Going wireless......

[CivicFan]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
XS...you don't know how many times I've heard RTFM (read the f'in manual) BUT this thing didn't come with one, only a setup disk. Router config......where is that going to be located at?


What's the model? You may find the Owners' Manual online from the manufacturer's site.

 

[Schmoe]

Linksys WRT54GL. I'm at work right now and these dang government servers won't let me in to that site.

 

[Quattro Pete]

For when you get home:

Link to User Guide

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
I leave my wireless router on all the time, I have WEP


WEP is FAR easier to crack than WPA. Wardriving for WEP-protected AP's is a hobby for some

 

[EricZoom]

I just bought the Linksys WRT110 Rangefinder for $50 in Radio Shack, with a $10 coupon. I had some problems with connections hooking it up, but their customer service was excellent and had me up and running in no time. Range seems to be pretty good with it.

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
I leave my wireless router on all the time, I have WEP


WEP is FAR easier to crack than WPA. Wardriving for WEP-protected AP's is a hobby for some

yeah, for some reason when I had WPA setup, my wireless card in my laptop could not connect to the WRT160N router that I bought. It wasn't until I downgraded to WEP security is when I could connect wirelessly. It took me a week to figure it out. I have 3 pcs (2 desktops and 1 wireless laptop) the 2 desktops connectted with WPA with not problems, my xp laptop G wireless card could not.

 

[OVERKILL]

You need newer drivers on the laptop. The situation is even worse with WPA2.

 

[tmorris1]

I think you need at least Service Pack 2 to get WPA2 in XP.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: tmorris1
I think you need at least Service Pack 2 to get WPA2 in XP.


I believe you need SP2 to get even normal WPA support.

But the drivers for the device also needs to support it. And this has proven to be a pretty big issue with WPA2.

 

[tmorris1]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
For when you get home:

Link to User Guide



I would bet that the manual is on the CD in PDF format too.

 

[Schmoe]

It was, but a PITA to figure out for us not so great computer operators. Was on the telephone with Dell and Linksys until about 0300 Saturday morning. Dell said it's not us and Linksys said it's not us either. Great. For some reason, I wasn't getting a signal from the router to my desktop, but hooked directly from desktop to modem, everything was working. Turns out that somehow I had the MAC enabled and didn't have the laptop set up to read each other. Got it all working together now, pretty cool being about to use the internet anywhere in the house.

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: tmorris1
I think you need at least Service Pack 2 to get WPA2 in XP.


I believe you need SP2 to get even normal WPA support.

But the drivers for the device also needs to support it. And this has proven to be a pretty big issue with WPA2.


I do have XP SP 2.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: tmorris1
I think you need at least Service Pack 2 to get WPA2 in XP.


I believe you need SP2 to get even normal WPA support.

But the drivers for the device also needs to support it. And this has proven to be a pretty big issue with WPA2.


I do have XP SP 2.


But do you ALSO have the most recent drivers for the card?

 

[Cutehumor]

I just updated the driver from 2003 to a driver made 2005. Atheros AR 5001x laptop card. I'm going to try to upgrade the encryption

 

[Cutehumor]

cool, I'm using WPA now. thanks

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
cool, I'm using WPA now. thanks

You are very welcome sir

 

[Trav]

WPA2 may be the best encryption but it can sure dog the connection out.I use MAC address filtering so only units with known MAC addresses will be allowed to connect to the router and use WEP which is enough to keep the casual hot spot seekers out.

 

[Quattro Pete]

The issue with WPA2 is that it uses a better encryption mechanism (AES) which requires more processing power (hardware accelerator). So, what you may be observing is just slower wireless transfer speeds because your hardware can't encrypt the data quickly enough. In terms of overhead, I don't think WPA2 is worse than WPA, but maybe someone can confirm/deny.

On the other hand, it is WEP that generates more overhead than WPA.

Quote:
I use MAC address filtering so only units with known MAC addresses will be allowed to connect to the router

As was pointed out earlier in this thread, it is relatively easy for a hacker to spoof a MAC address.

 

[Trav]

Living in a rural area where my house is a good distance from the street and neighbors i wonder how much is overkill?i tried my laptop on the street and couldn't see my network.Maybe in a large metro area it would be different.

 

[XS650]

I don't go ga-ga over wireless security. I just recently upgraded for WEP to WPA when I got a new router. There are so many unprotected wireless system (about 50%) that most bad guys will just move on to an unprotected one.