Wireless network - FINALLY!

MrBillMrBill Missouri Member
edited March 2004 in Science & Tech
I bought a DLink DI-524 wireless router last Saturday and apparently the WAN side of the router did not work. I don't recall ever hearing anything good about DLink, but it was the cheapest .11g available to me at that moment. POS!

I took it back tonight and got a LinkSys WRT54G. It took a minute or two before my laptop picked up the wireless connection, but it is working now. :)

Is this a decent connection speed? I don't know jack about wireless.
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Comments

  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2004
    looks fine to me :)
  • KingFishKingFish
    edited March 2004
    Woohoo, time for some wardriving in tennessee.

    KingFish
  • MrBillMrBill Missouri Member
    edited March 2004
    KingFish wrote:
    Woohoo, time for some wardriving in tennessee.

    KingFish
    LOL! Better do it quick before I learn how to properly use the security features. :D
  • a2jfreaka2jfreak Houston, TX Member
    edited March 2004
    If it isn't hardwired, it isn't secure.
    If it's hardwired, it probably isn't secure.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2004
    Come on now, don't be such a pessimist ;D

    With WPA, it's pretty secure.... At least to the casual wardriver.

    The goal is to make yourself a "pain in the ass" target, because then they will always drive down the street to the neighbor that has an open network, and leave you alone :D
  • a2jfreaka2jfreak Houston, TX Member
    edited March 2004
    I just didn't want him thinking "now that I've activated my D-Link's security protocols I'm secure." He might be less vulnerable, but I wouldn't consider his network to be secure.

    Though, the pain the the rear theory is normally correct. Chances are a wardriver would rather find 5 open networks than spend a few days closely monitoring your network in an effort to break the security. Unless you specifically are the target, as opposed to a generalized target, your network probably isn't worth the time.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2004
    MrBill wrote:
    ...Is this a decent connection speed? I don't know jack about wireless.
    If you're getting 48 Mbps out of a theoretical maximum of 54Mbps I'd say that's pretty darn good. :thumbsup:
  • JakeJake Alec Baldwin's Chest Hair
    edited March 2004
    Here's a pic of my wireless network speed. I have 128-bit WEP enabled, using four WEP keys (WPA hasn't been activated in the USR router firmware or NIC drivers yet--they promise "soon"). Remote admin is disabled in the router, SSID broadcast is disabled (as much as that's worth :thumbsdow), and, of course, the router admin account is password protected.

    Wireless bandwidth would be better if I wasn't using WEP, but, well, that'd be insane.

    Can only do so much to protect the wireless network. Still, I'm relatively confident that no one would want to go to the hassle of breaking into my particular network. Here's hoping, at least.... :buck:

    Enjoy the 9.9k PNG pic (default ACDSee 6.0.2 JPG was 50K, default PNG was 9.9K, and original BMP was 2MB). :rockon:
  • qparadoxqparadox Vancouver, BC
    edited March 2004
    Its all about the mac address authentication. Try wardriving MAA with WPA enabled, its not gonna happen in any reasonable amount of time.

    Of course there's still plenty of targets around, I leeched internet off my neighbour (who was away in Asia) for a week when my ISP died. I wrote him a check for the cost of his monthly bill and also showed him how to secure his wireless network. I *might* have accidentally written down the key somewhere ... but i don't think so ;).
  • DogSoldierDogSoldier The heart of radical Amish country..
    edited March 2004
    Wartime Emergency Power? That's legal in american consumer electronics?
  • MrBillMrBill Missouri Member
    edited March 2004
    qparadox wrote:
    Its all about the mac address authentication. Try wardriving MAA with WPA enabled, its not gonna happen in any reasonable amount of time.
    MAA is what I was talking about. I briefly scanned the specs and thought that would make it virtually impossilbe for someone to get in. :confused:

    Besides, unless they are sitting in my driveway, they probably won't be close enough for a signal anyway. ;)
  • khankhan New
    edited March 2004
    you should be fairly well protected with that, might disable SSID broadcasting too. generally stops stuff like netstumbler from picking it up first go around. WPA will help too, so good work =P.
  • MrBillMrBill Missouri Member
    edited March 2004
    khan wrote:
    you should be fairly well protected with that, might disable SSID broadcasting too. generally stops stuff like netstumbler from picking it up first go around. WPA will help too, so good work =P.
    I disabled SSID broadcasting on the initial setup. Now I have to work on the additional security features available.

    Thanks for all the tips guys!


    p.s. My wife has decided she wants to move her computer to another room. I told her that there wasn't a network connection in that room. She said: "I thought you could do it wireless NOW". Sheesh...had to go buy a wireless PCI card for her machine today. :grumble:
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