Setting up home wireless network
 

So, I'm taking the plunge and have ordered cable internet service.

I bought a cable modem and wireless router at Best Buy. The router is a Netgear WGR614.

My reading of the set-up material is that I need to have one computer conected to calbe modem and then to the router by ethernet cable. Is this so for all wireless routers?

I had envisioned having the cable modem connected by cable to the router, and then that the router would broadcast to all three computers in the household. Can this be done with some routers?

Thanks for any help.

Best wishes,

Teacher49

I have a Siemens router and the setup is as you describe above with cable modem connected to the router by cable and the router then broadcasting to all wireless computers (as well as a couple of computers wired to the same router).

Exactly. Your new wireless router should have at least 2 or 3 "wired" jacks in the back to connect to PC's that are sitting in close proximity. Even those can be done wirelessly, your option (but then of course you'd need to have a wireless card or adaptor for each PC accessing the router wirelessly)

incoming cable
|
! coax cable
|
cable modem
|
| ethernet cable
|
wan port \
---------WGR614 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz wireless computers
Lan ports /
| | |
wired computers (if any)


You do need to connect a notebook or another computer to a LAN port on the router to configure it initially. You can't do that using wireless. The instructions are pretty clear. You just connect to it using your web browser and typing in http://192.168.0.1 which is the default IP address for the LAN side of the router.

The router has a 'wizard' interface (via the web browser) which is usually good enough for configuring it. If you need to choose a WEP key for your wireless encryption, there's an online wep key generator that you can use to generate a random key: http://www.andrewscompanies.com/tools/wep.asp

You'll need to record the WEP key somewhere and use it on the router's wireless configuration page and on each computer with a wireless interface. A USB flash drive comes in handy for that.

Don't forget to change the default password on your router.

-David

Thanks, all, for the confirmation. I was hoping it was just for set-up, but that was not clear. The difference to me is that I want to put the router on the middle floor of a 3 floor house - two computers on the lower floor and one on the upper, but no computer on the middle floor itself.

David, I will keep your post handy for the tips on WEP and as a reminder to change the password.

Best wishes,

Teacher49

Newer wireless routers should support the more secure WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access). Use that instead of WEP.

Also, change the network name (SSID) to something incomprehensible (I just use a random sequence of letters and numbers) and set the router so that it does not broadcast the SSID. This makes it more difficult for outsiders to find your network, but comes at the cost of you having to manually enter the SSID on your other computers which you will connect wirelessly to your network (though you'd only need to do this the first time).

One last point, remember to change your WEP/WPA passkey, SSID, and Administrator password periodically. (I should follow my own advice!)

FewMiles..

SSID broadcasting can't be turned off on some models, so you might also consider restricting the network to certain MAP addresses you have selected.

FWIW, we have our wireless router in the basement and have no problems connecting all over the house, even at the other end of the building. I guess ideally you would place it in the attic, but the reality is that you might be very happy with a down-and-dirty installation in your basement right beside your circuit breaker box (where there is probably also a couple of power outlets).

Good luck.
Rita

The best physical location of the wireless gateway changes depending on what kind of antenna it has. Different antennas have differently shaped areas of space that they cover. The type of antenna on the box that you purchased looks like it transmits a signal up and around it, and not so much down. So, if you put it in the basement, it would give you good coverage for the 3 levels. If you put it on the middle level you would probably want to have the antenna parallel to the floor to get good coverage both above and below, and if you put it on the top level, you'll probably want to have the antenna pointing down.

These links might be helpful:

http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/n101318.asp
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials...le.php/1144391

The connection is only needed for setup. You may find that the coverage you get is pretty decent no matter where in the house you locate the router. I much prefer having one machine wired to it this way you can set it up and change settings much easier then if you disable all the wireless connections or whatever by mistake.

I love my wireless network. I've had to switch channels a couple of times because I was getting some interference from other networks in the neighbourhood. I work from my home office half time and I love sitting out on the deck and working. Unfortunately, that's not often enough in this neck of the woods. :)

nice fast easy security
 

this is a nice and fast easy security. MAC address spoofing is certainly possible, but most people will move on.

This also keeps speed at max, WIFI WPA will slow things down a bit.

remember though, there are differance between ACCESS And ENCRYPTION. MAC address filtering just keeps people OFF your network and usually then OFF our WAN and LAN. Good stuff,

ENCRYPTION scrambles the data traveling THROUGH THE AIR and thus makes it more difficult for anyone to SEE what you are trafficing (passwords, email, etc) and keeps your data secure.

So, if ACCESS restriction is paramount, then MAC address filtering is fine, simple and fast.

If DATA INTEGRITY is paramount, then you have to go WPA or some other airborne security and encryption route

You're welcome :)

My router is in an inaccessable location. (That's where the prior owner had it, and that's where I put mine.) I have nothing hardwired to it either.

-David

I actually used to just not broadcast the SSID as my only security, which worked fine until a couple of guests were unable to connect to the network without having it broadcast.

So, now I broadcast it, but turned on MAC address filtering.

By no means flawless, but it's not like they couldn't get all my porn online themselves anyway. :)

You've got yourself a very good router ! I had a couple of older routers but recently bought the WGR614v4. This one is much better that the previous. It is far more stable and the transmision speed looks better. you only need to attach a computer (by wire) for the router's setup process and to change any settings afterwards. After the extremely easy set-up process you can have ALL your computers wireless.
Just one recommendation: check from time to time for firmware upgrades for the router.
Enjoy !
Nick :cool:

A few points.

It is trivial to spoof a MAC address, as it is trivial to see a non-broadcast SSID, as it is trivial to crack a WEP key, even if it is 128bit. What you can do is MAC address combined with a unique key to limit access. Or just use WPA which gives you encryption too. Newer kit will support WPA2 (or 802.11i, or AES) which is far more secure and doesn't have a performance hit. It is best to use WPA or WPA2 with 802.1x security rather than pre-shared keys. Windows Server 2000 or 2003 comes free with an 802.1x authentication server and it can be linked to the MS Active Directory.

I could go on and on, but I won't. ;)

A few more points: Trival perhaps, but someone will have to be determined to do so, i.e., your next door neighbor (unless a total hacker/geek) won't be doing it just to steal your bandwidth.


Setting up an authentication server for a home network is not advised (nor is AD domain security, stick with workgroup mode). Doubly-so for someone new to all this and asking questions.

There's a very well written high-level overview of wireless security at IBM's PC Institute, look for course TXW15, and ignore the slides unique to IBM products.

Ah, JT you beat me to it!!

Trivial, yes the technique is fairly simple for the informed, but for the non tech geek, or heavy tech user, this is not something that someone is going to easily stumble upon, or even read a user group and perform. Sniffing the address is one thing, and implimenting it as a spoof another. We sometimes forget the nature of the things which we DO Do, on a daily basis and often consider them rather simple and/or trivial.

Remember, many many MILLIONS of people continued for YEARS to have 12:00 displayed on their VCR's, never to be able to program them ONCE. So much so, that ATT had a special 800# just for getting the accurate time. Regardless of time of day, or HOUR called in it continue to tell callers that the accurate VCR time for programming was:

12:00!!! 12:00!!! 12:00!!!

As long as stimply isn't your neighbor, spoofing the MAC address is not going to be a relevant threat, IMHO.

Now, for someone living down on University and 10th, in NYC, lookout. I have sniffed peoples addresses, to gain "very short and benign" access to wireless internet just to get my mail or buy a ticket online, only to find a few moments later someone trying to HACK into my laptop.

All I can say for those users is, AIRSNARE alerts are a life saver.

This is a point well taken. As they say in the techno-thriller spy novels and movies, adjust your defenses according to the threat.

In the case of someone living in a suburban home, with a wide open lawn and neighboring houses separated by a hundred feet or so, an attacker will need to park on your street in front of your house, or in your driveway, and be there for say six to 12 hours collecting your WiFi signals. Then he will have to analyze the data to get your encryption keys (assuming WEP encryption). Then he'd have to come back again just to use what he found out. Now what sane person would do that just to steal your bandwidth?

In a more dense urban environment, NYC, or any multi-story condo or apartment building for example, signals travel say 200 ft. So a neighbor above, beside or below can detect your signals in the comfort of his home (the SSID beacon, but that is the purpose of a beacon, to id that a network is present). If your network is open and unencrypted, it will be easy to use bandwidth. In this case, use the highest level of encryption your hardware and software can mutually accomodate, or that you can comfortably understand and setup. In increasing order of lowest to highest: None; MAC filtering; WEP; WPA with key authentication; WPA with AES encryption (this is a fed. govt. standard, neither the feds nor foreign govts. will be able to decipher the signals between your laptop and your router).

I'd stick "Turn off SSID Broadcast" in between NONE and MAC Filtering, just as another hassle someone would have to work around. If they don't easilly SEE it in the list of available open or secure networks, they are less likely to try to address or hack it.

Not quite true. In fact I know people who don't have a clue how it actually works, but they can easily crack a WEP key. How? Just by running a simple script that they found with Google. And you can either buy or download for free wifi sniffing tools that will show you the SSID even if it is not broadcast. You don't have to be a hacker/geek at all anymore. You just have to want to do it and spend a little time and you will find it is easy to steal bandwidth or snoop other peoples data on WiFi networks that don't use WPA or WPA2.

sounds like
 

sounds like "determined" to me.
:-)

I'll believe that when I see it.

Thanks for posting this.
Question: Can the wireless computers in your configuration "connect" to each other?
Like on my mini "ethernet-LAN": Disk C on PC "B" is "mounted" as disk F on PC "A". And how about "remote" printing?
Thanks.

yes, and yes maybe
 

yes, once sharing is enabled on the network, (via the computers themselves actually) then they can "connect" to each other, mount drives, etc.

Printing is the same, but a printer has to be connected to one of the computers (preferably a wired LAN one) and that computer has to be one.

That is why, it is nice to get a wireless router, AP with a printer port, thereby eliminating the need to have a computer connect to a printer, and most importantly ALWAYS ON!.

Enable this printer for network printing is fairly trivial, and detailed in MSFT help and support within the basis of XP home and pro.

The router is also a switch, so yes, it will route anything within your local network back out to the right port. I had a WGT624 and it initially had some problems routing from the wired side to the wireless side, but it was eventually fixed with a firmware upgrade from netgear. (This was a long time ago, so no need to worry about it now.)

For printing, I ended up buying a wired netgear parallel port print server for my old HP4P printer. You just plug it into the parallel port and plug a network cable into the other side of it to your network. It gets an IP address, then from any computer you can just add the printer using a network port. The windows thing works too, but it's a pain in the neck. (at least it is for me.)

-David

Great information on this thread. Thanks to all for contributing. As the naive OP, I will have to take the whole thing step by step in order to have perspective on that myriad suggestions. This thread will be a great reference.

Best wishes,

Teacher49

nmenaker and LIH Prem:

Thanks!!! ^ That means, that I can do what I do today without the cable!
I assume the the APPLE AirPort Express would be a good device for the printer (and more):

yes it would
 

however, the AE IMHO is not worth the 2-3 times the price of a very good 802.11g router. The WGT624 mentioned above is a very nice product, available this WE for 39.99, I actually got mine for 25$ after rebate.

I think he meant for the printer.

Do you already have the AE? It would work for a USB printer.

But that may or may not be the best configuration for you. You might just try the microsoft printer sharing, and then you don't need another device.

I have my router in an inaccessible location. My notebook has built-in wireless in another location. The family desktop computer in the living room, with a wireless bridge connected to it. In my office I have a bunch of desktop computers and the printers. In the office I have a 10/100 switch connected to a wireless bridge. So all the computers and the printer in my office are using wired ethernet to the 10/100 switch and the 10/100 switch is connected to the wireless bridge.

Netgear mini-print server (parallel port to wired ethernet)

Netgear 802.11g wireless bridge

Netgear 10/100 8 port switch

I went with the switch/bridge since none of the desktops had wireless cards but they all had ethernet. The alternative would have been to add wireless cards to each of the four desktops in the office, or just go for the switch and the bridge, which is more flexible for me. (easy to add more devices and/or another switch if necessary.)

In the family room, I had a usb wireless device, but that computer only supported usb 1.x, so it was fairly slow, so I spent the extra money and put a bridge in there as well. With the bridge, you connect wired ethernet to the bridge (after configuring it) and you're done. Bridges aren't volume devices for them, so they are relatively expensive compared to the deals you can get on everything else.

I'm pretty sure somebody like d-link makes a wireless usb print server if you want to go that route. Nothing wrong with d-link. Many people prefer it to netgear.

The best place to start is to plan out your entire network. Once you've done that, then you can pick the gear. The building blocks are the router, bridges, switches, wireless cards, wireless usb devices, wireless pc cards, print servers, etc.

-David

D-link 802.11b/g wireless print server for usb printers.

http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=1&pid=313

It's almost as expensive as the Airport Express. (I only looked at the link to amazon.com .. might be cheaper elsewhere.)

-David

Yes, I did!
Next, this device is so small that can take it with me.
Thanks again for all advice ... ^

Yep, it's a nice device. I have one too. :)

-David

the device is nice
 

the device is nice
 

AE is defintly a nice device, but mine actually sits in the drawer replaced by the SMC travel device. I like it a bit better since I didnt' really use the USB port, and I like the fact that the SMC device will actually act as a wireless "repeater" whereas the AE will not.

I like that I can extend a wireless network, wherever I am with the SMC, whereas the Apple AE only works as a connected AP.

Now my problem (not just wireless, but related). I recently bougyt a netgear router (wireless) as well as Vonage. My DSL modem is a "Zoom" and when I hook everything up, nothing works properly (or at all)!! I know what the problem is, but not how to solve it. The Zoom modem is also a router and has a firewall, port forwarding, etc. So does the Netgear router. I need to shut off all the router functions in the Modem, but have no idea how to do it. Any ideas anyone?

bridge
 

so, you want to most likely setup the modem in BRIDGE mode. check either manufacturer site, or your providor, like SBC, or Covad, etc. Look for settings that will let you turn the modem into simply a BRIDGE.

Ultimatly, there is an access key for the modem, accessed over a basal IP address like 192.168.0.1 or something. then, one turns it to bridge, and then puts all the access settings into the Router. for Authentications, access, DHCP, etc.

You should be able to just tell them the SSID and they put it in ;)

Easier than having to add their MAC address

Thanks Jan. I know haw to get "into" the control panel for the modem. The problem is that I don't see any "bridge" option. My provider is Turk Telekom (remember, I'm not in Kansas over here) and dealing with them is impossible. Is there something else that "bridge" could be called (for example prot forwarding is called "virtual server" in my controls)?

The only thing I see on the bridge site is a "half bridge" that only allows access from one computer?? What should I do?

well
 

well, the "half bridge" might work, allow ONE ip address for the router to then server as DCHP. You know, you WILL only get ONE IP from your providor, NOT multiples. The Router/AP will be server MULTIPLE addresses to the wireless and wired computers that are attached.

I would give the bridge a try, you can always back out, can't you?