Router Question

[blim]

Y'know I know nothing about these gadgets.....

The Kids have a Linksys wireless router in their college apartment which has gone "back and forth" during the summer when they're home. They can keep their stuff in the apartment this summer. Thinking about buying a new router for home and leaving the router in the apartment.

Will the kids' computers recognize the new router here at home and still recognize the router at the apartment? Without a lot of hassle, just set the new guy up and we're good?

Thanks,

Liz

[Phil]

By 'recognise', I assume you mean be able to connect to the router and use it via wireless. If that is the case then they won't have any problems.

Phil

[Andro1d]

As long as they are both 802.11g for example, they will work. Same foes for a, n, etc.

[shanenin]

if they are both linksys routers, you may want to change the default "ssid". This way saved passwords won't conflict.

[blim]

Finally getting online to reply (busy, busy day) Did buy the router. It was a "wireless G" like the other router but it was a different color and shape, so likely a different model.

Got back from running errands this afternoon and Aron was already fiddling around with the new router. He ended up chatting with a Linksys Rep and seems the WPA and the WEP were so busy wanting to WUP eachother that they were too distracted to notice Aron's computer. Seems the WPA was the WUS and the router needed to be switched to WEP?? (or maybe vice-versa) SSID came into play somehow, don't ask me how, just remember seeing those initials during his conversation. Does this make sense? Heck no, it didn't make sense to me either, they're all just a glob of initials.

Anywaysssss.........after 1 1/2 hours, HIS idiotbox is now talking to the router and he can play online! Wish us luck when we connect Kate's laptop, sigh, its a Mac! It better "just work" like the commercials say!

Liz

[isteve]

You should be using WPA and not WEP. WEP is easy to hack and pretty much useless. And keep SSID broadcast on. When the Mac see the router it should just ask if you want to join the network and ask for a password. If it doesn't just click on the wifi icon in the menubar and choose the network. From then on it will just connect.

[mewi]

You should be using WPA and not WEP. WEP is easy to hack and pretty much useless. And keep SSID broadcast on. When the Mac see the router it should just ask if you want to join the network and ask for a password. If it doesn't just click on the wifi icon in the menubar and choose the network. From then on it will just connect.

On that note, please know that not all older devices support WPA, and that WEP ( while it is insecure ) has a very low chance of seeing hackers, especially in the rural areas.

WPA2-AES is probably the best available protocol, although 802.11i is generally needed ;p Nevertheless, for home networks security is still important, I'd suggest sticking with linksys as to avoid static IP problems ( if you have static IPs set that is )

To improve security with other devices, set a MAC address filter to only allow certain MAC addresses onto your router.

Edit: Didn't see the poster's last post =3

Edited May 19, 2009 by mewi

[jcl]

To improve security with other devices, set a MAC address filter to only allow certain MAC addresses onto your router.

MAC address filtering doesn't improve security. It's ridiculously easy to identify and spoof an allowed address.

[mewi]

To improve security with other devices, set a MAC address filter to only allow certain MAC addresses onto your router.

MAC address filtering doesn't improve security. It's ridiculously easy to identify and spoof an allowed address.

Of course it improves security, just because its "easy" doesn't mean it doesn't improve security.

[jcl]

Of course it improves security, just because its "easy" doesn't mean it doesn't improve security.

The probability that address filtering will prevent a network with WPA (or even WEP) enabled from being compromised is vanishingly small.

[blim]

Aron forwarded the transcript to me and yes, he needed to change the router from WPA to WEP, likely because his computer is older (bought when XP first came out)

SSID (whatever that is) IS mentioned in the transcript, so that's enabled.

And......ISteve, Kate's Mac didn't "just work" She clicked on the internet, it showed our network, (which was a step further than Aron had originally) she entered the password, the security key and a series of numbers and letters that the linksys tech gave Aron sometime in their chat and each time it said, "invalid password". Any ideas??

Liz

[shanenin]

just make sure the ssid is different on both routers. The default for a linksys is "linksys". Change it to something unique. If both routers are using the default ssid, "linksys" and different passwords, the computer will have problems connecting at both locations.

[blim]

Ah-ha! Now if this dummy knew it was OK for two routers to have the same password, I would have set it up that way! Maybe that caused the problems?? Sooooo, how does change the SSID?

EDIT!!!!! Kate just came home from work and tried to get online and THIS TIME IT WORKED!!! WTH?? I SAW her put in the password this morning twice with no luck! Anywaysssss.......babysonline, babyshappy, mom can have a beer now

Thanks y'all!!

Liz

Edited May 20, 2009 by blim

[shanenin]

their should be documentation that shows you how to log into the router and change settings. typically you will just enter in your web browser http://192.168.1.1 . You will then be prompted to enter the user name and password. Then once you are logged in the settings are easy to change.

[blim]

Oh, OK! Thanks, Shanenin. I went there and looked around to make sure the password was correct when Kate was having trouble signing in. It DID look easy to maneuver around. I'll poke around there again

Liz

[mewi]

Of course it improves security, just because its "easy" doesn't mean it doesn't improve security.

The probability that address filtering will prevent a network with WPA (or even WEP) enabled from being compromised is vanishingly small.

And I see any extra step added required for an attacker is an increased step of security. I fail to see how you cannot, and you act almost as if "hackers" are going around home networks consistently trying to break in, which to be honest is so very rare in most areas that it isn't even worth worrying about.

[MrBill]

The next thing you should do is change the ADMIN password on the router, which is default on them all to something else.

[Pete_C]

Of course it improves security, just because its "easy" doesn't mean it doesn't improve security.

The probability that address filtering will prevent a network with WPA (or even WEP) enabled from being compromised is vanishingly small.

And I see any extra step added required for an attacker is an increased step of security. I fail to see how you cannot, and you act almost as if "hackers" are going around home networks consistently trying to break in, which to be honest is so very rare in most areas that it isn't even worth worrying about.

You are correct; many people are overly paranoid about being hacked. For the most part home users are not going to be the target other than as targets to be infected to become part of a botnet; and in that case they are generally going to be infected directly when they download P2P or torrents and get an infected file.

But as Mr Bill points out , the real risk is that you do not change your default settings. If you leave the default admin and password for control of your router then a malicious site can easily use simple scripts on the page to access your router and change the dns server settings and anything else they want thus opening the unsuspecting victim to a barrage of attacks by redirecting all their traffic through infected sites which each try a different buffer overflow or zero day exploit of windows, IE, and third party software like Acrobat reader, flash player etc until one is found allowing installation of malware to make the computer part of a botnet.

Most botnets are operated by spammers to distribute untraceable spam emails; but there are some used to make targeted attacks on banking, credit card, government servers in an attempt to breach security there.

[Matt]

Unfortuantely, WPA2 has shown its vulnerabilites and can be cracked, just like any of the other security protocols. But many of these posts are good methods in connecting to your router and keeping it safe.

[jcl]

Unfortuantely, WPA2 has shown its vulnerabilites and can be cracked, just like any of the other security protocols.

Details? Quick search only turned up a relatively difficult to exploit TKIP vulnerability.

[blim]

The next thing you should do is change the ADMIN password on the router, which is default on them all to something else.

Yup, we have a password that is a series of numbers and letters that *I* wouldn't know if I hadn't written it down! Thanks, Mr Bill.

I'm with Mewi, that a hacker would be unlikely in my area. Teeny tiny town where folks don't even lock their cars or homes. Besides, there are businesses nearby that have free wireless access. Would be much easier for someone just to go to one of those places for internet access. I don't do online banking or anything like that. If someone was nosy enough to hack into our network, they would be bored to tears .

Liz

[Matt]

Unfortuantely, WPA2 has shown its vulnerabilites and can be cracked, just like any of the other security protocols.

Details? Quick search only turned up a relatively difficult to exploit TKIP vulnerability.

That was what I was referring to. But like anything else, a PSK can be brute-forced. I suppose someone could also use rainbow tables (if there are any) to accomplish a crack on the key.

[jcl]

That was what I was referring to. But like anything else, a PSK can be brute-forced. I suppose someone could also use rainbow tables (if there are any) to accomplish a crack on the key.

I used to use (pseudo-)random 63 character passwords. You'd need large tables

[Matt]

That was what I was referring to. But like anything else, a PSK can be brute-forced. I suppose someone could also use rainbow tables (if there are any) to accomplish a crack on the key.

I used to use (pseudo-)random 63 character passwords. You'd need large tables

And thats very smart, but most people don't. Also, depending on the hashing algorithm, passphrases of that size might start generating collisions? --in which case the hash could (possibly?) be found in smaller tables as a colliding passphrase.... but thats not really the point of this thread.