going wireless

Bubuwit,

By "offers his wireless hub", does that mean that you've discussed using his Internet connection via wireless? If the answer is "yes", then you have his permission to use his wireless connection. In effect, the neighbor would be the wireless provider.

If possible, you should have your neighbor, or some other person with a wireless adapter in a laptop, visit your house and see if the wireless signal coming from your neighbor's wireless hub is strong enough to make the connection feasible at the location of the 4500 in your house. Wireless is by law limited to very low power, and may simply not reach the 4500's location. Moving the 4500, or bridging the wireless signal between the two residences, might solve that problem. Bridging would require changes to your neighbor's wireless network and an additional device installed in your house, increasing the cost and complexity of the installation.

But assuming it's feasible without additional equipment, you'd need a USB wireless adapter for the 4500. I'd suggest keeping the printer connected via USB, both because of the range issue and the complexity of such a change.

Given all that, you might be better off getting your own broadband Internet connection.

Jim

Hi jimw,

I apologize for not being able to respond for awhile. Work had been so busy and I was not able to do much on this till now. I read your reply and learned more on how to approach the matter.

First, I checked with my neighbor if it was legal for me to connect through his connection and he said he made sure his plan includes that. Very important : ) Thanks for the warning.

I was going to use the pci card when I realized there may just be one slot left which I would like to use to add a second hard drive (I really don't know how to do that so I will post it in the right forum) with the intention of using that or my main drive for internet activity. I am not comfortable security-wise about this wireless thing, and I am hoping that by using a different drive, I will be less vulnerable. Does this sound so naive?

Anyway, I bought a Lynksis usb card with speedbooster at Office Depot today. It was on sale for $10 less $80 but I brought a print out off Circuit City website with $20 rebate, so OD just took $20 off to match it, no rebate hassle. Sweet.

I was guessing on the configuration, and it worked without any problem. Very nice.
This is my first wireless message.

Thanks again.

Bubuwit

Bubuwit,

That all sounds good. The special issues with wireless security relate to the fact that while a wireless network is not a direct connection to the Internet, it may be possible for unwanted "visitors" to connect to it using their own wireless equipment and your neighbor's wireless router. That places the intruder on the "inside", as far as both your and your neighbor's wireless equipment is concerned, as well as any Ethernet-connected equipment your neighbor may have.

There are two ways to address that issue. One is to help your neighbor set up the wireless network securely. Both you and your neighbor will benefit by that, since you both have the same problem regarding the wireless network - it's "semi-public", and needs to be protected against unwanted, uninvited access. That can be done using "Wi-Fi Protected Access", as explained in this PC Magazine article. The second is a step you can take yourself. You can install a software firewall on your system. There are many options. A popular one is the free version of ZoneAlarm. We haven't discussed which operating system's installed on your system, but if it's Windows XP/Service Pack 2, the firewall that's included may be adequate for your needs.

The addition of a second hard drive doesn't change things as far as wireless security is concerned. If they are both "visible" when the system is running, they are equally vulnerable - or not, depending on the machine's own firewall protection as well as the access protection afforded by the way your neighbor's access point is configured.

Jim

I see 2 SSID's - one has while the other has no security. I chose wep at set up, which as mentioned in the article was not secured at all.

My neighbor is pretty computer savvy and I'm sure he knows what he's doing. I am not in the position to ask him do something more. I'm just grateful I can enjoy dsl for now, and FOR FREE (I will try to offer to chip in, see if he'll let me).

1) I know of someone who have comcast. He has several macs and he said he has a network card for internet access and a different network card connecting his computers. He was confident they were safe (or fairly safe) from hackers. Any truth to that? That's basically what I hope to do, other than staying away from using Outlook for email that is most vulnerable to viruses, it seems like.

I have a G3 (and a Titanium G4 that needs work right now) and a Dell XP. I use the XP since it's the newest and the fastest, but when there's a virus going around with the pcs, I switch to Mac.

2) I have XP Pro and I believe I have firewall but I never had it activated. I find it such a nuisance to keep switching between security levels.

3) I guess the best way is get another computer dedicated to online activities, 'xcept can't afford it right now :( .

4) I unplug the usb connection whenever I wanted to use the computer without needing to go online. Is there a way to have a second drive and keep it invisible even if I go online on the other drive?

Thanks again, jimw.

Bubuwit

Bubuwit,

So one of the two SSIDs is the neighbor who's willing and able to share his Internet connection via wireless. You need to determine which of the two that is, and make sure you're using it. WEP isn't good security, but it has a slight advantage over no encryption - a system cannot connect to a wireless router/access point using WEP unless it either has the WEP keys or breaks the code. A little more determination is required to do either of those things! If that's your "willing" neighbor's setup, there may be a reason for it - not all devices/operating systems support WPA, for example.

It's likely that the friend with Comcast and several Macs has the one with two network interfaces in it set up as a firewall/router. Assuming that the firewall setup (on the network interface connected to the cable modem) is done reasonably, that setup would be similar to having an external router, and with more flexibility because the firewall rules can be tailored more to the needs of the site. You didn't mention whether that friend has a wireless network. If they do not, their statement is true. But if they do, the wireless access point is on the "inside" (LAN) side of their network. That setup would face the same security issues that yours does.

Regarding the XP firewall - Service Pack 2's allows more fine tuning of its settings than the one that was available previously. The free version of ZoneAlarm allows somewhat more control than the XP Service Pack 2 firewall's, and the paid versions of ZoneAlarm (and other personal firewall products) allow even more. A correctly configured personal firewall shouldn't need to be switched on and off unless your requirements are very unusual.

The addition of the Macs to the discussion adds to the complexity of your setup. If you explain how the two of them are interconnected, and how the Macs access the Internet at the present, perhaps some better suggestions about how everything should be configured and connected can be made.

Jim

Bubuwit,

You're welcome! Yep, wireless networking's fun in spite of the hazards! :)

Jim

Hi jimw,

I believe both SSIDs belong to my neighbor who's willing and able to share his Internet connection via wireless. Both are macs and I know he uses several macs. Every time I go online, I get connected to the one without lock image (Netgear, the other one has lock image). Just out of curiousity, when I first was clicking away right after configuring my wireless connection, I saw my device also listed. Now, I only see the other two (I think my neighbor turns off the secured one because it disappears.)

My friend with Comcast and several Macs has ethernet, no wireless connection. When my needs and means are up to it, I will go his route, unless I have a burning desire to stay wireless.

Thanks for the firewall info. I will check out ZoneAlarm in the near future. I will let you know then : ). It is encouraging to know it is now less of a hassle if configured correctly.

My two Macs used to be ethernet connected. I don't plan to connect the G3 and the pc for now. My two printers are usb connected to both. Thanks for mentioning the Mac. Now that I am giving up my AOL access, I should make sure I can still go online using my Mac. I will install the USB Wireless adapter as well (uh,uh - I better check the system requirements : 0), get it to work so I have back up.

I think I am all set up for now. Thank you for all the info and guidance. It is kind of neat how it is working. I might get used to wireless networking : ).

Happy camper!
Bubuwit