Wireless routers

[Scouse]

We've only been using the internet at home for 3 months now & we're using the Unwired system. It seemed to get good reports & my area is supposed to have decent reception. An added bonus would have been to access restricted sites at work if needed (eBay).

Unfortunately, I'm not happy with it's performance (maybe I'm just used to the internet at work) & it's continual drop outs. It also doesn't operate at work at all, probably due to the steel roof on the building.

I'm going to have a play around using Unwired in different areas of the house this weekend but if that's not successful, I'm going to cut my losses & go with a "normal" ADSL connection.

Now, I know as much about computers as my dog does (which is another reason I went with Unwired originally).
I'm looking at getting 512kbps plan as my better half would like this speed for her studies (audio/video downloads) but I don't know if I should go for a wireless router or not.
After my experience with Unwired, I'm tempted to connect via cabling to my phone line but if wireless routers are OK, I would rather go that way for ease of installation. We use a notebook so it would make it more portable if need be.

I've done a search on here for opinions but they haven't been mentioned too much.

Does anybody have any good or bad experiences with them ?

I've seen a few advertised but they have different "Mbps" ratings.
Eg:
Aldi have a 54Mbps
Officeworks has a 270Mbps
I assume this affects performance but would I notice it on 512kbps ?

I'm going to call into Harvey Norman tonight & see what they say but I thought I'd get some real world answers (hopefully) first.

[dobbo]

Having a hardwired ADSL connection plus a wireless network for you house could give the potential for persons to pull up outside your house and use your download limit couldn't it?

At least thats what happens when my brother and I use the net at my parents place (really p1sses the old man off) we used his limit in one weekend.

[Scouse]

Having a hardwired ADSL connection plus a wireless network for you house could give the potential for persons to pull up outside your house and use your download limit couldn't it?I thought they had a security code on them.
The Sunrise program had a little segment on getting connected to the Internet on Wednesday morning which I taped. They mentioned the wireless router should have a security feature.

Maybe I should go wired seeing as you know where I live:( .

[dobbo]

I thought they had a security code on them.
The Sunrise program had a little segment on getting connected to the Internet on Wednesday morning which I taped. They mentioned the wireless router should have a security feature.

Maybe I should go wired seeing as you know where I live:( .

Don't worry my laptop got broken a long time ago.

[Utemad]

Wireless networks can be hacked. It depends on what security features (if any) are used. I know very little about it all but I am right this very second looking up ways to hack our own office network so I can try and prevent it.

Although as I said I don't know much about it yet.

Plus it will be handy to know so when I am travelling I can use the net :D

[p38arover]

I used to run a wired router from from the cable modem in another room which was my office.

However our daughter moved back home so she's now in there with her laptop. To save running cables around the house, I'm now running a DLink DI-524 wireless router from the cable modem - usually the laptop and desktop in this room connect at 54Mbps, sometimes lower. At the moment it is connected at 36Mbps, wait, it has just dropped to 11 Mbps - maybe my daughter has logged on. No, its back to 36.

I don't know if faster wireless systems are that noticeable. I am not sure if it is noticeably slower than the wired connection but I think it is slower when all 3 machines are in use.

re security, I only have (at this stage) WEP enabled but will probabaly change to WPA for the improved security. I can see two wireless networks from home, mien and my neighbours. His is also protected. I can see one when I'm at work but I haven't been able to hack it - which isn't that difficult if I had a second laptop to probe the network while this one monitored the systems.

Are you using a PC or a Mac?

My daughter plugs into the wired port on the wireless modem. She has a Mac Ibook and I can't get it to work wirelessly with the WEP enabled - it works without WEP enabled. I keep meaning to ring Incisor for help with that. The procedure of inputting a hex WEP code as described by Apple and the router manufacturer doesn't seem to work for me. One is supposed to precede the number with $ to indicate hex but the IBook won't allow entry of the $.

Ron

[scrambler]

1) Wireless networks are liable to significant variation based on interference and obstruction of radio waves. Performance is rarely what is quoted as maximum.
2) 100Mbps of actual speed is required for video streaming. For ADSL this means upload speed >100 is the limit, not the download speed.
3) Wireless networks CAN be hacked but provided you use encryption (read the instructions with the wireless router) no-one will bother hacking your home system - you're not the Tax Office.
4) Only an unecrypted system is freely available to any drive-by user.

I have a wired network with points through the house plus a wireless. I use the wireless for most things but video/audio always gets plugged in.

I'd suggest getting a router with both wired and wireless if you think you want to roam through the house. Then your wife can plug in when she's videoconferencing. Get one with a NAT firewall (which virtually all do these days) and enable the wireless encryption. (WEP or WPA doesn't really matter - WEP takes days to hack, WPA months but uses more computer resources)

Steve

[Scouse]

Are you using a PC or a Mac?Ron, it's a PC we use.

Thanks for the tips. Not all of them came through in English though;) .

Leslie won't be doing any video conferencing so I'm tempted to go wireless. By the looks, most seem to have a choice of wired or unwired from what I've seen today so I might go with your suggestion, thanks Steve.
We only live in a single story house so hopefully signal obstruction won't be a problem.

[Utemad]

Scrambler

Have you ever used Airsnort on a Windows XP system before? I have gone through everything but can't install it :mad:

[Deffy]

I know a bit about these things, I've had a wireless router and direct connect ADSL in two locations.
Basically you can do both, D-link does good routers and modems. I suggest you get a D-link modem unless supplied by optus or telstra. THis can connect direct to your laptop by cable. If you also get a D-link wireless router you can then use it around your house. You can alternate between the 2 systems.
I wouldn't be too concerned about security, unless there are hardcore hackers near you, even then they would be interested in a house system, it's not worth their while. A simple password and other security can be put on using Windows XP/??
The 2 D-link items can be obtained from Harvey Norman or similar for about $300-$400. Give me a call I can give you some more details on how to set it up.

[Scouse]

Thanks for the info Antoine. I'm calling into Harvey Norman this afternoon so I'll have a look at the D-link gear.
I've been told that there are combined modem/router units - I would assume D-link sell these too.

[scrambler]

Scrambler

Have you ever used Airsnort on a Windows XP system before? I have gone through everything but can't install it :mad:

Can't say I have Utemad. I presume you mean linking to an Apple branded wireless access point? I use a Belkin WAP and a Netcomm router. My borther runs LinkSys (and swears by them - note BY not AT) I've never had touble with either, and my sister's Mac hasn't had trouble connecting to either, but I've never tried the other way.

Is there some proprietry software or password you need?

Or is Airsnort really the name of whatever it is? In which case I've never even heard of it!

Steve

[scrambler]

Thanks for the tips. Not all of them came through in English though;)

Was all Geek to you?

Steve

[Scouse]

Was all Geek to you?

Steve:D :D

I got most of it thanks;) .

I'll see how I go repositioning the Unwired setup over the weekend. I might even try the suggestion on the Unwired site & make an aluminium foil cover pizza box reflector:p .

[incisor]

dlink are an absolute pain in the butt to warranty....

the flavour of the month is the dynalink 1025w...

i have been selling truckloads of them downsouth....

if you use 128bit wep and turn ssid off, you are pretty safe.

i might add that wireless handheld phones cause 80% of the wireless networking problems i come accross...

[Jamo]

I use a Billion 750g wireless router/ADSL modem,

I use 128bit WEP to prevent unauthorised access, but the most secure way is to restrict access to certain MAC addresses.

Never had a problem in the two years I've been using it.

[stevo]

scouse I use unwired and so does by brother you can by a fixed aerial from jacar this does away with the little aerial and pulls in signal better the plug into the router

[one_iota]

i might add that wireless handheld phones cause 80% of the wireless networking problems i come accross...

My wireless phone works in the 2.4 GHz band as does the wireless Router so drop outs are virtually assured when I am working at the puter whilst on the phone. :mad:

I am going to change the phone to 5.8 GHz jobbie

[stevo]

oops should be then plug the modem into the router the aerial made a big difference to my signal

[Utemad]

Or is Airsnort really the name of whatever it is? In which case I've never even heard of it!

I really mean Airsnort (not Airport). It is a programme that seems to be written originally for Linux but has been ported to Windows. Although it takes some nouse to get it going and I seem to be all out :o

It is a programme to hack into wireless networks that use MAC and WEP protection.

http://airsnort.shmoo.com/

As for MAC address protection it would appear that it is the easiest method to crack.

[one_iota]

Windows XP



802.11 security

Security options for 802.11 include authentication and encryption services based on the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) security services used to protect 802.11 networks from unauthorized access, such as eavesdropping. With automatic wireless network configuration, you can specify that a network key be used to verify access to the network. You can also specify that a network key be used to encrypt your data as it is transmitted over the network.
The wireless network adapter in your computer might support the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) security protocol. WPA provides stronger encryption than WEP. With WPA, the network keys on networked computers and devices are automatically changed and then authenticated regularly, which provides greater security than WEP.
To use WPA, your wireless network adapter must support it. To find out if you can use WPA on your wireless network, check the manufacturer's Web site for information about your device. The manufacturer might have software or a driver that you can download and install.


I am WPA enabled

[Bytemrk]

Scrambler

Have you ever used Airsnort on a Windows XP system before? I have gone through everything but can't install it :mad:

Utemad,

It might be the type of wireless card you have, airsnort is pretty limited to the cards it supports under windows...:(:(

Mark

[Bytemrk]

As far as worrying about how easy a wireless network is to hack, I think it depends what is on the network ....and how vital it is to you.

At work I have refused to install wireless... because there is no valid commercial reason in our situation..yet it does introduce a risk...

At home I use wireless for both access for my laptop and for the kids PC...

I have Linksys router ( you can play with hacked firmware on these if you like to tinker;)). I run a MAC filter so there are only 2 mac's it will connect to wirelessly, I have basic WEP encrytpion and do not broadcast the SSID...

Never had a problem...

Another piece of advise..... change your router admin password and default IP range too..

A few weeks ago.. I detected a wireless network I could see at work....just called netgear....took less than 2 minutes for me to work out what sort of router... connect to it via a browser ( default netgear passwords) and potentially do as I pleased!!

Like a nice guy I changed the SSID from "NETGEAR" to "Youbettersecurethis" and left..:p next day it was gone and I've never seen it again..lol

Mark

[incisor]

My wireless phone works in the 2.4 GHz band as does the wireless Router so drop outs are virtually assured when I am working at the puter whilst on the phone. :mad:

I am going to change the phone to 5.8 GHz jobbie

just change the channels they use, put the phone on 5 or 6 and the router on 10 or 11

:P

[incisor]

I really mean Airsnort (not Airport). It is a programme that seems to be written originally for Linux but has been ported to Windows. Although it takes some nouse to get it going and I seem to be all out :o

It is a programme to hack into wireless networks that use MAC and WEP protection.

http://airsnort.shmoo.com/

As for MAC address protection it would appear that it is the easiest method to crack.
very easy to get a mac address and spoof it, less than a minute, wep 128 takes 3-10 minutes, wpa about 10-15mins

but you will be hacked by a trojan long before you are sniffed and hacked as a general rule.

[one_iota]

just change the channels they use, put the phone on 5 or 6 and the router on 10 or 11

:P

That is good advice but how do I do that:eek:

[incisor]

most phones allow you to pick from several channels using a combination of key presses or they have some little toggle switches to do it, and you can pick any channel in the wireless router configuration, usually in the advanced section...

RTFM(s)

hehehehehe

[George130]

At work we have Dlink units. They have a range of 100 metres within the building. They are only used for our training lan due to security restrictions. The only reason someone is likely to hack your home system is for the extra download usage or help mask their hacking efforts (Dedicated hacker). Interferance will be your biggest problem, My father has found this in his new home and we have encountered it when training at various locations. One site we had to resort to cabled laptops to train but this was due to the equipment running in the area.
For ease wireless is fairly easy and there arn't the cables running round the place. If you are prepared to run cables through the walls then you can also run phone to every room and have a central patch panel where you can control which room gets what, this is my prefered option but requires the most work.

[one_iota]

most phones allow you to pick from several channels using a combination of key presses or they have some little toggle switches to do it, and you can pick any channel in the wireless router configuration, usually in the advanced section...

RTFM(s)

hehehehehe

That translates as:

"When all else fails (including calling the Help Desk) read the instructions"

[scrambler]

very easy to get a mac address and spoof it, less than a minute, wep 128 takes 3-10 minutes, wpa about 10-15mins

but you will be hacked by a trojan long before you are sniffed and hacked as a general rule.

Remind me not to invite you around for a visit with your laptop, Inc. :eek:

[incisor]

Remind me not to invite you around for a visit with your laptop, Inc. :eek:
i dont need a laptop, i can do it with my Imate JamIN :angel:

[Scouse]

For ease wireless is fairly easy and there arn't the cables running round the place. If you are prepared to run cables through the walls then you can also run phone to every room and have a central patch panel where you can control which room gets what, this is my prefered option but requires the most work.Work ??:eek: :eek:
What's that ??
Edd, it's a 3 br single story house with 2 people living in it. I thought having 1 phone in the house & 1 in the garage was hi-tech !!!:twisted:




I use unwired and so does my brother, you can by a fixed aerial from Jaycar this does away with the little aerial and pulls in signal better the plug into the router.........oops should be then plug the modem into the router the aerial made a big difference to my signalThanks Steve but that's getting a bit more complicated than what I want. At the moment I just have the Unwired modem which plugs into my PC. I think that if I need a router to make it run OK, then I may as well just get a modem/router & lose Unwired altogether:( .
(Unless I have just completely misunderstood what you've said :redface: )




dlink are an absolute pain in the butt to warranty....

the flavour of the month is the dynalink 1025w...Thanks for the advice Dave.
Harvey Norman had D-link & Netcomm modem/wireless routers in stock. The salesman didn't bag the D-link but said the Netcomm was a better unit (both at the same price).
I didn't ask about Dynalink but I'm doing a bit more window shopping today.


I've had a play around with the Unwired modem this morning trying out different areas of the house. The signal improves slightly but doesn't reach more than 1/2 in the strength graph & 2/3 in the quality graph.
I wonder if I should put it in the recycling bin or the general garbage bin:p .

[one_iota]

just change the channels they use, put the phone on 5 or 6 and the router on 10 or 11

:P

Router changed to Channel 11 and during a 1.5 hour phone call to Eva who now lives in London...no drop outs...thanks mate.

BTW She is working with a Pommy Project Manager who is a Landy nut..she tells me that he cut short a work meeting to attend his local LR club meeting...I have sent a link to this site.:D

[George130]

Work ??:eek: :eek:
What's that ??
Edd, it's a 3 br single story house with 2 people living in it. I thought having 1 phone in the house & 1 in the garage was hi-tech !!!:twisted: .

I havn't done my place yet but I have helped do a few friends homes. I have two patch pannels in the garage ready for my place just need to get the cable and do it.




I've had a play around with the Unwired modem this morning trying out different areas of the house. The signal improves slightly but doesn't reach more than 1/2 in the strength graph & 2/3 in the quality graph.
I wonder if I should put it in the recycling bin or the general garbage bin:p .

You will find the connection will vary. As long as it stays within the good zone it will be fine.

[JohnE]

Being new to broadband, the HIBIS project finally was completed in my area last month, so no more waiting 3 days for emails to come down on dial up.
Boradband speeds are fantastic with the package i got. But had a problem one modem, two computors. So the modem goes dowstairs with my sons computor (Dlink), then went to Harvey Normal and bought a DLink wired/wireless router that also came with a USB aerial thngy for my computor the price for both was $149. I t was a simple connection, modem to router, sons computor hardwired, my computor wirelss. Works fantastic, haven't noticed any speed drop when we a re both on and the best part we can us the phone now at the same time.
I haven't encrypted it because,Don't know how, but figure because we are rural why worry. No passing laptops around here.

john

[incisor]

bugger

words out :P

http://www.crn.com.au/story.aspx?CIID=57402

[p38arover]

i dont need a laptop, i can do it with my Imate JamIN :angel:

Do me favour - come to work with me so I can get the key for a local business network so I can use it to access the 'Net from my laptop while I'm at work. :D :twisted:

Ron

[incisor]

http://www.wirelessdefence.org/Contents/WirelessWin32Tools.htm

this sort of stuff is getting prolific now, these are a good start...

you dont need me if you have a laptop :P

[DirtyDawg]

I use a Billion 750g wireless router/ADSL modem,

I use 128bit WEP to prevent unauthorised access, but the most secure way is to restrict access to certain MAC addresses.

Never had a problem in the two years I've been using it.
Jamo, your in Esperance dude..:) who down there would bother:D;)
Shooting, fishing, 4wding, sheep..computer hacking..mmm I don't think that sticker would look cool next to the longhorn sticker on a Bundyfied ute:D:D

[DirtyDawg]

Bloody "Trojans" the Greeks should have finished the Job:(

[JohnE]

Incisor
interesting stuff , the link that is, but it is written in 'computor talk' might as well be swahili to me. Not that i want to hack (if thats what it means) will have to get onto the secure mode now.

john

[Captain_Rightfoot]

Are you using a PC or a Mac?

My daughter plugs into the wired port on the wireless modem. She has a Mac Ibook and I can't get it to work wirelessly with the WEP enabled - it works without WEP enabled. I keep meaning to ring Incisor for help with that. The procedure of inputting a hex WEP code as described by Apple and the router manufacturer doesn't seem to work for me. One is supposed to precede the number with $ to indicate hex but the IBook won't allow entry of the $.

Ron
I'm using our Mac with wpa-psk. I'm also sure I got WEP to work once too... we had to stuff around with the hex key and password a bit too..turned out we were doing it the hard way if memory serves me.

If anyone wants to read about all this stuff this is an excellent site...filled to the brim with info. :)

ozcable guy (http://www.ozcableguy.com/)

[Scouse]

Thanks for all your help guys.
I'm now set up for ADSL with a Dynalink modem/wireless router but for the life of me I can't get the wireless connection up & running.

I'm sure my laptop (Compaq Presario V5000) has a wireless modem built in but I can't make head nor tail of the instructions. I'll hopefully get home at a decent time tomorrow & call the help desk.

I don't suppose there's anyone here around Liverpool (Casula) who knows what they're doing with this black magic ?

[scrambler]

Scouse, I seem to recall a bit of trouble with mine when I first started. Found that having the computer cable connected and then detaching the cable allowed it to get on the network and then be picked up by the wireless.

You should be able to create a new connection with the connection wizard and that should include a "detect local networks" stage. Is it detecting any?

I'd try to step it through but my laptop's down at the moment.

Steve

[Scouse]

Scouse, I seem to recall a bit of trouble with mine when I first started. Found that having the computer cable connected and then detaching the cable allowed it to get on the network and then be picked up by the wireless.

You should be able to create a new connection with the connection wizard and that should include a "detect local networks" stage. Is it detecting any?

I'd try to step it through but my laptop's down at the moment.

SteveThanks Steve, I'm sure I tried that last night & a warning came up saying that a cable had been disconnected.
I'll try the connection wizard to see if it detects it. I don't think I saw that area last night.
Failing that, I'll give the help line a call.

[scrambler]

Now that's all from memory and I'm no IT expert, Scouse, so don't wast too much time on my suggestion. My laptop has proprietry stuff which makes this pretty easy, but seem to remember a section in the network connections section of the control panel.

Good luck.

Steve

[Scouse]

Now that's all from memory and I'm no IT expert, You're an expert compared to me ;) .

This arvo I'll drop by the retailer I bought it off & just make sure the damn thing has a wireless connection inside :( .

[incisor]

have a look under network adaptors in the device list

hit the windows key and pause/break key
then hardware tab
then device manager
then click on the plus sign beside network adaptors

that will list all the network interfaces in your system

[Scouse]

OK Dave, I'll check that out.


BTW, thanks for organising the modem/router for me. I ordered it on Tuesday & it was waiting for me when I arrived home yesterday:) .

[incisor]

OK Dave, I'll check that out.


BTW, thanks for organising the modem/router for me. I ordered it on Tuesday & it was waiting for me when I arrived home yesterday:) .

my pleasure, we sell gear all over au so it is all part of the service.... enjoy..