clueless network newbie w/security ?s

I'm new to networking. This is our scenario:

1. Dell PC, XP Home, wired to Linksys router, WRT54G (for the "old folks at home")
2. Dell notebook, wireless, XP Pro (for our son; he has wi-fi at school)

1. When the router was first installed, I changed the password and changed the name of our SSID. Everything was fine until I disabled the SSID. At that point the laptop didn't seem to recognize the network. The folks at Linksys told me to change the order of preferred networks which includes removing all the networks on the laptop except for our home network. I am somewhat reluctant to do this because I don't know if it will create problems for my son when he brings his laptop back to school. Your suggestions?

2. It seems that the internet connection has been slower since we installed the router. Is this to be expected?

3. Since we won't need the wi-fi capability while my son is away at school, can the router be disabled, and if so, will it have to be reconfigured when we enable it again?

4. When I make changes to the router's security system, I'm unsure as to what needs to be done at the laptop's end to make things compatible. The Linksys website tells me how to configure the wired PC, but I'm having trouble getting information about configuring the wireless devices. Maybe someone can point me to some informative link somewhere.

Thank you!

 

You can disable the WiFi on the router, but not the router itself if you do not need the WiFi capabilities. As for not being seen, did you happen to turn off 'SSID' on the Router?

 

Yes, I purposely disabled the SSID broadcast because I under the impression that our network would be safer. But now my son's wireless laptop does not detect our network. What should I do?

 

There are several ways to do this, so this isn't the only way. I'm not concerned about hiding my wireless lan because I do want visiting guests etc to be able to log on with their laptops. I'm concerned that I have encryption enabled so no one can read my packets that are broadcast. I'm concerned about having strong password logon requirements.

By nature, any wireless or wired lan is way faster that the internet so if you have a slowdown, it's likely that you are sharing a channel with your neighbors so you might see what channel they are on and pick a different one that works for you.

Also the process of encryping and unencrypting "might" cause you do experience a very slight delay.

As far as removing the other lans around you and making your's the preferred, that "shouldn't" stop you from finding another lan that you didn't exclude when in a different location. Since your preferred lan won't be seen there, the laptop should choose another. I haven't of course tried every wireless nic on the market, I can speak only for what I have.

 

Techsalong,

Thanks for taking the time to send along all those suggestions. I'll try tinkering with it a little more.

 

I agree with techsalong.

Do you have any security set up on your connection (WEP, WPA, WPA-PSK) or MAC filtering?
If the SSID broadcast is enabled, you would still have those layers of security. How long will your son be home? If for a short period, then less risk of someone snooping out your connection if you keep the broadcast enabled.

Also, the linksys has an access restrictions page for hours of operation, if you don't want it to accept signals 24/7.

Once your son is at school, can you take the network cable straight into your PC rather than the router? (Previous setup?) Then when he comes home reconnect the router. It will keep the settings you have now.

When you originally set up the laptop to access the router, did you use the XP wireless connection wizard or what wireless NIC do you have on the laptop? Did it have a connection wizard? The settings have to be the same between the laptop and the router. (Mode, channel, security, etc.)The XP Pro is a more network-oriented than XP Home so there might be some differences there. Or did you use the desktop to set up the router?

I'm still learning about networking but I do have the Linksys router so take the information as you see fit. Hope this helps.

 

Switching Off the SSID is more of a user “Psychological Self Gimmick” and not a security feature.

Why I see Wireless connections that are not mine in my Wireless Network display?
http://www.ezlan.net/faq.html#signal

Disabling SSID, would my Wireless System be more secure?
http://www.ezlan.net/faq#ssid

A Cable/DSL Router should not slow down you Internet connection, unless MTU is not configured correctly.

As for your son Laptop.

Configuring a Laptop (or any computer) to connect to more than one Network.
http://www.ezlan.net/faq#fewtcp-ip

 

We have WEP (64/10) enabled. If I use a higher encrypt., won't that slow down my internet connection? Haven't set up MAC filters yet, but I intend to.

When we installed the router, it was quite a project. Since we couldn't connect with the default IP address, Linksys tech. support walked us through the installation manually using the PC. We didn't use any wizard or MS software to set things up. Once everything was configured with at least the default settings, the tech. rep. had my son make some settings on his laptop, but again I don't think he used a wizard. I wish I knew more to tell you about this.

I was under the (false?) impression that if I disconnected the router when it's not needed, then I would have to go through the configuration all over again which was no picnic to begin with.

How do I configure the MTU?

Thanks very much for all your helpful suggestions.

 

Hey dome,

Tighter security should not make a discernible difference.

MTU settings are on the first page of the router setup. You should have on the left side...
Internet Setup
Internet Connection Type
Optional Settings
MTU (4th down) either AUTO or Manual
Picking Manual let's you pick the size directly underneath.
I would think you need to get into the properties of the laptop's NIC to make sure they are the same. Either that or leave them both on AUTO.

The router settings stay the same. (Like BIOS settings on a computer.)
(Some net wizard is going to blow me out of the ether shortly.)

 

Well, I'm not the one to bring anyone out from under the ether. MTU settings can in fact effect transmission. However, I haven't seen a modern nic or router that didn't ship with a default of "auto." That doesn't mean they aren't out there...

Windows 2K and XP at least and maybe earlier have the ability to auto-sense the needed mtu size even at different web sites, and by default they make packet sizes that work. Setting the router or nic to "manual" defeats that. Some web sites and even other servers won't support certain mtu's, but again your machine will recognize that and adjust accordingly.

The only things that I've seen slow down a wireless network are being on the same (now crowded) channel as a bunch of other folks in the neighborhood which will for sure affect you, and I "think" I have experienced a tiny lag from WPA encryption but I've never bothered to prove it so store that in the round file.

 

I forgot one more thing and maybe there are others, but EMF from appliances, cordless phones, microwaves and even going through walls may well slow up a wireless network.

 

EMF and other interference does not slow a Wireless Network. They can though interferre on that frequency range, and cause disconnects, and packet re-transmission. As for slowing, that is not what happens, due to you cannot slow down a network by EMF.

 

Hi,

Packet damage, loss and destruction, causing re-transmission due to crc errors is in itself a slow down...

 

No, that is just loss of transmission. There is no such thing as Wireless network Slowdown. That is a user term used by those that are "ignorant" of how the technology works.

 

Well, here's what the University of North Carolina at Charlotte says about it:

"Weak signals also provide slow performance even if only one user is connected to a wireless network radio transmitter. Check the wireless client utility to ensure the signal is strong."

"Keep in mind that interference from physical objects like walls, and non physical objects like microwaves, may affect the performance. The more obstacles the signal has to travel around, the slower the connection."

http://www.labs.uncc.edu/gethelp/faq.cfm?id=97

A quick google for: "slow wireless connection" will get you more than 3 million hits on the subject.

Any time there is interference causing packet loss or damage, the receiving client has to check to find out which packets are missing, request a re-send, await the packets, and finally put it all together as usefull data. (crc)