MahlerIsGod

Greetings Everyone,
I have a question about the possiblity of using Wi-Fi. My internet access: The house I rent in has a cable connection. That connection comes into the house via a Motorola modem and that modem is connected to a Wireless Router. My roommates and I all connect wirelessly (802.11b). If I wanted to upgrade to Wi-Fi is all I would have to do is buy a new Wi-Fi router and setup the network that way? Or do I have to connect Comcast and initiate some type of new service into the house? I apology for ignorance but this issue is rather confusing. Thanks for any help or suggestions you can offer. Thanks

__________________
"But a work of art is a conscious human effort that has to do with communication. It is that or its nothing. When an accident is applauded as a work of art, when a cult grows up around the deliciousness of inadvertent beauty, we are in the presence of the greatest decadence the West has known in its history."

Mephisto2

Hi Mahler,

I think you may be slightly confused.

WiFi is simply a marketing term coined by the WiFi Alliance (www.wifialliance.org).

WiFi is used to show interoperability in 802.11b (and 802.11a and 802.11g) networks. In other words, it is most likely that your existing 802.11b access point is already WiFi compliant. Of course, if it is an old model that was manufactured before the WiFi standard was defined, there is a slight possibility it is not.

Specifically, what make and model of wireless access point do you have?

Remember, WiFi is simply a term used to designate interoperability between 802.11a/b/g networks. so you don't need to "upgrade" to WiFi.

Feel free to ask more questions and I'll see how I can help.


Mr Mephisto

MahlerIsGod

Mephisto,
My router is a Linksys BEFW11S4 v2. Is there a way to tell if that router is Wi-Fi compatabile? Any help you can provided would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Thanks

__________________
"But a work of art is a conscious human effort that has to do with communication. It is that or its nothing. When an accident is applauded as a work of art, when a cult grows up around the deliciousness of inadvertent beauty, we are in the presence of the greatest decadence the West has known in its history."

Xepidemic

how does b and g have interoperability with a? i thought a is 5.6ghz... this is news to me.

oiekeooiyw

802.11a is in the 5GHz range. it is not compatible with 802.11b or 802.11g except if the 802.11a device is going through an access point that is 802.11a/b/g compatible and then out to an 802.11b or 802.11g device.
BEFW11S4 is a 802.11b AP/router. The data sheet on linksys.com says it's WiFi compliant. but being WiFi compliant doesn't mean much to the average user.

Mephisto2

Interoperable with each other.

IE, a WiFi 802.11b client will always work with another 802.11b WiFi compliant Access Point, even if they're from different manufacturers.




Mr Mephisto

Mephisto2

The BEFW11S4 v2 is indeed WiFi compatible.

Logon to the device via a web-browser and look at the top left of the config page. It will tell you the firmware version.

I recommend upgrading to the latest version (1.50.14) which was released in May 2004. [ftp://ftp.linksys.com/pub/network/be...0.14_code.bin] Since version 1.50 it has also supported WPA which you should be using.

WPA is WiFi Protected Access and greatly increases your security.

However I'm still confused as to why you "want to upgrade" to WiFi. Did you mean WPA?


Mr Mephisto

MahlerIsGod

I am sorry so please forgive my ignorance but I wouldn't have the first clue as how to access my router. Using a browser or otherwise.

Next, who, then, do I began "broadcasting" in Wi-Fi?

I have been using this device:
http://www.linksys.com/products/prod...id=36&prid=435

If I am Wi-Fi compliant can I simply attach this device to computer and proceed that way:
http://www.linksys.com/products/prod...id=36&prid=578

Thanks again, everyone, for the help, info and suggestions. Much appreciated.

P.S. Why Wi-Fi? Wi-Fi greater speeds and greater range of reception. I am two floors away from the router and I get, at best, 250kbs download speed. I play a lot of online games (Galaxies, WoW, etc.) and think this would help out immensely. Thanks

__________________
"But a work of art is a conscious human effort that has to do with communication. It is that or its nothing. When an accident is applauded as a work of art, when a cult grows up around the deliciousness of inadvertent beauty, we are in the presence of the greatest decadence the West has known in its history."

Dragonlich

You might want to read the manual. Most routers have a build-in webserver that allows you to change settings. It's usually located at ip address 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.2.1 - typing that into your webbrowser should allow you to access the router.

If you haven't configured your browser, chances are that the connection isn't protected against "hackers". That could mean that anyone with a wireless card could use your router to abuse your internet account.

gariig

Ok, WIFI is a marketing term, plain and simple. Like Burger King calls their burger a Whopper, it's still a burger. If you have a wireless router is the generic term (burger) and WiFi is the Whopper, just a marketing gimmick.

Now for your situation. You can try going out and buy a new 802.11g wireless router and a new wireless card that is a 802.11g card for your computer and you might get a slightly better signal. Unfortunately, it's probably not going to help out a whole lot. What I would try doing is move the router closer to you. Another option is to run a cat5 cable from the router to your computer which is the best and fastest approach but you have a cable running through your house.

Hope some this helped. Off to fix some buggy DLL at work today.

The Phenomenon

just type the IP Address of your router in your webbrowser.

That should take you to its admin/config page.

The Phenomenon

Oh and Wi-Fi will not improve latency on your network, even if it does improve download speeds.

bendsley

On Linksys equipment (and maybe others), when WPA is enabled, the power output to the antennas is lessened, therefore making the signal strength lower. I have a WRT54G and had WPA enabled, and it worked fine, but got a very low signal in my bedroom (note: I live in an apartment, so only one wall between my router and room). I disabled the WPA and enabled WEP only, and now the signal strength has significantly improved.

Also, I talked to the Linksys reps at Quakecon this past August in Dallas, TX. They told me that Linksys was going to start putting a little higher grade antennas in their wireless equipment.

Also, you might care to look at www.linksysinfo.org and www.sveasoft.com for firmware on your wireless router. Only do that at your own risk though.

__________________
"You hear the one about the fella who died, went to the pearly gates? St. Peter let him in. Sees a guy in a suit making a closing argument. Says, "Who's that?" St. Peter says, "Oh, that's God. Thinks he's Denny Crane."

Mephisto2

A nice analogy but not entirely correct. It is also an interoperability term. In other words, WiFi clients will work with WiFi access points, even if they come from different manufacturers. Of course, this only applies when we're talking about the same frequency range.

Mr Mephisto

Mephisto2

Go to Start, Run, and type "CMD" in the window that appears.

Another black "command line" Window opens.

Type "IPCONFIG" and hit return

You should get something like the following:

This means that your Access Point has given your computer the IP address 192.168.1.101

The Default Gateway is the IP address of your Access Point in this case. In other words, the Access Point has the IP address of 192.168.1.1

Note, these are the default values. It is possible that the Default Gateway IP address you show may be different from that above (but not likely).

Anyway, the next step is to open a Web browser and connect to the Access Point.

Open a standard Internet Explorer window.

In the address bar, type in "168.192.1.1" and hit enter.

A window will appear asking you for a User name and a Password.

Type in "admin" for both values (username and password) and hit enter.

Next, your Internet Explorer window will change and show you the Access Point's web-page.

Voila!! You have now logged on to your router.


In the top right hand corner, you will see what version of code you are using. With any luck it will be version 1.5 or higher. Ideally, it should be 1.50.14. I can give you step by step instructions on how to upgrade this is you want.

There are some basic security settings you should change, if you haven't done so already.


Near the top of the window, you will see a list of words in white text. They will be something along the lines of SETUP - WIRELESS - SECURITY - ACCESS RESTRICTIONS - APPLICATIONS & GAMING - ADMINISTRATION -STATUS

Click on the WIRELESS link.
Now, a "sub menu" (just below the original list of links) appears. This should show some links along the lines of Basic Wireless Settings - Wireless Security - Wireless Network Access - Advanced Wireless Security

You can now change your wireless settings.

My recommendation is that you follow these Security settings:

1 - Enable WPA if at all possible
Background
WPA (WiFi Protected Access) greatly increases WLAN security. It introduces several new enhancements, including TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) that mitigates against so-called AirSnort or Wardriving attacks, and MIC (Message Integrity Check) that protects against Man in the Middle attacks. It also increases the WEP Initialization Vector from 24bits to 48bits, which is a huge improvement, as this makes the statistical likelihood of a weak IV being captured much lower. Finally, WPA introduces a dynamic key management feature, which allows for regular and automatic regeneration of WEP keys.
Implementation
WPA for most home wireless kit will run in WPA-PSK mode. The PSK stands for Pre Shared Key. This is effectively a password that you enter in your Access Point and your client that is used to independently generate new WEP keys on a regular basis. Ensure your passphrase is at least 20 characters long!
Caveats
Not all Access Points support WPA. This is unfortunate, but is not the end of the world.



2 - Change default SSID
Background
SSID (Service Set Identifier) can be considered analogous to a network name. All Access Points come "out of the box" with a default SSID. Every hacker worth his salt will know the most common SSIDs. Common examples are "Linksys" (for Linksys kit), "Netgear" (for Netgear kit), "Tsunami" (for Cisco kit) etc.
Implementation
Change the SSID to something more appropriate to you. Your name, favourite band, pet... whatever. Just don't use the default.
Caveats
None. There is no reason this should not be done.



3 - Disable SSID Broadcast
Background
SSID (Service Set Identifier) can be considered analogous to a network name. Most Access Points "broadcast" this by default. That is, they advertise the SSID to any listening client devices. This is fine for enterprise networks or "hotspots", but there is no reason to advertise your network to your neighbours. You will know the SSID anyway (see above), so you don't need to broadcast it.
Implementation
Different for all manufactures, but it should be pretty obvious. Just look for "SSID Broadcast" and disable it.
Caveats
This should not be considered a security improvement, as it's still possible to ascertain the SSID of a network that is not broadcasting, but it IS best practice. Just do it.



4 - Enable MAC filtering
Background
All Ethernet devices, including WLAN interfaces, have a MAC address. This is a 6-byte hexadecimal address that a manufacturer assigns to the Ethernet controller for a port. MAC addresses are "lower level" that IP addresses and are used on the Data layer. You can setup your Access Point to only allow certain MAC addresses (ie, certain devices) use your WLAN. In other words, you configure it to only allow your computer (laptop, sister/brother's etc) to associate to the WLAN. This will prevent unwanted visitors from hitching a free ride...
Implementation
Search for MAC Filter in your Access Point config guide. You will have to go to each computer you will use on your WLAN and note down their MAC address. Make sure you note down the WIRELESS adaptor, and not the wired network card! It's a bit tedious (as a MAC address is a long sting of hex), but it's worth it.
Caveats
Not entirely foolproof, as experienced hackers can spoof MAC addresses. But it certainly adds greatly to security.



5 - Turn down transmit power
Background
Most Access Points can transmit at up to 100mW; some even more. Why bother covering more area that you need? There's no point is offering temptation to the people across the street, so you should turn down your transmit power to the lowest level that sufficiently covers your house/apartment.
Implementation
Different for every manufacturer. Check your user guide.
Caveats
You may need some tweaking to get it right. If you do, then congratulations. You just carried out what is called a "Site Survey" in the industry. Soon, you'll be doing this for a living!


IF YOU WANT STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR THESE, PLEASE ASK




Well, you don't broadcast WiFi. It's just a name. You're already WiFi.

Well, you could but you would not get any faster speed. The 802.11g standard is compatible with 802.11b (which is what your Access Point is using), but you won't get the higher speeds that 802.11g introduces. This is because the 802.11g adaptors "drops down" to the 802.11b speed. Effectively, you can only go as fast as the slowest part of your network.


No problem. Please continue to post and I'll continue to help if I can.

Well, the wireless network is probably not your bottle-neck. 250kbs sounds about right for an ADSL broadband connection. What kind of broadband link do you have? Have you measured the speed when you connect your laptop [i]directly[/b] to the BEFW11S4?

Please also note that WiFi does NOT offer any higher speeds or throughput than "standard" 802.11b or 802.11g or 802.11a. It's just a marketing and inter-operability term.

Hope this is of some help. Feel free to ask more questions.


Mr Mephisto