INSTALLATION OF WIRELESS NIC

By George Smith-Moore

WHAT WILL BE INCLUDED?

I will show the installation process relating to a wireless NIC, PCI card. Testing the hardware and showing potential problems.

INSTALLATION

Assuming you have already prepped the area for installation, the Wi-Fi PCI card can be installed.

If you are upgrading, I have included these steps as well.

To start, lift the cache up on the PC case to allow the removal and installation of PCI/PCIe cards. (other case models may have a different type of attachment)

INSTALLATION

After the cache is lifted, the NIC can be pulled out, it may be a little tight, but you must life the old PCI card put of the slot.

INSTALLATION

Using the same method forremoval (just opposite) , push the wireless NIC into the slot.

You will know when the NIC is properly inserted, as it will not wobble much, and it will feel secure (as well as look secure). Attach any cables to the NIC (if

needed), and fasten down the clipthis will prevent card movementcompletely.

TESTING FOR FUNCTIONALITY

Before you can test the hardware piece, you must first install the latest drivers, this is to ensure all of the known bugs are gone.

So after the software has been installed (UNIT 3), the testing can commence.

One test is via the Device Manager, this is done by looking under the tab network adapters, if the TP-LINK adapter is shown (without an exclamation mark next to the image), then it has installed correctly.

Another test is to see the signal bar via the task bar. I have done several other tests, but I have

not shown pictures of them. A descriptionof the test is all on the next slide.

TESTING FOR FUNCTIONALITY

Test Number Test Description Expected Result Actual Result

1 Testing to see if the device appears in the device manager.

It would appear as the device and the driver is successfully installed

It appeared in the device manager.

2 Testing to see if light at the back of the wireless NIC is on.

The light would appear on the wireless NIC.

It did appear on the wireless NIC.

3 Ping the machine. I expected the machine to be able to ping successfully

The machine pinged once CMD was opened and the command was entered.

4 Checking the internet connection.

I expected a good internet signal from the router.

The connection was not as good as I had expected, this could be due to distance from the router.

5 Going into CMD and typing in ipconfig/all.

Lists of information about the network, for instance the ip addresses, the subnet mask, and the default gateway.

The correct information appeared when the command was entered.

PROBLEMS?

Possible problems that come with installing hardware are: ESD, this is done by either not wearing anti-static equipment. Or by not

un-plugging the computer and power cycling it. This would lead to damage of the hardware piece or to other parts.It can be avoided by using anti-static equipment, taking care of the system, opening on a clean work surface, and by unplugging and power cycling.

Fitting an PCI card in an PCIe bay, or the other way around would not work, and would cause damage to the component if you tried to do so.Solution= don’t do it, check the specs beforehand.

Overheating is a serious killer for computers, make sure your computer is well-ventilated and has plenty of fans.