the CD wizard; the
router is usually configured properly for their
uses. Only when something needs to be changed,
such as a port opened so a program can
communicate with the internet, would an average
user have to view these pages.

17.  To help the average user along, the right
hand side of every page provides a quick
reference for each setting and also a link
that opens another web page that provides
a detailed
view of the settings on that page (figure 4).
This can be very useful for those who are
wary ofchanging the settings in the router.

18. Figure 4

19. Conclusion
 The technical communication that was provided by
the manufacturer for this router did
not take the form of a paper manual, but instead was
an interactive CD and a web-based
configuration. These are both a different way of
providing the user with information about the
product as well as how to use it. The CD is used for
general setup, most of the time it will be all
a user needs. The real technical communication
comes from the web-based configuration: there
is where all the settings are explained.

20. The Router