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Originally Posted by Cynthetiq
question about that Martian...
if all that is going over the wifi is gaming information how important is the security? thus if it's just the PS3 that is on there, the WEP/WPA degredation of signal (which IMO equals speed to most degrees) what harm is there in leaving it open?
so you can MAC filter so no one is squatting on your connection, but is it really any big deal that someone sees you're playing GTA4 or Wii Sports
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The problem is that most folk don't segregate their network to that extent. MAC filtering is possible, but it's not 100% secure, since MAC addresses can be spoofed, and if someone does gain access to your network they can give you all kinds of grief without even necessarily requiring access to your sensitive information.
The strongest security for wireless is a network running WPA-PSK with MAC filtering and SSID broadcast disabled. These are also the most hassle to set up. A good middle ground is to simply enable WPA-PSK and use that. WEP is better than nothing, but WPA is better than WEP.
Encryption doesn't necessarily degrade the signal. It does cause the signal to be a bit more sensitive to interference and may cause an increase in lag, depending on the quality of the hardware. 2-Wire doesn't have the best reputation so there may be issues, but if it were me I'd rather play it safe.
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Originally Posted by MontanaXVI
I may be mistaken, but that is probably just a generic error code that the PS3 gives when encountering any online errors.
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A Google search indicates that the error is specific to DNS issues. I'm unfamiliar with PS3 networking hardware, so I don't know exactly how one goes about setting it up, but it should be possible to use the router as a DNS server, which will allow the router to in turn use it's default. The addresses I provided should also work, however.
Given that DNS is unavailable, unless the PS3 connects to the service via a pre-stored IP (which is unlikely), I'm guessing that there is no access at all.
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Originally Posted by MontanaXVI
Chiming in, we also don't know if the entire network in use is secured with WEP, or is the PS3 the only thing running wireless? I personally have my PC hardwired, with my PS3 and both laptops on the WLAN.
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Most wireless routers don't give the option to selectively encrypt; thus, either the entire wireless network is secured or it isn't (excepting one using multiple access points, but that goes beyond the scope of this discussion I think). If we use the lock analogy, WEP is like cheap department store lock, WPA is like a deadbolt and an unsecured network is like leaving the door wide open.
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Originally Posted by Cynthetiq
I have a Tivo on wifi, it's really the only thing that is on wifi so do I really have to concern myself about the fact that someone will see that Tivo updates daily and they can see what the updates are... that's what made me think of this same scenario, if it's just for the PS3, what's the advantage?
in my home it's a disadvantage because the cinder block/concrete construction degrade the signal to 30% so transfering to another Tivo takes hours...at 70% with no security it's almost real time.
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Assuming that your Tivo is able to access the internet and thus is part of your wider home network, this is a major security vulnerability. Nobody's going to be interested in accessing your Tivo, that much is probably true; however, if your router is broadcasting it's SSID and is not using encryption then it is possible to gain access to the router and through it the rest of your network. Depending on your setup this could equate to anything from gaining access to your PC, to key-stroke captures, to even getting you in trouble with the law.
Wireless networks should always be encrypted. Even if it's just WEP to keep the honest folk honest, that's still better than nothing.
Where I'm sitting right now, I am able to access four wireless networks. Three are using WEP encryption, which means that it could take me upwards of fifteen minutes to gain access if I were so inclined. The other one is open. This is a home PC with no unreasonable modifications. I've considered doing a bit of wardriving to see how secure the rest of my town is, but I don't have a laptop at the moment to do it with; on the other hand, I do know people who do this as a hobby. If your network is unsecured there could be people gaining unauthorized access to it as we speak. Most folk think of this as a bad thing.