wireless hardware choices

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dave
  • Start date Start date
D

Dave

I am close to purchasing the required hardware to network my laptop
wirelessly (*and directly too at times) and desktop (host to cable Modem). I
am assuming all I need is the Router between the Cable Modem and the
Desktop, and then a wireless NIC for the laptop. Going for the G standard I
am thinking of the following purchase and just wanted some other ppls
experiences and the pros and cons considering the OS for each computer.

Router - Netgear WGR614 (Does this require an integrated Access Point too?)
NIC - NetGear WG511(so I can use B and G)

(competitors prices dont differ too much for it to be an issue, so its
compatibility and reliabilty I am looking for)

Desktop - XP Home Edition
Laptop - Dual Boot (windows98 rarely used) Windows 2000 Professional

Am I in for anything nasty for XP Home and Win2k Pro networked? I noticed
the ICS feature of XP is not supported by 2k but is for Win98. Or does the
software with my purchase bypass all the ICS issues and do it independently?
Any advice on firewalls and NAT and VPN would be welcome as I am unfamiliar
with the whole networking craft and I want to implement the highest security
I can.

Due to security - I will be using my laptop close to the desktop/router most
of the time and so will just use the CAT 5 cable from the router to the
laptop. Will I continually need to alter settings etc. to swap from wireless
to direct link and vice versa? At the moment I am just unplugging the RJ45
connector from one computer and into the other and vice versa as the laptop
has an internal NIC/modem but requires me to reset power to the external
cable modem each time.

Feel free to repost or email me direct

Regards In Advance

Dave
 
It doesn't matter about using XP and 2000 together, becuse the two PCs
will be connected to the router, not to each other.
You shouldn't need to change settings to switch between wired/wireless
connections, but you might need to switch one setting about which
network adapter you're using, because the wired NIC and the wireless
adapter will be listed separately by Windows. It's probably best to keep
the PC connected wired all the time to save the bother.

Hope this helps,
Maybe a real expert could help you more ;)
Allan Lewis.
 
DO NOT use ICS. With a router, it isn't needed and in fact will mess things
up.
the router connects you to the Internet, not a "host" computer as with ICS.
Desktop can connect to router with cat 5 cable and laptop by wireless
adapter.
Then do all usual networking set up, and don't forget to enable security
once it's all working OK. Not before.
The router has a decent firewall built in. VPN gets complicated and
expensive - if with a larger corporation at work, check with your techie
there.
if not, forget it.
 
Thanks for the info,

Ok - sounds like the router does a good job with security on broadband cable
end, but what about security from the laptop to the router? Is this where
hackers can get a signal and if so - they have basically bypassed the router
and are therefore in the network? I assume my software firewalls on the
desktop and the laptop come into play here - but how secure is that section
of the line??

Regards

Dave
 
Thanks for the info,

Ok - sounds like the router does a good job with security on broadband cable
end, but what about security from the laptop to the router? Is this where
hackers can get a signal and if so - they have basically bypassed the router
and are therefore in the network? I assume my software firewalls on the
desktop and the laptop come into play here - but how secure is that section
of the line??
Click to expand...

"They" can't "bypass" the router - they can only get *through* it - if your
router allows them through.

Stuff that gets through because you need those ports open get stopped by the
software firewall running on each LAN client.

That is, after all, what most of us depend on to work...

/daytripper
 
So "they" cannot tap into the "wireless" signal? That is what I meant by
"bypassing" the router. The signal from the laptop to the router (wireless)
is where my concern was. I guess my lack of tech knowledge has me
visualizing an open link in that signal in "mid air".. Obviously the desktop
is safe though, as it is protected via the router and the joining CAT 5
connection.

Dave
 
On Tue, 2 Sep 2003 02:22:04 +1000, Dave spoketh
So "they" cannot tap into the "wireless" signal? That is what I meant by
"bypassing" the router. The signal from the laptop to the router (wireless)
is where my concern was. I guess my lack of tech knowledge has me
visualizing an open link in that signal in "mid air".. Obviously the desktop
is safe though, as it is protected via the router and the joining CAT 5
connection.

Dave
Click to expand...

Unless you've secured the wireless connection, it is a piece of cake for
anyone to tap into your network. If there's a DHCP server on your
network, they'll get an IP address, and can start snooping around real
easy. If there are wired computers on the same network, they can be
accessed through the wireless connections as well.

The recommended procedure to secure your wireless access points is to
disable SSID broadcasts, use the best encryption possible for your setup
(128 bit WEP, or preferably WPA), and also do MAC address filtering on
the wireless access point.


Lars M. Hansen
http://www.hansenonline.net
(replace 'badnews' with 'news' in e-mail address)
 
I just use MAC address filtering on the router so it only allows my two
PCs to connect. Are you saying that a clever hacker could break this
system and somehow gain access?? There's nothing valuable on my PC, so
the only reason I can see for a hacker wanting to get access to my
wireless is to launch a DoS attack, but they'd have to stand outside the
house with an aerial, lol!

Allan Lewis.
 
There've been so many different threads I lost track of the fact you were
going to have a router/switch with integrated WAP. My bad.

Yah, shure, if you don't take the obvious precautions, bad people can do bad
things with your wireless segment. They can certainly "listen" to whatever
traffic passes between your laptop and the WAP part of the router - even if
they never make a connection with the router. That's most of the benefit of
WEP - it makes it considerably harder for anyone to listen to anything within
your bubble, never mind connect.

So yes, turn on MAC filtering (the most basic protection), but make sure you
also enable WEP, and use a shared key. 128 bit keys should pretty much
convince anyone other than your worst enemy to go look for someone else's
bubble to play in...

/daytripper
 
Back
Top