Home Wireless Network Security

Oriel

Hi Folks,
I'm thinking about installing a wireless network in my apartment to distribute my 2Mb internet connection, however I'm new to the whole experience. At the moment, the modem is behind the TV in the sitting room, with a lead running half away across the house to the computer.

Thing is - I live in an apartment complex - am I right in saying that people living in the apartments surrounding me will be able to use my internet line and try to gain access to my network?

Cheers,
S.

Chalk

buy a router that supports wpa and youll be fine.

youll have a few lads on in a minute or 2 to tell you they heard someone can crack a wireless network in 30 seconds,
but unless theres some mad hacker in your complex youll be grand,
even if there is he probably has his own internet access and has no intention of reading the emails you granny sent you about her holiday in kerry

Oriel

Thanks for that.
I take it that any basic Wireless NIC be able to handle the most of the work for a 2Mb line?


/edit. Oh, also - again I'm a complete beginner to all this.
What equipment will I need to be able to do this then?

I know I'm obviously going to need a wireless card for each machine on the network.
Where do I plug my internet line into?
Does that then have to be fed into a seperate router or something?

Cheers again.
S.

Chalk

wireless b [802.11b] is more than enough for 2mb
the max speed it can take is 11mb but with interefence etc that drops a bit.

im using 802.11b on eirocm 2mb for 2 wireless devices and thyre fine.
range is good for about 20 metres with pcmcia wireless cards.

if your plannning on having wireless lan games or filesharing locally a faster network might be neccesary [802.11g]

however a wwireless router will usually have a couple of thernet ports also, which i use when i want a game,
and an external hard drive is fine for local file sharing

seamus

Yeah, shouldn't be an issue. Any half-decent card will support WPA-PSK at least.

Plump for 54Mbps kit though (802.11g). 802.11b kit is obsolete now, and within a couple of years, the throughput of the b standard will be slower than the connections in some people's homes.

seamus

Oh, also - again I'm a complete beginner to all this.
What equipment will I need to be able to do this then?

I know I'm obviously going to need a wireless card for each machine on the network.
Where do I plug my internet line into?
Does that then have to be fed into a seperate router or something?

You'll need a wireless router, and a wireless card for each machine. Better to buy the same brand of router and card. It's not normally a problem, but many routers' guides also contain details on how to set up that manufacturer's cards.

Also depends on what type of internet connection you have. If you have ADSL, you can get a combo router/modem in one, which replaces your existing modem, or you can get a router that's DSL-compatible, and plugs into your modem.

If it's cable, you have the same options, but the combo router/modem may be a hassle because you've to register it with NTL.

Just make sure buy the correct type of router for your internet connection, and it'll be fine.

Oriel

OK so,
Am I right in saying that this Router:
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=302462&cks=PRL

and this NIC
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=301248&cks=PRL

is all that I will need, along with my usual BBand modem, to get my Desktop on a wireless LAN?

I take it it's: Wired modem ->>cable->> Wireless router ->> wireless ->> Wireless NIC

Cheers,
S.

Rew

Def get the higer speed kit (54mbs) 11b is grand but you will find it annoying the first time you go to tranasfer any large files.

What ever the rating on the box (11mb or 54 mb etc) half it and thats your real data throughput on the system. So the maximum you will get out of 11b is about 5.5Mbits/s.

Get stuff that suttports WPA as the others have said.

Rew

This is a good bundle:
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=304347&cks=PRL

Other bundles:
http://www.komplett.ie/k/kl.asp?bn=10556

seamus

sinecurea wrote:

OK so,
Am I right in saying that this Router:
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=302462&cks=PRL

and this NIC
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=301248&cks=PRL

is all that I will need, along with my usual BBand modem, to get my Desktop on a wireless LAN?

I take it it's: Wired modem ->>cable->> Wireless router ->> wireless ->> Wireless NIC

Cheers,
S.

Spot on.

Hotblack Desiato

If you have a laptop, this bundle from expansys.ie is even better - 80 euro including standard delivery, though in my case they sent it by DHL at no extra cost

(Note to linux heads - the card doesn't have a linux driver, but does work under ndiswrapper)