i. Wireless home network setup

Home automation systems control many home appliances and home entertainment devices such as: washing machine, dish washer, multimedia centers, audio amplifiers and monitors that play sound and video in different rooms. They also gather environmental information from different sensors such as: illumination sensors, humidity sensors, air pressure sensors and temperature sensors. Though one may install wall consoles to access all this functionality, it is usually cheaper and more convenient to use standard tablet PCs.

Windows 7 or 8 is not a must, the tablets only need to connect to home WiFi network and support web browsing functionality. A mini PC based home automation system therefore only needs a wireless adapter and appropriate software to operate as a simple WiFi access point. No dedicated WiFi equipment is needed, because most mini PCs share a great part of laptop technology including inbuilt WiFi adapters.

The simplest way to make a mini PC function as an WiFi access point is to establish an ad hoc wireless home network. If a wireless Ethernet adapter (standard IEEE 802.11g or later) is available Windows 7 and Windows 8 offer “Manage wireless networks” link in Network an Sharing Center (click the right mouse button on a monitor icon on the taskbar and select “Open Network and Sharing Center”). By clicking on “Manage wireless networks” link one can explicitly add an external wireless network to the selection or create an ad hoc wireless network. It is all very simple. After clicking on “Add” button you select “Create an ad hoc network” option. Next, you have to fill-in three important WiFi network parameters. The new network will appear to other computers under the “Network name” (SSID). It is important to choose a unique name for you network. Enables you to easily find your wireless network on a selection list and prevents users of other WiFi networks to try to connect to your WiFi network by mistake. The next parameter is encryption protocol. If you only use new operating systems, such Windows 7 or Windows 8, it is best to select WPA2-personal encryption. You also need to provide a network password. It is recommended to choose a strong password that cannot be easily discovered or guessed. The last parameter is “Save this network” check box. It is good to save the network setup, because we will need it more times than just once. Click “Next” and the WiFi network will be created. The last step is easy with Windows 7 or Windows 8. Click “Turn on network connection sharing” and you will connect the wireless adaptor to your home network.

You can now manage your ad hoc wireless network by clicking the right mouse button on monitor icon on the taskbar. If you click “Disconnect” button, the network service will stop and “Connect” button will appear. This option is useful to prevent intruders from accessing your network, when you don’t need it (longer vacations).

NOTE: Windows Server operating systems like Windows Server 2008 R2 and newer require more work to establish an ad hoc WiFi network. The wireless networking functionality is not enabled by default. You have to open Server Manager and add feature “Wireless LAN Service”. The next steps depend on whether or not “Networking Policy and Access Services” are installed. If so, connection sharing cannot be enabled. You will have to manually integrate your wireless network adapter into your Routing and Remote Access services. There are two options: ad hoc wireless network (describes abode) or enterprise wireless network that require you to install Network Policy Server (NPS) role. You may also need to add a windows certificate agency (CA) server. These topics are beyond the scope of this article, but there are many practical advices on different internet forums.

Manage wireless networks. Click in the screenshot to enlarge it.

Create an ad hoc network. Click in the screenshot to enlarge it.

Create an ad hoc network. Click in the screenshot to enlarge it.

Turn on internet connection sharing. Click in the screenshot to enlarge it.

Enabling and disabling ad hoc network.

Adding Wireless LAN Service on Windows Server 2008 R2. Click on the screenshot to enlarge it.