Wireless networking issues..


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Stereobox

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Dec 21, 2003
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am a total wireless networking newbie here..

just bought a d-link dsl g604T to share broadband access between two of my wi-fi capable laptops.

how do i set security on the wireless network such that only these two laptops can have access to the internet/network, and no-one else?

i tried looking up the manual on the cdrom and website, however, it seems their version of the program is different from mine, and i can't understand enough of it to apply it to my version.

please help!
 

use WPA ;)
 

Stereobox said:
am a total wireless networking newbie here..

just bought a d-link dsl g604T to share broadband access between two of my wi-fi capable laptops.

how do i set security on the wireless network such that only these two laptops can have access to the internet/network, and no-one else?

i tried looking up the manual on the cdrom and website, however, it seems their version of the program is different from mine, and i can't understand enough of it to apply it to my version.

please help!


Hi,

I am no expert here ... but let me try based on my experience with my Linksys setup. You may need to refer to your dlink manual for correct setup procedure.

There are many ways to set this up. Let me start with the simplest and basically you can stack the methods up.

1. The simplest is to disable your router's broadcast of your SSID.

2. Next, you can enable wireless MAC Address filtering at your router, setting to "Permit only PC/laptops listed to access the wireless network" What this does is your router will only accept communication with the MAC Address of your laptops. All other MAC addresses will be denied.

3. Then if you wish you can turn on encription like WPA Preshared Key or WEP, which is much more complicated.

Good luck!
 

Royce said:
SSID and MAC filter can be hacked. Best security is WPA with a very long random key.

Yes, thanks.

The simpler method the method, the easier it is to be hacked ... but then again, a hacker will find a way in no matter what.

Best is to keep changing the keys regularly.
 

catseye said:
Yes, thanks.

The simpler method the method, the easier it is to be hacked ... but then again, a hacker will find a way in no matter what.

Best is to keep changing the keys regularly.
Patience of the hacker pays off no doubt...I change my SSID and WEP keys every month...:devil: :devil:
 

catseye said:
Yes, thanks.

The simpler method the method, the easier it is to be hacked ... but then again, a hacker will find a way in no matter what.

Best is to keep changing the keys regularly.

Ok I am a total wireles virgin but I do recall some reports saying that the speed of the network is dependant on the number of networks using the same frequency - so a regular frequency scan may also be in the cards. The wireless net system is supposed to scan if other networks share the same frequecny and if so the validation of whose signal to accept as a valid member of the network takes longer the more network share the same frequency. Ok after having said this can any more experienced network users comment - I should be picking up the Dlink offer set by next week if SingTel does not relaunch the ibook offer.
 

Wah did not know that MAC filtering can be hacked.

If the hacker got no access to the network in the first place how is he going to hack it?

Been depending only on MAC filtering.
 

catseye said:
Yes, thanks.

The simpler method the method, the easier it is to be hacked ... but then again, a hacker will find a way in no matter what.

Best is to keep changing the keys regularly.
Not so sure about that. WEP definitely, but for WPA with high bit strength key, never heard of it being cracked (hence why WPA is the recommended encryption method now).
 

+evenstar said:
Patience of the hacker pays off no doubt...I change my SSID and WEP keys every month...:devil: :devil:

WEP can be cracked in less than 3 days :bsmilie:
 

gah! i need someone who is using the same system as me to walk me through the MAC access list thing...

i managed to get hold of the MAC address of one of the laptop (the other one will be wired via ethernet), and i tried to add it into the list... but it doesn't seem to add.:dunno:

(edit)

oops paiseh!! i used firefox, that's why cannot. then i switched to internet explorer to enable the list.
 

ellery said:
Ok I am a total wireles virgin but I do recall some reports saying that the speed of the network is dependant on the number of networks using the same frequency - so a regular frequency scan may also be in the cards. The wireless net system is supposed to scan if other networks share the same frequecny and if so the validation of whose signal to accept as a valid member of the network takes longer the more network share the same frequency. Ok after having said this can any more experienced network users comment - I should be picking up the Dlink offer set by next week if SingTel does not relaunch the ibook offer.


... usually, a router has a few frequency channels, so you should set to the least used channel. The speed of the network is also pretty much dependent on the signal strength.
 

Stereobox said:
gah! i need someone who is using the same system as me to walk me through the MAC access list thing...

i managed to get hold of the MAC address of one of the laptop (the other one will be wired via ethernet), and i tried to add it into the list... but it doesn't seem to add.:dunno:
Considering that it can be hacked, it's more trouble than it's worth. You're better off just using WPA with a very long random key.
 

ellery said:
Ok I am a total wireles virgin but I do recall some reports saying that the speed of the network is dependant on the number of networks using the same frequency - so a regular frequency scan may also be in the cards. The wireless net system is supposed to scan if other networks share the same frequecny and if so the validation of whose signal to accept as a valid member of the network takes longer the more network share the same frequency. Ok after having said this can any more experienced network users comment - I should be picking up the Dlink offer set by next week if SingTel does not relaunch the ibook offer.

that's called co-channel interference... just use a different freq channel to aviod this problem. simply do a scan of your area and use a channel no one uses.
 

catseye said:
Hi,

I am no expert here ... but let me try based on my experience with my Linksys setup. You may need to refer to your dlink manual for correct setup procedure.

There are many ways to set this up. Let me start with the simplest and basically you can stack the methods up.

1. The simplest is to disable your router's broadcast of your SSID.

2. Next, you can enable wireless MAC Address filtering at your router, setting to "Permit only PC/laptops listed to access the wireless network" What this does is your router will only accept communication with the MAC Address of your laptops. All other MAC addresses will be denied.

3. Then if you wish you can turn on encription like WPA Preshared Key or WEP, which is much more complicated.

Good luck!


i enabled the mac access list, added the other laptop's mac and i enabled 'hidden ssid'.

then i enabled my main laptop wireless and i'm still able to detect and connect to the network:dunno:

anyone who is familiar with this particular d-link system?
 

Stereobox said:
i enabled the mac access list, added the other laptop's mac and i enabled 'hidden ssid'.

then i enabled my main laptop wireless and i'm still able to detect and connect to the network:dunno:

anyone who is familiar with this particular d-link system?
Maybe if you had connected to the wireless network previously, the profile was saved on the notebook. So as it already knew the SSID, it was able to detect the network after SSID broadcast was disabled.

Not sure about MAC filter - on my router, you need to both add the address the the MAC list and then chose the option to only allow what's in the list. If you don't do the second one, adding to the list has no effect. Maybe just check again.

(but seriously you should just worry about WPA and forget the others).
 

if i don't enable the wpa ... does that mean hackers are able to view the contents of my laptops?
 

catseye said:
Yes, if the hackers do managed to get into your network... no matter the encription type you have turned on.

how do i prevent them from getting on the network?

really a noob here..:sweat:
 

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