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Even if they don't, the SSID can be found and the router cracked.

One way to prevent connecting to hidden SSID is to limit which MAC address can connect to the router and have a strong encyption set up (WAP, WEP, etc key).

More details to get you started: http://www.practicallynetworked.com/support/wireless_secure.htm

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/support/wirele ss_secure.htm
Securing your Wireless Network
Secure Your LAN
LAN Security Threats

LAN Security Tools

Wireless Networking Security

These days wireless networking products are so ubiquitous and inexpensive that just about anyone can set up a WLAN in a matter of minutes with less than $100 worth of equipment. This widespread use of wireless networks means that there may be dozens of potential network intruders lurking within range of your home or office WLAN.

What can I do?

Most WLAN

It should, of course, be noted that this is really only the case in XP, while running in the default user configuration. Want Windows 2000-style user configuration / login?

Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Local Users and Groups

Or, alternatively, for the actual old Control Panel dialog:

Start -> Run -> control userpasswords2

Want to access the (much more powerful) ACL-based File Sharing and Security from 2000 rather than the simple one presented by default in XP? You need Pro, but:

My Computer -> Tools -> Folder Options -> View -> Uncheck "Use Simple File Sharing (Recommended)".

Unfortunately if you have XP Home, you can (apparently) only get the advanced Security tab when booted into Safe Mode.

So yeah, it should be possible to do things as an unprivileged user. Microsoft just made it really obscure in XP. Windows 2000 (and 2003) has been running unprivileged users for ages.

Here's some more info about accessing Win2K-style Security controls in XP Pro.

Thank you for your message.

The Comcast @Home product is, and has always been, designated as a residential service and does not allow the use of commercial applications. A VPN or Virtual Private Network is primarily used to connect Internet users to her or his work LAN from an Internet access point.

High traffic telecommuting while utilizing a VPN can adversely affect the condition of the network while disrupting the connection of our regular residential subscribers.

To accommodate the needs of our customers who do choose to operate VPN, Comcast offers the Comcast @Home Professional product. @Home Pro is designed to meet the needs of the ever growing population of small office/home office customers and telecommuters that need to take advantage of protocols such as VPN. This product will cost $95 per month, and afford you with standards which differ from the standard residential product.

If you're interested in upgrading your current Comcast @Home service to Comcast @Home Pro, please e-mail your name, address, and phone number to: sales@comcastpc.com. Prior to Sept 15th, you will be contacted by one of our Comcast @Home Pro representatives to discuss upgrading from your current Comcast @Home residential service.

While VPN is not a prohibited use of the @Home Pro product, Comcast does not provide support for VPN technology. All inquiries regarding VPN should be directed toward your company's network administrator.

Currently, the Comcast @Work commercial services do provide VPN support. If your company pays for your internet service, or if you would like to use supported VPN or IP tunneling, please contact our commercial services at 888-638-4338 or visit www.comcastwork.com.

If there is anything else we can help you with, please contact us. Thank you for choosing Comcast@Home.

Steve Comcast@Home Email Response Specialist

Stop talking about this like it has anything to do with video. This has nothing to do with video, and everything to do with them turning off telecommuting (indeed, any encrypted communication) by default.

It's definitely there on my XP Pro Box at work! I think it's there by default on Domain Member computers - but hidden by default on Workgroup computers.

Anyway, you need to turn off "Simple File Sharing" - see this page.

(XP Home only supports Simple, 2K3 only supports "full", XP Pro can do either.) That whole article walks you through the whole process.

It's definitely there on my XP Pro Box at work! I think it's there by default on Domain Member computers - but hidden by default on Workgroup computers.

Anyway, you need to turn off "Simple File Sharing" - see this page.

(XP Home only supports Simple, 2K3 only supports "full", XP Pro can do either.) That whole article walks you through the whole process.

"I bet with Windows, I can add my friend's music collection to my playlist! Oh... DRM."
If you can't afford the songs, then you don't really want them, do you? Borrow an album, sure, but do you think fair use should really include "permanently borrowing" thousands of songs?

"I bet I can create a wireless network without an access point! Oh... Need Linux for that."
Linux and roughly twenty pages of howtos. Which wireless cards work with which distros? Oops, I meant which revisions of which wireless cards works with which distros?

I really wish I could use some sort of "wizard" in XP to "share" my connection. Oh wait, I can.

"I can't even change the MAC address on my ethernet cards."
Gosh, I wish there was an item for around $100 or so that allowed me to "route" all of this "internet" traffic. Guess I'll just have to read the howtos and learn how to use all the unix commands.

"And my sound card skips and crackles, because it's older and not well supported. Same with my old video card, damn. No solution except to downgrade to Windows 98, huh?"
I would have tried downloading drivers, but you sound like you've got better ideas.

"To install a sound card: plug it in, hope it works, swear if it doesn't."
It sure is easier to look for modules, compile them, and then add them to the kernel, isn't it?

"Then buy a new card, but be sure to buy a brand name card, or the drivers will suck."
Gosh, you're right. I've never heard of anyone trying to make sure pieces of hardware worked with linux.

"I think I'll write some software!"
I do it every day, honest. Oh wait, I'm 95% of computer users. I don't think I write software, do I?

This site was pretty helpful a few years ago when I first got dsl and wanted to split it between 2 computers. They seem to have good howtos for most basic situations, though it's mostly windows oriented.

routergod has an interesting approach to explaining somewhat complex concepts to non-technical people.

Anyone spot any instructions on getting a Unixish tftp to do whatever authentication is necessary to update?

tftp address of router
tftp> mode binary
tftp> put code.bin
tftp> quit

After you're done, reset your password.

Obvious once someone else points it out.

By the way, this is a real issue, contrary to what a lot of the posters on this thread seem to think - the best explanation of the "key index" I have found is in the PDF file at http://www.practicallynetworked.com/downloads/Othe r/tb-027.pdf

firewall. I'm sure that would be one of the first few things you want to do in your library. Also check out this site for a lot more info on which hardware to choose, how to set it up, etc.

Hi. I'm too damn lazy to even bother doing the most basic of research. Can somebody do it for me? Thanks."

The SMC Barricade (SMC7004AWBR) has a 3 port, 100Mbps switch, an 802.11 access point, a print server that provides SMB and an lpr spool, can connect to an ethernet network or use an analog modem when you move off-campus. It's around $150.

Better yet, go here and make your own decision.

WAP11 tuning can (and should) be done a bit more carefully than just opening up the SNMP utility and typing '80' in all the boxes.

Looking at different values and monitoring with wlanexpert I see that on my WAP11s, near the factory setting the adjustment is very sensitive (i.e. small change in CR31 = large change in signal strength). The 20-30 values around it (maybe something like B0-C8 on the AP I have been testing) account for about 7-8dBm of difference.

CR31 settings outside this range have much less effect on signal strength - perhaps 1-2dBm.

I would be interested to know how clean the output is when the amplifier is set to the lowest amount (i.e. highest CR31 value) for the maximum signal strength measured.

I assume that above this value there will be a lot of distortion. (I'm not an RF engineer and would appreciate comments from anyone who is, but I assume it is similar to audio amplification - if so, imagine you have an amplifier and the inputs are turned up much louder than can be handled - the output doesn't get louder, it just gets more and more distorted. I assume that the situation here is similar.)

The question I would like to have answered is, at this value, is there still a serious amount of power into the sidebands? (Answering this requires access to a spectrum analyser - so this is just a question not a suggestion! Still, setting like this is at least not likely to cause worse problems than setting at 80, and isn't going to reduce the range).

Values below 80 react quite strangely, I didn't test very much since I found many values reducing power below the card's sensitivity (so I had to run up and down several flights of stairs to reset CR31 from the wired lan, which was very good exercise!). So...

People who want to reduce the power output to the minimum, possibly to keep the footprint of their WLAN as low as possible maybe to avoid interfering with neighbours, or so that passers-by are less likely to stumble across it, should definitely try different values below 80 as well as above 80 - at least on my boxes <80 is not a mirror of >80. (and use carefully positioned carefully chosen antennas, turn off SSID broadcasts, enable WEP, etc.)

I hope that everybody noted their default settings before modifying CR31 ;-) My two boxes (bought at the same time) came set to ...

c7-c7-c7-c7-c5-c3-c1-c1-bf-bf-bf-bf-bf-be
c7-c7-c7-c7-c7-c5-c3-c3-c1-c1-c1-c1-c1-c1

So this definitely seems to be done per-unit and not per-batch. (And, these are different to figures I've seen quoted in mailing list posts).

Presumably they are factory-tuned for the best trade-off between good range and a clean signal, without putting too much power into the sidebands, and probably with a safety margin so that this remains true while the unit ages and if it's operated in different temperatures (electronic components are not at exactly the rated value, they are usually within a certain tolerance, the software setting is to account for this - in other designs this might be done using, for example, variable resistors). And obviously the factory settings will be tuned to ensure that the unit is within FCC limits (for example, ensuring that transmissions stay within the ISM band so you're not broadcasting into licensed bands without a license, which you might be if you adjust CR31 without testing with proper equipment or filtering to remove out-of-band transmissions).

you are completely clueless, so I would try not to be such an ass while showing how stupid you are, it is amazed that you can type a full sentance. He is refering to these these from 3com infact there is an entire group of comapanies that really tried to make it work, but it didnt so much fly with the consumer..its called HomePNA

How to set up a network at home: MIT guide with Linux focus.

World of Windows Networking: If Windows networking is screwing up (as it often does), go here.

homePCnetwork forum: Configuration questions answered, mostly by guy who runs the forum.

Technocopia: Overview articles on home networking.

Grant's Closet: Home LAN wiring.

Steve DeRose's guide: CAT5 wiring.

Telecom wiring: links to HOWTO and info articles on wiring.

If you are planning on having multiple people running networked games in your house, I would recommend caution when thinking about a hardware router. For example, Linksys (among others) has problems when two people in a household play Q3 and want to connect to the same remote gameserver. As was said before, PracticallyNetworked.com is a good place to investigate before buying.

Alternatively, an old Mac IIcx makes a great router. Two NICs and a video card, old 20mb drive, IPNetrouter software, and there you go! Pretty much unhackable, because with System 7.5.5, you can't even address the Mac's file sharing via tcp/ip. I've got just such a beast running our office because our Linksys died. And I'm really cheap.

I've been using a Netgear RT314 for almost a year now and it works great. NAT features, port-range forwarding, etc. It doesn't have a "true" firewall but the NAT does offer some protection.

I'd recommend getting the FR314 that has firewall capabilities. Check out Practically Networked for reviews on hundreds of models.

For information and reviews of some of these items, try SpeedGuide.net or Practically Networked.

Just Call me Mr. Been There, done that...

I previously had a netgear rt311 on my network in my apartment at school..and when I graduated, I decided I wanted a wireless router, since I've got a couple of laptops, and my girlfriend has one as well. I looked at all the wireless offerings, and it came down to the D-link and the SMC..they're made by the same manufacturer..but the SMC has both a lifetime warranty and mac address restriction of the wireless network.

In one $200 box, I get:
o wireless access point supporting, i believe, 255 users.
o 3 port 10/100 switched hub, plus the wan port.
o firewall/router with plenty of configurability
o print server, which works in both linux and windows.

the administration interface is easy to use, can keep pretty good logs if you want, and allows for the network to be buttoned up pretty tight.

it'll even hook up to a modem via a serial port, if you want to share a modem connection..

here's a review at practicallynetworked:

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/reviews/smc700 4awbr.asp

As another poster has pointed out www.practicallynetworked.com
is a great source of information for these boxes.

Subsolar

Practically Networked
All kinds of good information and reviews on exactly what you're looking for.

This Practically Networked article has a review of a bunch of products like the mine, and they list it as their favorite. Could be cool for college students with ethernet jacks everywhere.

Another piece of equipment that may be worth examining is the Linksys BEFW11S4 (AKA EtherFast Wireless AP + Cable/DSL Router 4port Switch). It basically takes the WAP11 and adds DHCP, firewall, and routing capabilities, as well as functioning as a 4 port 10/100 switch. I haven't used one of these, but the reviews are quite promising, and the current street cost is only about $20-30 over the price of the WAP11.

An interesting review of the BEFW11S4 can be found here.

I'm not sure as to what kinds of devices like this are available from other vendors (this is the one I stumbled over when looking at networking hardware for my dorm room, and I haven't had time for further research), but the integration of so many features into one unit is very nice for situations where space is an issue.

Tim Higgins rocks! www.practicallynetworked.com is, IMHO, the best site for SOHO networking info.

practicallynetworked.com offers tons of help, reviews, and suggestions.

Sure, it looks like an iMac turd, but it's a slick little device that not only provides wireless bridging to the wired network, but also automatically does network address translation for the wireless devices. It will even offer DHCP / NAT for the wired machines, and manage your dialup for you (it has an integrated 56k modem).

So, on DSL/Cable setups that share a single IP, it frees up whatver machine was forced to do IPmasq. And over a shared dialup, you no longer have to have anybody running diald.

It only costs $300, which isn't that much more than what you'd pay for a small home router anyway, and of course it also gives you wireless access (compatible with 802.11b products). I get excellent reception throughout my entire 3-story house, including the basement.

Best of all, you don't have to have a Mac (or Windows) to use it... there's a java-based configurator.

So far there are no products with a 100 Mbps link to the WAN, but as others have pointed out, the 'net will have to get a whole lot faster before it will make any difference to your access speed.