Nikko2

Broadband courtesy of NTL is now on the way.

I would like to setup a wirless Network in the house.

D link do a starter kit with 2xUSB adaptors and 1xAccess point.
Kits called a DWL-920. Its $299 in th US but £292 in DABs

Anyone know where I can pick this sort of stuff up for a reasonable price.

Also am I right in thinking I can just plug this wireless adaptor into my cable box. Then I am away?

suba

what you need is a draytek vigor 2200We.

kryten

Was that price inc VAT?

Trade on that kit is about 240 quid + VAT so the Dabs price isn't too bad (though if it includes VAT/delivery its exceptional!)....

Jeff Wiltshire

I wish you lived in my street.....1 802.11 card later and I get free internet access and maybe some interesting PCs to have a look around !

In other words make sure that you read the manual for the Wireless kit you eventually buy and ensure that only hosts you want to have on your network are allowed ...


Jeff

boxst

Hello

I use the SMC Wireless Barricade, which I got for about £200, with one PCmCIA access point thrown in (this was directly from SMC).

Steve
http://www.GetEdenbridgeADSL.co.uk

** Edited because I can't spell! **

[Edited by boxst - 5/14/2002 1:57:04 PM]

Richard Curtis

Do you need the access point?

I got an actiontec dual USB pack for around £130 from dabs. I now got 2 PC's running XP sharing one ISDN link with full networking between them.

Is the access point needed for more than 2 PC's?

BarryK

The Draytek access point has a firewall and RJ45 connections as well as wireless. I may well invest in one for the shared internet caper. I am not ready to trust Wingate and my W98 SE upgrade doesn't seem to have ICS.

I used 2 USB Sitec (?) wireless transceivers. It is a piece of cake.

As somone said read the manual, but essentially it is exactly ythe same as setting up a wired LAN, without the hassle of wires!

AKA "wireless".

kryten

Er, not quite. Its pretty difficult for someone 100 yards away to use your network with a wired lan (unless they gain access to inside your house). With wireless, out of the box, its simple!

Most Access Points come without any authentication/encryption enabled. MAKE SURE you enable WEP!!

Basically, if you can plug in your wireless lan card and use the network immediately, then so can anyone else within range!

roadrunner

Wireless security isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be
With the right configuration you can easily secure your home WLAN to prevent the cascual hacker and No, I don't mean using VPN, Radius etc.

Nikko - Hold off for about a month and you could be running 54Mbps instead of 11Mbps

stevencotton

802.11/WEP has already been compromised. WEP uses RC4 encryption which is old but not too bad, but the WEP implementation leaves it open.

Steve.

suba

oh, that would be using the 5Ghz bandwidth!

dsmith

Think the "casual" hacker is the key. Have to match threat to cost to protect.

RR is right. its easy to protect against the casual hacker, difficult to protect against the determined (e.g. sensitive corporate environment) but easiest of all to do nothing and be wide open.

Deano

Nikko2

I have heard about the security issues. But my neighbours arent really the types to use computers never mind LANS never ever mind WLANS.

My mate round the corner might decide to latch on but I have worked out he is 130 metres away and through several houses.
So unless he sticks up a big aerial I dont fancy his chances.

Just have to watch out for those driveby hackers but there scoobysport backboxes usually give the game away

Reckon on going for the D-Link stuff Should be £140 for the access point and £81 for the USB connector from DABS.com

The snazzy box with the firewall looks the dogsb's but probably too much money at £300. Will use ZoneAlarm instead.

Have to go wireless really as the house has only just been decorated and LAN cables everywhere are definitely not an option

BarryK

Kryten, my text you quoted is correct.

It is identical to SETTING UP a wired LAN, but without the wires.

Reading the manual will alert you to security concerns, mine is encrypted, but I doubt anyone is patrolling my streets with a laptop on the offchance of seeing me playing Counterstrike.

The free versin of zonealarm is a pain in the **** with my LAQN connection, and for Internet access, the settings go so low as to be not worth having, otherwise it doesn't let PC number 2 access the net.

Not convinced Wingate's built in protction is much better, so I think I will wait for the access point. Internet access is not a big issue on 2nd PC yet anyway, I just wanted to see it work!

kryten

Agreed on the setup front, but how many people really read the manual?

Just pointing out to those who didn't know that its a potential risk. Also, someone doesn't have to be 'patrolling' for access.

Assuming you're access point is open. I plug my card in and start using your net connection - maybe innocently.

As for ZoneAlarm, I've found it to be OK, but then I don't use net connection sharing and my router has a firewall anyway so its mainly for call-home trojan protection!

BarryK

But the encryption will stop "accidental" sharing no?

Sure a determined hacker can get around all that, but my PC is not from L'Oreal, it isn't worth it.

There is a site which actively encourages the setting up of an alternative "Net" using say all the wireless Lans in a street for example. Not sure about how safe that would be!!

Yes, sadly I read the manual and some web sites for tips before I installed it. Sheesh, I'm gettin old!

dsmith

Bazza

Unfortunately you have to bear in mind the number of muppets who won't read the manual, won't enable encryption or any other security measures and will generally give the entire technology a bad name.

Deano

Jeff Wiltshire

Barry

Your PC doesn't have to be worth it.....

The vast majority of hacks are into systems that have no intrinsic value and are done by kids with a few tools off the web. Its more vandalism than theft that you are protecting against.

Jeff

Nikko2

Ok I have ordered the draytek 2200we a dlink usb wireless jobbie and a dlink pcmcia wireless jobbie.

I am sure lots of head scratching is soon to follow when I cant get any of it to work.

kryten

I've just put in some wireless kit for NTL access and some of the NTL cable modems work fine with an access point, others need a router (and as I'm working for NTL and its for my boss, we had some serious help in trying to get it working!).

Probably easier to buy a wireless router in the first place as they're not that much more expensive.

roadrunner

kryten, out of curiosity what sort of problems did you encounter, was your WLAN 3 AP's or more.

Cheers
rr

roadrunner

Nikko - I can give you tips on how to secure your home WLAN. email me at giles@broadbandbuyer.co.uk

Regards
rr

Nikko2

The draytek is a wireless Broaddband Router and firewall...
It got a great review in the computer shopper.
Delivery was good arrived next day. Still waiting for my bits from dabs to arrive so that I can set it up.

Roadrunner I will give drop you a mail in a couple of days. cheers..

kryten

It was with a cable modem within the set top box.

Apparently these will register up to 5 devices, but only allow access from one at a time and it was recognising the wireless access point as a device and the PCMCIA card as another and shut down as they don't allow LAN access.

Hence using the wireless router in NAT mode instead.....

Of course, the router also gives you some basic firewall protection too, plus a DHCP server and hub.

roadrunner

Nikko - if you want advise just email me by the way where abouts did you purchase your 2200We from & for how much?

Kryten - I see. For wireless I wouldn't run DHCP, change IP address to another private range, enable WEP, disable SSID broadcast, change default SSID name, configure Filter Control for MAC

kryten

I see the point about DHCP, but if you've done the rest and they've got in anyway a different IP range isn't going to help!

roadrunner

True, but it depends on how mnay active hosts you got. A variable length subnet might do the trick to make the hackers life more difficult

IMO, I recommend you don't use any default settings, especially on a WLAN