Ryan

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Juana! asked me to repost this into a new thread so everyone could enjoy my "basics of wireless networking" post. Here it is:

-Forms of wireless networking-

there are 2 mainstream forms of wireless networking currently available to the public and are accepted by most companies: 802.11b and 802.11g. "B" is the older standard, and "G" is still somewhat new. "B" has a range of +/- 300 feet, depending on circumstances and indoor/outdoor use. "B" has a speed of 10mb/s, which is 10 megaBITS, not megabytes. In megabytes, that is roughly 1.2 megaBYTES per second. Most DSL and cable connections are around 1/4th of that, so it is plenty fast enough.

"G" however, is 54 megabits per second, or roughly 6.75megabytes per second. This is ridiculous overkill for the average user. HOWEVER, this is absolutely necessary sometimes, because as you get further from the access point, your speed will slow down. "G" routers generally have a better range than "B" routers, but from experience, I'd say they are roughly double the distance. Because the prices on "G" equipment are coming down, I would definitely go for "G" at this point.

-Security-
Currently the most widespread encryption used is... NONE. If you drive down the street with a laptop on, searching for access points, you'll stumble into tons of them that have no encryption at all. There are widely available programs on the internet that allow you to do this (google "netstumbler"). To protect your wireless network against this, there are 2 widely accepted security protocols. There is WEP, wireless encryptioin protocal, and there is a newer form, called 'WPA'. WEP, unfortunately, has already been cracked. The good news, though, is that it would take someone more than a week to crack your encryption if you only have one wireless device on a network. Far too long for residential wireless users to worry about. But if you have an office with 30 users doing heavy network usage, a hacker with a program called 'airsnort' could easily crack your encryption in hours. WPA is a step forward, and only the newer wireless devices support it. I would check into WPA support before purchasing any wireless equipment.

-Conclusions-
Wireless networking is DEFINITELY a good way to go, but you must be wise in your selection of hardware and encryption. It leaves backdoors open that, unless you are savvy enough to close them, make it possible for people like me to jump onto your system. At my apartment, there are 4 wireless networks that I can get a signal from. Only ONE of them is encrypted. The other 3 are open and I can use their internet connection, AND I can see the files on their computers. Sad, but true for most people.

I hope my short paper on wireless routers/networks has helped you. Let me know if you'd like me to delve into bluetooth, infared, 802.11a, or any of the other wireless protocols.

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Oh my god, I have a blog

Juana!

on those kind of routers.. can those be left open for the internet sharing? but closed for the lan? let me see if i can explain myself better...

if i have an "open" internet sharing i could use a laptop in my yard (as long my reception is OK).... or for that matters anyone that would be close could use my interente conection...

but... can i close the lan so only stations within can share and see files? leaving this completly close to outsiders?

it would be like making your own hotspot...


another question: speed ... you mentioned that the speed is based in megabites.. "b" actualy would slow me down since my iconection average is 3.6 down and 1.5 up ... so i guess a "g" would be the solution... am i reading right?

also waht are those other wireless protocols? i seen somewhere the bluetooth... i think i saw that on a cell phone or pda... do they apply to pc's?


like your posts... the more i learn the more i want to know... thanks

Juana!

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Ryan

you caught me before I left work on a friday- good news for you since I can't come to webrats from home (i need to password protect my computer, but then the girlfriend would know I was hiding shit)

Anyhow...

Yes, you could have your own hotspot, and yes you could secure it, but I would only recommend doing it if you were going to either firewall the LAN, or create a domain. Ideally, you'd have DSL going to your router, then one port of the router going to a firewall, and the LAN behind that firewall. Then, if you're connected wirelessly, you're outside of the firewall and can't get into the LAN.

Firewalls are expensive, and I hate expensive. Soooo...

solution two entails building a computer and put windows 2000 or server 2003 on it, and create a domain. A domain is kind of a like a 'trust' between computers. Each time you logged into a computer, it would verify with the server that you had the correct username and password (the server acts as a domain controller). Then, you only share files within the domain, and people outside of the domain can't get in. This is great in theory, but microsoft products are always flawed so take this hypothetical theory with a grain of salt.

The firewall is the most secure way, but it's more expensive (i'm talking a HARDWARE firewall, not zonealarm or that other stupid software firewall stuff). A domain could help to a certain extent as well, but don't use that if you've got really sensitive data to secure.

-Ryan

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Oh my god, I have a blog