Laptops - advice pleae

[dazzler]

Hi

I have a new laptop arriving soon. The house has broadband to the home pc.

I want to be able to use the laptop anywhere in the house and understand this can be down using a wireless system.

I am currently renting so need something that isnt hard wired.

Any suggestions and help appreciated.

The laptop is a toshiba tecra s2

thanks

dazzler

[Grunt]

You can get wireless routers that plug directly into you broadband modem. Simple to install and are cheap. Either d-link or Netgear have ones for around $125-135. Your notebook should have 802.11g wireless card so make sure the router can deal with it. 802.11g is fast. 802.11b is slower. A few letters makes all the difference.

Grunt the nerd.

[B.J.Honeycut]

I'd recomend a Linksys one. They are a division of cisco systems who make all the best network gear. http://www.linksys.com/products/group.asp?grid=33&scid=35

If you're ever passing through Melbourne this shop has the best prices on computer gear http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf (really bad web site but really good prices and service).

[RufflyRustic]

Make sure you think up a darn good password that isn't too easy to crack, especially if your wireless network happens to be accessible from the street. Having your network hacked and big costs on your Broadband is not fun. No it hasn't happened to me, but I watched a couple of people do it in Sydney from one high rise to another across the street, took them all of 10 minutes to find the network and access it.

cheers
RufflyRustic

[Ianab]

Further to what Ruffly said - turn on the encryption on your wireless access point. By default this is usually off, and you can use it fine like this. So can anyone else in range :(

By enabling the encryption no one else can use your access point without the key, and it's much more difficult to eavesdrop.

I have set up a few of the D-Link units for customers, they seem to be good value for money

Cheers

Ian

[Daddles]

What's wrong with miles of cable draped around the house? All that extra stuff to trip over, to have to shift everytime you clean, to ...

Sorry, just feeling silly.

However, as a laptop user myself, I think you'll find that the laptop will wind up being used on only one spot, especially the work that needs the network. Before spending a lot of money, hook up a cable network and see how long it takes to p** you off, you may just find you don't need any more, even if you have to lay out the cable everytime you use it.

Cheers
Richard
renting, it's the pits.

[B.J.Honeycut]

Further to what Ruffly said - turn on the encryption on your wireless access point. By default this is usually off, and you can use it fine like this. So can anyone else in range :(

By enabling the encryption no one else can use your access point without the key, and it's much more difficult to eavesdrop.
Ian
Just remember though that it's not that hard to crack the the security on a wireless network with a few traffic sniffing tools etc. The security is only an illusion and it's all about not being the "lowest hanging fruit". i.e. If you have encryption turned on and the guy down the street doesn't then they will proably use his access point not yours....unless they are looking for more of a challenge. Long story short, it's not really secure but probably secure enough for your needs.

[Grunt]

However, as a laptop user myself, I think you'll find that the laptop will wind up being used on only one spot, especially the work that needs the network. Before spending a lot of money, hook up a cable network and see how long it takes to p** you off, you may just find you don't need any more, even if you have to lay out the cable everytime you use it.


The price of wireless is only slightly more expensive than running cables. I use my laptop in front of the TV so I can be with Ms. Grunt and post to this BB at the same time.

[ozwinner]

The price of wireless is only slightly more expensive than running cables. I use my laptop in front of the TV so I can be with Ms. Grunt and post to this BB at the same time.
Owhhh you are a sweetie. :D

Al

[Grunt]

It's part of the fantasy. :D:D

[ozwinner]

.:eek:

[Wayne Davy]

Another thing you can ALSO do so long as the Wifi Router supports it and, I believe, most do now, is to turn on tied MAC addressing. What this means is you connect your laptop to the Router (with WEP/Encryption turned on) and when it is successfully linked to it, you can set the Router to ONLY allow the MAC address of the Laptops WiFi card to connect to the router. Doing all of these makes it quite difficult for someone to hack you (though not impossible as BJ points out).

I have a Netgear and it has this (and lots of other) features.

I always like to remember "Locks only keep the honest people out".

[bitingmidge]

I believe, most do now, is to turn on tied MAC addressing


:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
What can I say???


P
:D :D :D

[Wayne Davy]

Sorry Midge, that should have been "Tied GRUNT addressing Wife" :D

[RETIRED]

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
What can I say???


P
:D :D :D
NANANANA!! Will that do? :D :D

[namtrak]

A d-link modem/router should do the trick. You could also grab a Wireless card for the PC as well. WEP encryption and a individual MAC address should keep out 99% of the try-hards. Another simple thing, is to include a traffic monitor in your system tray. Some nerd has developed one for Internode which is great - our neighbours use our connection and this way I can keep track of their downloads. Although I suspect if you were on the new ADSL/2 packages you could lose bandwidth very quickly.

[B.J.Honeycut]

Another thing you can ALSO do so long as the Wifi Router supports it and, I believe, most do now, is to turn on tied MAC addressing. What this means is you connect your laptop to the Router (with WEP/Encryption turned on) and when it is successfully linked to it, you can set the Router to ONLY allow the MAC address of the Laptops WiFi card to connect to the router. Doing all of these makes it quite difficult for someone to hack you (though not impossible as BJ points out).

Mac addresses can easily be impersonated. Once again whilst "more secure" it's only an illusion. Under Linux it's as easiy as "ifconfig eth0 hw ether 00:00:00:AA:AA:AA" or whatever you want. Under windows it's a little more clicking but still very easy. Wireless netwoking was never designed with security in mind the security was just tacked on at the end and is therefore really bad. For the geeks out there http://www.worldwidewardrive.org/

[Wayne Davy]

Yep, I know but you need to know the MAC address you want to impersonate.

[B.J.Honeycut]

Yep, I know but you need to know the MAC address you want to impersonate.
The machine has to send the mac to the router.....it can be packet sniffed out of the air just like the rest of it.