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Pocket PC Forum / End Users / Wireless / October 2004What do I need ?
I want to make a home wireless network. My internet connection is from a broadband adsl usb modem on a win2000 pc. At the moment I have a home ethernet network, with three networked pc on ethernet, sharing the internet connection. What are my options. I have looked in some shops and saw wireless access points, adsl wireless firewall router, just wire braodband router, wireless cable dsl gateway, so many things to choose from, which do I need? You might want to check with your ADSL provider and see if they offer a Ethernet version. Not all ADSL broadband connections are the same, so it is better in some ways to obtain one from your provider. This also protects you if your connection later develops problems, as it does not result in your ISP pointing at your hardware and saying that is the problem. With your hardware as it is now, you would need to have the win2000pc on when ever you wish to use the network. By going to a ADSL Ethernet broadband connection and a wireless access point with switch, you would gain additional flexibility. And only the computer that is connecting to the network would need to be power up.  SignatureDavid Hettel Microsoft MVP Mobile Devices This posting is provided "as is" with no warranties, and confers no rights. You assume all risks for your use. Handhelds, mobile: http://www.geekzone.co.nz Bluetooth guides: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=449 >I want to make a home wireless network. My internet connection > is from a broadband adsl usb modem on a win2000 pc. At the [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > wireless cable dsl gateway, so many things to choose from, which > do I need? > You might want to check with your ADSL provider and see if they offer a > Ethernet version. Not all ADSL broadband connections are the same, so it is [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > With your hardware as it is now, you would need to have the win2000pc on > when ever you wish to use the network. Yes, my internet pc must be always on. > By going to a ADSL Ethernet broadband connection and a wireless access point > with switch, you would gain additional flexibility. And only the computer > that is connecting to the network would need to be power up. So will my current usb modem be redundent, and also my current switch ? And does it have a firewall against hackers ? > >I want to make a home wireless network. My internet connection > > is from a broadband adsl usb modem on a win2000 pc. At the [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > wireless cable dsl gateway, so many things to choose from, which > > do I need? Can I buy just a usb wireless access point ? How does it connect, do I connect it to the pc where the adsl modem is installed, or can I connect it on any of my home network pc's. Is there a possbility of conflict with my usb adsl modem or with Microsoft ICS. Will all my ethernet pc's still have internet access as before as well as the wireless clients? You could purchase another proxy server, that would support more than one network adapter. Windows ICS only supports one network connection, so using it with both a wired network card, and also a USB network card would not work. Some ADSL broadband devices support both a USB and a Network connection (RJ-45). Ideally IMHO you would get a ADSL broadband device and connect it to a wireless access point and switch. This would free (or make redundant) both the USB Modem and the Switch if you have less than 4 devices connected to your network now. If and the type of firewall it may or may not have would be determined by the type of access point / switch you buy. Your computers would be on a private network, at the minimum like they are now, and all could see each other. It is possible to add some wireless access points to your switch, and disable the NAT (dhcp server) within the access point and do this with what you have. I believe however if you look at the cost, and operating cost, you would be better off replacing the USB Modem, and directly connecting to it with an access point. SignatureDavid Hettel Microsoft MVP Mobile Devices This posting is provided "as is" with no warranties, and confers no rights. You assume all risks for your use. Handhelds, mobile: http://www.geekzone.co.nz Bluetooth guides: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=449 > Can I buy just a usb wireless access point ? How does it connect, > do I connect it to the pc where the adsl modem is installed, or can > I connect it on any of my home network pc's. Is there a possbility > of conflict with my usb adsl modem or with Microsoft ICS. Will > all my ethernet pc's still have internet access as before as well as > the wireless clients? Geri, I bought an ADSL Wireless Router from DLink DSL-G604T and it works perfectly. Just my experience. Paul. > Can I buy just a usb wireless access point ? How does it connect, > do I connect it to the pc where the adsl modem is installed, or can > I connect it on any of my home network pc's. Is there a possbility > of conflict with my usb adsl modem or with Microsoft ICS. Will > all my ethernet pc's still have internet access as before as well as > the wireless clients? You might want to just replace your wired router with a wireless router. At home, I have ADSL modem and a Linksys WRT54G wireless G router. Behind this router, I have 2 WinXPs wired and (at present) an iPAQ PPC. >-----Original Message----- >I want to make a home wireless network. My internet connection [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >do I need? >. He does not have a wired router...:-) The problem is the USB interface with the DSL modem. He needs a wireless router/access point with a USB WAN interface or a modem with an Ethernet interface... SignatureAl Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking) Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the mutual benefit of all of us... The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights... > You might want to just replace your wired router with a > wireless router. [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >>do I need? >>. Thanks for all the answers. One last question, does anyone happen to know if wifi routers emitt radiation constantly, or just when there is network traffic. Also, does all network traffic end up being broadcast or just the wireless traffic. I mean, for example, if both my desktops are ethernet (a router with wireless plus ethernet switch combined) and only my pocket pc is wireless, will traffic between the desktops themselves be radiated. The reason I ask this is because firstly I don't like the idea of being radiated all the time, and secondly there is the security aspect that any radiated information can be picked up, especially if I blunder with the security setup. Tia. The term "router" is supposed to indicate that the device is smart enough to send packets only to the route (port) to which the packet is addressed. My experience sniffing wired routers confirmed this (I had to put a hub on a router segment to monitor traffic on that port) and I would assume that the wifi section would be handled as another router port and remain isolated to only traffic to and from wifi devices. I've done some limited sniffing to see if I could detect wifi negotiation from a wired port and could not, plus I have sniffed the wifi port and was not able to see traffic that was only between wired ports, but my skill level is not sufficient to say that it's not possible. Traffic between a wifi connection and a wired connection will, obviously, be visible, but you can impliment a number of protections with varying levels of security. Beverly Howard That was way to complicated... ;-/ Short answer, someone sniffing your wifi emissions should not be able to see traffic between the wired computers. Longer answer, if you run an unsecured AP, anyone within range (i.e. a 100'-1000' radius with a good antenna depending on conditions) will be able to see your computers and will be able to access any shares that are not password protected. Implimenting WEP will keep 99% of the casual connections out Turning off ssid broadcast lowers your visibility Implimenting MAC filtering will keep all but serious attack attempts out A number of additional security features are available, some part of newer AP's, some expensive, some may prevent the use of devices such as pocketpc's Beverly Howard [MS MVP-Mobile Devices] Turning off the SSID broadcast really does nothing for security. Tools like Kismet can detect cloaked SSIDs... In general cloaking your SSID causes more problems than its worth... 128-bit WEP or better yet WPA with very long random keys provide better security... SignatureAl Jarvi (MS-MVP Windows Networking) Please post *ALL* questions and replies to the news group for the mutual benefit of all of us... The MS-MVP Program - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights... > That was way to complicated... ;-/ > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Beverly Howard [MS MVP-Mobile Devices] >> Turning off the SSID broadcast really does nothing for security << Agree that it doesn't do much, but it does help... just as parking your bike behind the house lower's it's visibility and vulnerability, if your ssid isn't out there in plain view for everyone to see, it removes the casual connecters from the equation. The serious bike thief is going to look behind the house but the impluse thief is going to go for the bike next door. Beverly Howard [MS MVP-Mobile Devices] > Turning off the SSID broadcast really does nothing for security. Tools like Kismet can detect > cloaked SSIDs... In general cloaking your SSID causes more problems than its worth... > > 128-bit WEP or better yet WPA with very long random keys provide better security... I personally use MAC address filtering (can be got round by being spoofed), WPA with a nonsensical key, (can be cracked apparently too by packet analysis but it might take a while so it's said) which I change regularly, SSID turned off, and set DHCP to only provide IP addresses for the number of devices on my LAN. And when all of them are turned off then the router is off too. I am no security expert, btw. Just an interested user. In theory (and probably in practice as well though I've never tried to do it even though I know there are tools available- the most I've done is abit of wardriving to list APs just because I'm abit trainspotter-y like that :-) ) all these things can be gotten around but I would imagine my two GSDs would clock someone sitting outside my house for the length of time it would take to crack that lot, in which case survivours who were found doing anything they shouldn't may be prosecuted. ;-) Rachael >>Turning off the SSID broadcast really does nothing for security. Tools > [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > Rachael sounds good advice, an attacker could always force you off the network and grab the address while it was temporarily free, but I'm sure that would be too much effort for the prize. > >>Turning off the SSID broadcast really does nothing for security. Tools > > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > and grab the address while it was temporarily free, but I'm sure that > would be too much effort for the prize. Quite - they'd have to MAC spoof too, and know my WPA key too, which is just too much hassle all in all, I would think. As a home user I doubt much I have lurking on my pc network that would be so attractive as to inspire someone to do it, and "just because I can" would still take time sat outside in the range of two slavering hounds, a road with only one way in and out, and a very annoyed pc user who could be an axe murderer for all they know. ;-) To be realistic about it, joking (albeit perfectly factual joking) aside, anyone who wants your data that badly will get it somehow, but most home users don't fall have stuff that is wanted that badly IMO. I reckon most domestic wi-fi security breaches, if you want to call them that, are cases of hopping onto a person's ISP connection and surfing for free (or doing so with malicious intent like using it to spam people or download questionable things). I wouldn't be so worried about the surfing for free aspect because I'm sure my dsl connection could spare a little bandwith here and there, but I'm not nuts about the idea of someone doing bad stuff and it getting pointed back to me - afterall it would be my IP that would be traced -, hence the security measures. FWIW, I was slightly concerned the braces and belt approach might slow my net / LAN experience down but if they have I have not noticed (and I regularly have two wireless devices using the router to share big files and download big stuff from the net, plus two wired ones.) Rachael >>>>Turning off the SSID broadcast really does nothing for security. Tools >>> [quoted text clipped - 88 lines] > > Rachael Spot on, I have often considered advertising free internet access on my SSID like they do in the US, but the thought of someone using your bandwidth for attacking, spamming or 'gentleman's surfing' or worse like kiddie pron really puts me off. I could packet sniff, but I'm not always here and frankly cannot afford the time. Likewise if I use a 'freebee' I am really nervous about putting in email passwords and the like in case they do what I would :) I'm glad to see you have minimal overhead restrictions - a lot of people ask these sort of questions and there is minimal real life experiences. 22 Meg as a home user should be more than enough - 54 Meg and above is nice but unused 99% of the time. |
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