HP Officejet Pro K550 Printer - Manual (Page 98)

Guidelines for reducing interference on a wireless network
The following tips will help reduce the chances for interference in a wireless network:
● Keep the wireless devices away from large metal objects, such as filing cabinets, and other
electromagnetic devices, such as microwaves and cordless telephones, as these objects can
disrupt radio signals.
● Keep the wireless devices away from large masonry structures and other building structures as
these objects can absorb radio waves and lower signal strength.
● For an infrastructure network, position the WAP in a central location in line of sight with the
wireless devices on the network.
● Keep all wireless devices on the network within range of one another.
Guidelines for ensuring wireless network security
To add hardware addresses to a wireless access point (WAP)
MAC filtering is a security feature in which a wireless access point (WAP) is configured with a list of
MAC addresses (also called "hardware addresses") of devices that are allowed to gain access to the
network through the WAP.
If the WAP does not have the hardware address of a device attempting to access the network, the
WAP denies the device access to the network.
If the WAP filters MAC addresses, then the printer's MAC address must be added to the WAP's list of
accepted MAC addresses.
1. Print the network configuration page. See Understanding the configuration page .
2. Open the WAP's configuration utility, and add the printer's hardware address to the list of
accepted MAC addresses.
Other guidelines
To keep the wireless network secure, follow these guidelines:
● Use a password with at least 20 random characters. You can use up to 63 characters in a WPA
password.
● Avoid any common words or phrases, easy sequences of characters (such as all 1's), and
personally-identifiable information for passwords. Always use random strings composed of
uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and if allowed, special characters such as
punctuation.
● Change the password periodically.
● Change the default password provided by the manufacturer for administrator access to the
access point or wireless router. Some routers let you change the administrator name as well.
● Place the access point or router in the center of a room and not near a window.
● Turn off administrative access over wireless if possible. If you do this, you need to connect to the
router with a wired Ethernet connection when you want to make configuration changes.
90 Chapter 6 Configuring and managing the printer ENWW