wireless networking n00b

[Maverick2002]

Ok I'm a little behind the times. We have a cable modem here in the basement hooked up to one machine and another PC upstairs (directly about the basement room where the first PC is) that I want to have net access as well. Obviously the solution is wireless. Can anyone point me in the right direction in terms of standard (802.11b,a,g,what?), price (preferably under $100 for modem and 1 client card), and brand/model name. I'm going to be purchasing a new HDD from newegg also so if there's something good on there I'll just get that. Also, how hackable would one of these setups be and what kind of signal deterioration (if any) can be expected from a ceiling?

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Hi Mikhail ! 😀 ...g standard is backwards compatible..people seem to like Linksysd products..but there was discontinued/clearance deals on Microsoft products for very cheap..gl 🙂 ..p.s. wrong forum 😛😉

 

[Maverick2002]

Oops sorry. So I'm guessing I should just pick up the cheapest wap/client card made by Linksys with g compatability? I'm still curious about performance issues.

 

[nboy22]

G works at 54 mbps, of course, this is only probably if you are in the same room as the wireless router/access point. Super G works at 108 mbps or so, but again, probably in the same room. You'll never really get the full performance through walls and such, but g is a good product if you are going through many walls. G has the longest range, b has a little bit smaller range. A I believe is bluetooth, which only works in very close range. to keep up with the times, I would suggest getting a G network. it will probably cost more than a hundred though unless you get a cheapo router/card.

 

[Mokmo418]

802.11A is not bluetooth
the difference is that it works at a higher frequency spectrum (5.8GHz) But has a lot less range. Useful if used in a room with multiple computers (A access points can usually support a lot more users thant their b/g counterpart)

 

[n0cmonkey]

802.11b is the easiest to get working with *nix operating systems (*BSD/Linux). Don't know if that is a consideration for you or not though. 🙂

 

[sharq]

You could also drill a hole in the floor/ceiling and run an ethernet cable to a standard wired only router. You won't have to worry about security or speed on your lan. (This is only if you can do that).

 

[JackMDS]

May be this can Help: Wireless What Should I Get?

:sun:

 

[sjgmoney]

Go to your local CompUSA (if their is one near) or comparable and look for deals. I bought a Dlink wireless G router and NIC combo with rebates that cost me a total of $80 I think. A few weeks later I was there and I think they had a special on a Linksys Combo.

 

[Matt84]

Get a bundle, that would be your best bet. A celling shouldn't b to much trouble. My 11b+ network goes through two solid brick walls with still good signal rating.

Security is a big issue.

Enable WEP or WPA if your device supports it. I only have experience with WEP and use the highest level of encryption (mine is 256bit) and use random alpha numeric keys. Don't use any works or anything obvious.

Just because you enable WEP or WPA, it doesn't mean your network is secure. WEP in particular can be easily cracked if the hackers are determined enough. You should also disable SSID broadcast and change it to something other than "default."

You should also set up MAC filtering to only allow NICs with MAC addresses entered into the router configuration by you. This will mean that only your network cards can access your network.

You should also set up yor DHCP IP range to match the number of computers you have connected to the network. If in the event a hacker clones one of your MAC addresses, and all your computers are connected to the network at the time, the routers DHCP server will not assign him an IP thus preventing him from accessing your network. (unless he assigns himself a valid static IP)

You can then go one step further and configure the DHCP server to assign a static IP based upon the MAC address of the NICs known to the router. In this case, if the hacker clones a valid MAC address, he will only be able to use 1 valid static IP address and the chances are that it will already be taken by the real machine with the MAC address that was cloned, causing and IP conflict with the end result in denying him any access to your network. Just note that the machine that had its NIC MAC cloned in this case would also possibily not be able to access the network during the hack attempt due to the IP conflict.

Note that these are worst case scenarios and they are not likely to happen often, if at all. But if you want a half decently secured wireless network then the above will work quite nicely.