home network on university LAN

[Spike]

ok, here is my situation... my wife and I have two computers. Her laptop which is connected wirlessly to our netgear MR814 802.11b router and my desktop which is connected via cable to that same router. We also have an old 98 laptop I am trying to connect to the network but I will continue to try and figure that one out on my own. The router is connected to the wall in our apartment which is part of the universitys network. Here is the questions...

I have two printers hooked to my desktop that I want to share with my wife but no one else on the campus. I have not secured the wirless router yet (I am not encrypting data) but I do have the router only alloying my wifes mac address to connect to it. My folders and the printers are shared but I have not enabled any passwords on them because I am not sure how to (there is no security tab on the sharing window that some help resources show so I can't enable any specific users). Will the wireless router act as a firewall so people on the networks outside my workgroup will not be able to see my shared folders and printers? Using my networks I cannot seem to find anyone else on the universitys network so I have taken that as a good sign. Thanks in advance for any help

-spike

 

[RedFox1]

You should be alright behind the router.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

I'm assuming the router is using the standard NAT translation. If so, outside requests won't make it through unless you open ports on the router.

 

[Spike]

not sure about the NAT thing as I am not very familier with network terminology. Bascially the only things I changed on the router after plugging it in was to change the log in password and lock the wireless to my wife's laptops mac address. If thats enough, then thanks for the replys

-spike

 

[jleon]

Basically, to check if you have NAT enabled, check to see if your ip address is different in range from anyone else who is not using a router in their dorm room? NAT (Network Address Translation) is basically a technique which allows you to use your own ip addressing scheme behind a firewall so that people cannot see you on the external side.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

I'd also enable WEP on the router and your wife's computer, no reason to leave that barn door open.