Why you should Enable WEP

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rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
can someone sniff a MAC address out if the PCCard isn't in use ? Only the WAP is on... and it's looking for a specific MAC address... is anything broadcast out so people can sniff the MAC address anyway ?
 

dderidex

Platinum Member
Mar 13, 2001
2,732
0
0
Originally posted by: Attrox
The problem with WEP is it usually lowers the quality of your wireless connection and the range as well. It sucks to share wireless within 2 stories house. So I only turn on MAC filtering and disable ssid broadcast. I'm not too paranoid to think someone will drive around my neighborhood looking for free wireless.

Yeah, I was going to say - what's all this talk of security? All it does is limit the broadcast range to be near useless.

I'm using a Netgear WGR-614, wireless G- and B-, and my wife has a laptop that support wireless-G. It connects at 54mbps anywhere in the house just fine, but if I turn on 64-bit WEP, suddenly the kitchen and bedroom are at the edge of the range (sometimes works, sometime doesn't). And if I turn on 128-bit WEp, it's same room only, as soon as she walks out the door, the connection drops. Even in the best case, out in the yard - or on the deck - is always out of range.

It's only a 1600 sq. ft. single story house! How on earth are you guys connecting from the NEIGHBORS?!
 

Scarpozzi

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
26,392
1,780
126
My sister does the same thing... She uses her neighbor's bandwidth...she told me that it works out for the best because there are some areas in the house that get interference from other equipment... ;)

I definitely have it enabled here...I didn't before I got broadband.
 

flexy

Diamond Member
Sep 28, 2001
8,464
155
106
Originally posted by: dderidex
Originally posted by: Attrox
The problem with WEP is it usually lowers the quality of your wireless connection and the range as well. It sucks to share wireless within 2 stories house. So I only turn on MAC filtering and disable ssid broadcast. I'm not too paranoid to think someone will drive around my neighborhood looking for free wireless.

Yeah, I was going to say - what's all this talk of security? All it does is limit the broadcast range to be near useless.

I'm using a Netgear WGR-614, wireless G- and B-, and my wife has a laptop that support wireless-G. It connects at 54mbps anywhere in the house just fine, but if I turn on 64-bit WEP, suddenly the kitchen and bedroom are at the edge of the range (sometimes works, sometime doesn't). And if I turn on 128-bit WEp, it's same room only, as soon as she walks out the door, the connection drops. Even in the best case, out in the yard - or on the deck - is always out of range.

It's only a 1600 sq. ft. single story house! How on earth are you guys connecting from the NEIGHBORS?!

must be a sh!tty router....the first thing i did was enabling WEP 128bit on my linksys wrtg54G....and the connection is excellent throughout the house. I even limited the signal strength to 23mw (using hyperwrt firmware)...never had any problems with connection drops or whatsoever.
 

hx009

Senior member
Nov 26, 1999
989
0
0
Originally posted by: mordantmonkey
Originally posted by: KeyserSoze


Yeah, it was something like that. But the reason that I remember was that since NetBeui was it's own protocol in itself, and NOT TCP/IP, that it couldn't be transferred over the web? Or something like that. I really need to do some more reading. I've only been getting into this lately since I went wireless at my house.

KeyserSoze

i remember doing that on my machines sometime ago. somthing about severing the communication between tcp/ip and netbeui or netbios. this is what i'm talking about http://grc.com/su-bondage.htm anyone know if this is true for XP as well?

NetBEUI is "it's own protocol". It is whats called a non-routable protocol and no, it can't be routed over the Internet (not in the typical sense to my knowledge). What that means is while with TCP/IP Computer A can send a packet out to Computer B, and along the way, any switching/routing equipment will know "ok, computer B is on this port, forward the packet there". With NetBEUI, Computer A says "here, I have a packet for Computer B", and any switching equipment would say "hell, I don't know where Computer B is" and broadcasts the packet to every port on the switch. In any case, I don't even think XP lets you use NetBEUI as a protocol anymore? I just tried to add it on my copy of XP Pro here, and it's not an option under Install -> Protocol -> Add. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
 

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
91
netbeui is the easiest way to get working file/print sharing....seems to be less finicky with xp
 

Shawn

Lifer
Apr 20, 2003
32,236
53
91
Originally posted by: MBony
Can someone answer this question pertaining to wireless router SSID's. Which brand defaults the SSID to 'default'?

d-link
 

SagaLore

Elite Member
Dec 18, 2001
24,036
21
81
Originally posted by: hx009
NetBEUI is "it's own protocol". It is whats called a non-routable protocol and no, it can't be routed over the Internet (not in the typical sense to my knowledge). What that means is while with TCP/IP Computer A can send a packet out to Computer B, and along the way, any switching/routing equipment will know "ok, computer B is on this port, forward the packet there". With NetBEUI, Computer A says "here, I have a packet for Computer B", and any switching equipment would say "hell, I don't know where Computer B is" and broadcasts the packet to every port on the switch. In any case, I don't even think XP lets you use NetBEUI as a protocol anymore? I just tried to add it on my copy of XP Pro here, and it's not an option under Install -> Protocol -> Add. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Go into your Internet Protocal (TCP/IP) properties, Advanced, WINS, and select "Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP".
 

Aves

Lifer
Feb 7, 2001
12,232
30
101
I just got a laptop and was suprised to see 4 unsecured wireless networks in my apartment building. On all 4 I was able get into their routers because they were set to the default login.

I bought myself a Linksys WRT54G and I'm running WPA+AES, custom SSID with broadcast disabled, AP Isolation, MAC & IP filtering and only 1 IP in my DHCP scope. I'm sure that someone who is determined to get in could do it but I feel pretty safe at this point.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
126
Originally posted by: MrChad
I had WPA-PSK configured on my Linksys WRT54G, but I had to downgrade to WEP when I set up a Linksys WPRT54UG print server (which, while 802.11g, only supports WEP :confused: ). I'm hoping that Linksys decides to update the print server firmware so that it can use WPA.
No chance. They don't engineer those devices, they buy them from cheap, unknown, far-east OEMs, and then just rebadge them and ship them in their "distinctive" plastic shells. If LinkSys suddenly introduces a new model (WPRT54UGv2 or such) that supports WPA, you can be sure that it's either a new, upgraded model from their OEM, or a totally different product from a totally different OEM. Either way, the odds of you getting a firmware update for the older model to support WPA would be slim to none.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
126
Originally posted by: SagaLore
Go into your Internet Protocal (TCP/IP) properties, Advanced, WINS, and select "Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP".

Just a warning - beware! - I always used to disable that setting, by default, for PCs that were only going to be internet-connected, and not file-sharing over a LAN... well, as it turns out, some system-level component associated with NetBEUI and Windows' File-Sharing, is also necessary for the proper functionality of MS's PocketPC link-up/sync software, even if it uses a USB cradle and not an ethernet jack or serial port. Don't ask me why, but I found out the hard way that this is true. So now I leave it enabled.