Set up a secure wireless network using

Windows Connect Now

Published: June 13, 2005
By Barb Bowman
Related Links

•Ask a question or
discuss wireless security
in the Windows
Wireless Networking
newsgroup

•Windows XP Media
Center Edition 2005
Newsgroup

•The New Wireless

Network Setup Wizard
in Windows XP SP2

•Windows Connect Now

technology

•Windows Connect Now

architecture

•Windows XP SP2
Wireless Setup Wizard

•Windows Media
Connect

•How to secure your

wireless home network
with Windows XP

•D-Link DI-624S WCN

wireless USB storage
router
 When I read posts in the Windows XP Wireless networking newsgroup, I
realize that configuring wireless routers, computers, and entertainment
devices can be painful for new users. I also have friends who would love to
wirelessly stream music to an entertainment center in their living room or
send pictures over a wireless network to their family room TV. But complex
configuration steps discourage them from trying.
Now I have great news for anyone who has been waiting for easier wireless
networking. Thanks to new technology available in Windows XP Service
Pack 2 (SP2), you can set up a secure wireless network without worrying
about complicated network configuration issues. Networking and consumer electronics devices
are now available that include the Microsoft Windows Connect Now (WCN) technology. WCN
lets you transport network settings from a Windows-based PC to networked devices in your
home using a USB flash drive.
In this column, I demonstrate how to build a complete and secure wireless network from scratch.
You'll need a computer running Windows XP SP2, a USB flash drive, and devices that support
Windows Connect Now.
Components of my Windows Connect Now network
In my new network, I'll configure devices that support Windows Connect Now from settings I
specified on a Windows XP-based computer. D-Link Systems is releasing at least three
networking and consumer devices that support Windows Connect Now.
Note: All versions of Windows XP including Home, Professional, Tablet and Media Center
Edition will let you configure settings that work with WCN. A USB Flash drive can be used to
configure wireless settings on all versions of Windows XP. Wireless settings on computers
running earlier versions of Windows must be configured manually.
To build my new network I used the following:
•A Windows XP SP2-based wireless laptop.
•A USB flash drive.
•An 802.11g wireless broadband router (D-Link DI-624S) that supports Windows Connect Now.
•A wireless home network storage adapter (D-Link DNS-G120) that supports Windows Connect
Now.
•A wireless streaming media player (D-Link DSM-320RD Media Lounge) that supports
Windows Connect Now.
•A Windows XP Professional-based desktop computer used to configure the network settings and
used as the streaming media host for the DSM-320RD (hard wired Ethernet).
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Step 1: Specify settings using the Wireless Network Setup

Wizard and a USB flash drive
Windows XP SP2 includes the Wireless Network Setup Wizard. See my earlier column, How to
secure your wireless home network with Windows XP, for more information about using the
wizard.
First set up the wireless network by specifying the service set identifier (SSID), which is also
known as the wireless network name, and then configure strong encryption. As I explain in How
to secure your wireless home network with Windows XP, WEP is not secure as it can be easily
broken. I won't run WEP-only devices on my home network because WEP does not protect my
data or my privacy. WPA-Personal/PSK provides a more secure encryption solution. D-Link's
WCN devices are all WPA-Personal capable.
To specify the SSID and encryption
1Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to Communications, and then
.click Wireless Network Setup. (If you're using a wireless-enabled computer, right-click the
Wireless Network Connection icon in the notification area, and then click View Available
Wireless Networks. Under Network Tasks, click Set up a wireless network for a home or
small office.)
2Click Next on the Welcome screen, and then name your network. I've used expertzone as the
.name of my new wireless network, as shown in the figure below.
3Use Automatically assign a network key, which is the default setting. This setting lets
.Windows XP generate a strong random 64 character passphrase for WPA that mitigates
vulnerability to dictionary attacks.

Here is the new network with an automatically-assigned WPA passphrase.

4Select the Use WPA encryption instead of WEP check box, and then click Next.
.
5When you select the option to use WPA, you can clear the Hide characters as I type check
.box if you want to view the passphrase being generated.
6Select Use a USB flash drive.
.
7Plug in the USB flash drive when prompted. Windows XP will write the settings to the USB
.flash drive. You can safely remove the USB flash drive when prompted to do this.
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Step 2: Plug in a USB flash drive to configure the router

It's easy to configure networking devices that support Windows Connect Now. You don't need to
know anything about networks because the configuration is automatic. The D-Link DI-624S has
two USB ports. Either one will work as a WCN port.
1Plug in the router to turn it on. Don't connect any Ethernet cables at this time. (This is to avoid
.connecting an unsecured, open wireless network to a broadband modem and computers on
your network. This might put your data at risk.)

A USB flash drive is inserted into one of the provided ports that can later be used to attach
USB external hard drives. The LAN and WAN ports are clearly marked.
2Insert the USB flash drive in either of the slots provided.
.

The device blinks three times to indicate configuration is complete.

3The USB LED on the front of the router will slowly turn on and off during detection of the
.USB flash drive. Then it will blink three times to show that the settings are being applied. After
three blinks, remove the USB flash drive. This takes about 40 seconds.
The router is now configured with the expertzone SSID and the strong WPA passphrase.

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Step 3: Configure your Windows XP SP2-based laptop to

connect to the network
If you've used a non-wireless computer to configure settings, you can configure wireless
computers, such as a laptop, using the USB flash drive. After configuring the router, the next step
is to establish connectivity for the laptop.
1Plug the USB flash drive into a USB port on the laptop.
.
2If there is no other content on the USB flash drive, a message appears. Click OK to add the
.network name displayed. If you have different types of content stored on the USB flash drive,
Windows XP shows a list of choices. Select the Wireless Network Setup Wizard. If your
wireless card or built-in wireless doesn't support WPA, you'll get an error message.
The laptop should now be configured for the secure expertzone wireless network and the
connection should be automatically made.

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Step 4: Configure additional security on the router and

connect to the Internet
Connect the non-wireless desktop computer to the router using an Ethernet cable: connect one
end to the computer and the other end to one of the LAN ports on the router. The LAN ports are
clearly labeled on the back of the DI-624S. Before connecting the Ethernet cable from the WAN
port of the router to the broadband modem, I strongly recommend that you take the additional
step of changing or establishing the administrative password on the router. D-Link's DI-624S
makes this simple because it is UPnP-enabled. A UPnP icon for the device should be displayed
in the My Network Places window. It should also be displayed in the notification area.
1Make sure that the UPnP icons are not hidden. If they're hidden, from the Network Tasks pane
.in My Network Places, click Show icons for UPnP networked devices, and click Yes to open
Windows Firewall. Windows XP will automatically make the needed configuration changes.

The UPnP icon is displayed in the notification area

2Double-click the icon in either place to automatically open the management pages for the
.router.
3Change the administrative password on the router.
.
4Connect the router to your broadband modem by connecting an Ethernet cable from the
.broadband modem to the WAN port. The WAN port is clearly labeled on the back of the DI-
624S.
You should now have Internet connectivity.

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Step 5: Add a wireless home network storage device

I'm sure many people who have needed extra hard drive storage space have purchased add-on
USB hard drives. I've got one that I typically use to store data backups and copies of digital
images. I've been looking for an easy way to transform my Seagate USB hard drive into a
network device that didn't need to be plugged into a computer. And I've run out of space on and
near my Media Center PC as well as running out of available surge protected power outlets in my
home office. D-Link provided me with a wireless (also wired-capable) DNS-G120 storage
adapter that works with Windows Connect Now. I plug it into a surge-protected outlet along with
the Seagate drive behind a convertible sofa bed in my spare bedroom.
Add a storage device with proper WPA-Personal security settings
1Turn on the device and plug the USB flash drive with Windows Connect Now settings into the
.USB port. The USB LED on the front of the device blinks slowly as it detects the USB flash
drive and then will turn off.
2Wait a few seconds for the USB LED to blink three times and then stay on. This can take up to
.40 seconds.
Wireless setup is complete. Remove the USB flash drive.
The DNS-G120, like the D-Link router, is a UPnP device. If UPnP icons are viewable, finding
this device on your network, setting up additional administrative options, and viewing content on
connected devices is simple. The figure below shows the UPnP icon for the logon page for the
DNS-G120 and the shared folder icon for access to my Seagate USB drive.
Click the UPnP icon in My Network Places to open the logon page on the storage device.
Click the icon in the notification area or in My Network Places to view the administrative page
for the DNS-G120 in Internet Explorer. (This icon will appear after the device receives an IP
address from the router.) After logging on, you can fine tune these settings, including limiting
access for each device.
USB storage add-ons such as USB hard drives, USB flash drives, and USB memory card readers
for the DI-624S work in exactly the same way. After you've used the USB flash drive to
configure the device, you can use both slots to add USB storage devices.

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Step 6: Add a wireless streaming media player

I've saved the best for last. Even if you don't own a PC running Windows XP Media Center
Edition 2005 and Media Center Extender, there is technology available to stream music, pictures,
and video to entertainment devices from Windows XP SP2-based computers. Both vendor-
supplied proprietary technology and Microsoft Windows Media Connect can be used to do this.
Imagine a device that supports both Windows Media Connect and Windows Connect Now. Then
add an embedded DVD player, an embedded 5-in-1 media card reader (for local playback), and
an LED panel that provides feedback on the state of the device or the name of the media being
streamed. You have the D-Link DSM320-RD Media Lounge. As far as I know, this is the only
device of its type that supports WPA-Personal encryption for strong security, which gives it a
high rating in my opinion.
The DSM-320RD is also Plays for Sure certified on the audio side. Using Windows Connect
Now, it takes just seconds to add it to a wireless network. This technology automatically
configures the WPA-Personal passphrase for you. Compare this to using a handheld remote with
a keypad to enter all this data.
Add the DSM320-RD to the secure wireless network
1Connect the DSM-320RD to your TV and/or home entertainment receiver.
.
2Turn on the TV (and receiver if you're using one) but do not turn on the DSM-320RD.
.
3Insert the USB flash drive with the network settings into the clearly-labeled WCN port on the
.rear of the device.
4Turn on the device with the button on the front or with the remote.
.
5Click OK to the prompt that appears on your TV screen to apply the settings.
.
 The confirmation prompt is displayed on the TV.
6Remove the USB flash drive when prompted.
.
7When the Media Lounge restarts, continue with device and music source setup.
.
8As a final step, return to the computer you used to set up the USB flash drive and plug the USB
.flash drive back in. When you complete the wizard, a prompt opens, giving you a choice to
remove the settings from the USB flash drive. I've elected to keep my settings on the USB
flash drive so that I can easily configure additional computers and devices when I add
components to my network.
I'm very impressed with the DSM-320RD Media Lounge. I've connected mine to the expertzone
wireless network and then used the Windows Media Connect technology to stream media from a
desktop computer. To showcase this device and the combination of WCN and Windows Media
Connect, I've put together a slide show to demonstrate the transparent quality of the user
experience.

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Discuss Windows Connect Now in the newsgroups

I'm impressed with this technology and I hope this column conveys my enthusiasm. My thanks
to the folks at D-Link Systems for releasing hardware that supports Windows Connect Now.
They've raised the bar for excellence in the residential networking equipment arena. Windows
Connect Now makes networking nearly automatic, but if you have questions about WCN or need
help on general wireless networking, visit the Windows XP wireless networking newsgroup. See
you there!

Barb Bowman enjoys sharing her own experiences and insights into today's leading
edge technologies. She is a product development manager for Comcast High-Speed
Internet, but her views here are strictly personal.