wifi question

[greploco]

anyone running wifi?

I just set it up. there is a security protocol called "WEP" where you select an encryption type

does turning on "WEP" slow down the network speed appreciably?

[Mighty Max]

nope. The amount of data transfered is still the same. It uses a constant non changing key ...

[Quede]

Originally posted by greploco
anyone running wifi?

I just set it up. there is a security protocol called "WEP" where you select an encryption type

does turning on "WEP" slow down the network speed appreciably?

I just recently threw a Linksys WAP11 on my home network
and a cheap card for my notebook. I enabled 128bit WEP
and see no performance difference then when it was disabled.

It worked rather well, I am posting this off it now.

[Nidhogg]

I just set up WiFi in my house. I have a laptop and a Pocket PC that are both WiFi enabled. My recommendations are:

1) Turn off SSID announcement. This means that someone scanning for hotspots won't be told your SSID. No SSID, no leaching of your bandwidth.

2) Set up 128 bit WEP encryption. It doesn't slow your link down and it stops packet sniffers in their tracks. If you have the kit, go for something even heavier such as LEAP encryption which effectively changes the WEP keys every 30 seconds or so. Make sure you enter the same keys into each device or you'll find you can't connect. A sure sign of this is if you get a perfect signal but the router doesn't assign your device an IP (assuming you have a DHCP-enabled router).

3) If you're using a mobile device, turn the power-save option off if you lose your connection on a regular basis.

4) If you're connecting to a wireless router then make sure you've set up your connection as "Infrastructure" and not "Ad Hoc".

5) Make sure you change the default SSID that comes with your router. Everyone tries NETGEAR or whatever as a first guess when hacking. ;)

6) Leaving the link rate on auto is usually the best thing to do

7) If you're leaving your router connected 24/7, either disable remote administration or change the default password. Otherwise anyone will be able to connect to your router over the net and screw around with all your settings. Not A Good Thing.

Hope that helps.

N

[greploco]

yay! an excellent intro to wifi, thanks much for intel.

[Scikar]

What's latency like on a wireless network? I may be receiving broadband through one in the near future.