OT setting up a wireless network

I have a wired broadband connection with one computer connected to it. I want to be able connect a laptop and a desktop wirelessly to share the existing broad band connection.


what do i need?

here is what i have in mind..

wireless PCI desktop card http://www.simply.co.uk/productinfor...CARD/index.htm

wireless PC card for laptop http://www.simply.co.uk/productinfor...PTOR/index.htm

DSL/Cable Gateway Router
http://www.simply.co.uk/productinfor...UTER/index.htm

is this all i need to get me started...?

have a look at the router i have posted. Does this fulfull my requirements..

if i am barking up the wrong tree then please pull me down and point me to the correct tree..

many, many thanks..
MP

That would do it. If your planning on leaving the DSL modem (or whatever your broadband box is) and the gateway/router at the primary desktop location, you can skip the wireless network card for the PC and just plug it in to the router wired. If your concerned about security or filtering your internet content though you would be better of getting a more advanced router which uses network address translation or packet inspection as well as filtering options that can act as a firewall or even a print server.

Have fun.

cheers david, i a not too concerned abot parental controls or anything like that but i must admit, i read a similar thread on here recenely (possible newsgroup topic) that discussed how easy it was for people on a nearby wireless network to hack in and use your bandwidth...i.e. to log onto your internet account using thier network..

how easy would this be?

There are 2 ways to handle that. The first is to use WEP encryption. This is a fancy term which means security for wireless networks. All devices on your wireless network must have the same 4 keys set as their WEP encryption. Other devices outside your wireless network that do not know your WEP encryption keys will not be able to log onto your network. The data that you transmit on the network is also encrypted protecting things like credit card numbers. Its not fool proof, but will restrict the non-hackers. It will stop the typical neighbor who sees your network from being able to access it. As far as the data protection goes though its basically useless, as anyone who is going to the trouble of intercepting your wireless traffic to decode it to get at your data will likely know how to defeat the encryption as well.

The 2nd is to use MAC address filtering. A MAC address is like an ID for each network card and they are unique. You basically tell the router to only allow access to MAC addresses of your machines. This is a much higher level security for logging on to your network to use your bandwidth, but it does nothing for interception and security of your data.

I good gateway/router will have software which lets you set all of this up easily. Mine will show me the MAC adresses of all machines on the network and I simply enter them into a list of allowed machines and your done. Unless you change a network card, the MAC addresses stay the same. The WEP encryption is a little more complicated as you have to set the keys on the router and then go around to each computer and set the same keys up on those machines.

I use both, because I first was using WEP encryption and then added the MAC filtering later. Make sure the one you are buying will allow MAC filtering. I wouldn't be too alarmed about the data security, as anyone trying to intercept it is going to have to be very close and go to a lot of trouble to get at it.

By the way the MAC filtering is not wireless specific, it works for all machines attached to your router whether wired or wireless.

Use MAC filtering and turn off SSID broadcast. If you turn off the broadcast, the hackers won't know you're there. MAC filtering can be a bit tedious to set up, as you have to copy the MAC addresses of all devices you want on the WLAN, but it's relatively foolproof.

I did a study for my company on WLAN operation, and found that WEP encryption can be cracked in 1 to 18 hours, depending on how busy the network is. There are several open source programs that start capturing packets from your wireless LAN, and crack the encryption when enough packets have been captured.

This is the wrong thing to be posting on a cycling website
I will have you reported for this

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if you see me on the road i am the one passing you

kestel Talon trek fuel 90
waiting for the heckler full XT

Are you serious? WTF? This is the Bike Cafe, isn't it? Topics here don't have to be bicycling specific everytime do they??

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Waterboy

willie henry is an angry little user, best ignored....he's harmless enough and the mods will ignore his pathetic request also, guaranteed.

cheers for the response guys, i know this was off topic (hence the OT warning on the topic) but you have given me excellent advice.

cheers
MP.

Shut up, Mountain Pro!!!

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Ciocc 7005 with Colnago Carbon Fork and Ultegra 10

Is that you in the picture you have under your user name

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Ciocc 7005 with Colnago Carbon Fork and Ultegra 10

you should check ur existing laptop to make sure u dont already have a wireless adapter, i know mine has one built in.

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chill man, its a general forum, take it easy

i took the cheaper option and bought an Thinkpad without built in wireless capability (they wanted an extra £80 for a built in one)...its only £20 for a wireless adaptor though.

sorted. cheers man.

i am confued, you tell me to shut up then you ask me a question.

Of course it is me in the photo, why would i put a pic of someone else in there?