Computer and Network Advice

[SJC]

TIA I would like some ideas and recommendations(ie software and configurations for equipment) on putting in a wired and wireless network I have recently upgraded to a cable modem and my desktop that has been sitting for 1 1/2 years it is going to be the wired portion my laptop that iused for work and travel is the wireless side. I also have a Vonage Wireless phone running in the 5GHz range so RF interference should not be a problem. I have a wireless and wired Linksys router/switch not sure which model right now put it is only about 1 year old(given to me).
Thanks Again,
Steve

 

[Baja28]

Very simple. You just described my configuration.

Plug the Linksys router into your cable modem, plug your PC into the Linksys router, Plug the vonage receiver into the Linksys router, the laptop is wireless and will pick up the linksys signal.

Wa La

 

[Mousebaby]

Somebody please correct me if I am wrong. But if you are running Windows, it has a Network wizard. Why not run that? :shrug:

 

[rockfish]

Linksys.com

You can go to the Linksys website and download the driver (if necessary). You can also upgrade the firmware on the router if needed. I had to before I could get mine to work properly. All the instructions are there on how to setup a wireless linksys network.

Good Luck!

 

[mainman]

Somebody please correct me if I am wrong. But if you are running Windows, it has a Network wizard. Why not run that? :shrug:

Good one!

 

[basher]

Very simple. You just described my configuration.

Plug the Linksys router into your cable modem, plug your PC into the Linksys router, Plug the vonage receiver into the Linksys router, the laptop is wireless and will pick up the linksys signal.

Wa La

it's Voila! not WaLa....

did u at least setup your wireless security to WEP or WPA?

 

[GWguy]

it's Voila! not WaLa....

did u at least setup your wireless security to WEP or WPA?

I gave him all the instructions on that, and he was .... :huh: :shrug: :WTF:

 

[sparkyaclown]

Amazing how many people ignore that step. There are 3 wireless networks in my neighborhood which were obviously never configured from the default.

 

[mtordie]

Amazing how many people ignore that step. There are 3 wireless networks in my neighborhood which were obviously never configured from the default.

And how did you find this out?

 

[vanbells]

Amazing how many people ignore that step. There are 3 wireless networks in my neighborhood which were obviously never configured from the default.

Configure it for them.

 

[PsyOps]

it's Voila! not WaLa....

did u at least setup your wireless security to WEP or WPA?

If you don't mind bogging your connectivity down with constant retrans and resyncs and all the overhead of encrypted traffic then use it. I find MAC security and disable SSID broadcast just as effective.

 

[RadioPatrol]

WPA-PSK Security Myths

Although not strictly related to WPA-PSK cracking, there are two security myths I've seen pop up here at SmallNetBuilder and around the web that I'd like to say a few words about.

Myth 1: Disabling the SSID Broadcast Secures your WLAN

"Cloaking" your SSID might sound good on the surface. But programs like Kismet that are capable of monitoring wireless network traffic are also able to "decloak" access points by listening to traffic between the clients and the access point.

For Kismet, this process takes only a few minutes of relatively light network traffic. Disabling the SSID broadcast really makes it only slightly harder for potential attackers to connect to your AP (they now have to type the SSID instead of clicking on it).

Myth 2: Filtering MAC Addresses Secures Your WLAN

This idea again sounds good on the surface: limit the computers that can connect by their MAC addresses. There are two problems with this technique.

1) Physically maintaining the table of acceptable MAC addresses becomes more burdensome as your network grows.

2) MAC addresses can be easily spoofed.

Chances are, if you are being attacked by someone who has the know-how to get past WPA, they will most likely spoof their MAC when they connect anyway, to avoid detection in your router's logs (by a possible failed MAC filter pass).

Kismet, in particular, excels at this with its AP "clients" view which lists, among other things, client MAC addresses.

Spoofing your MAC address (in Linux) is as simple as this:

bt ~ # ifconfig ath0 hw ether AA:BB:CCD:EE:FF
bt ~ # ifconfig ath0 up
bt ~ # ifconfig ath0
ath0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr AA:BB:CCD:EE:FF
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:26 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:1092 (1.0 KiB) TX bytes:590 (590.0 b)​

 

[LateApex]

I filter the mac addy's that are allowed on my network.

Although it's easy to spoof a mac addy, the person first has to know the mac address to spoof. To get this it takes additional work - sniffers etc.

 

[PsyOps]

Why would they bother if the knew they can go down the street and find someone that has done nothing to protect their network? In any reasonably populated community you would find dozens of wide open wireless networks.