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What wireless router to get?

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GGKoul:
My set up is:
Microsoft Wireless G Base Station
2 - Linksys Wireless G PCI cards
1 - Linksys Wireless G Game Adapter (for PS2)
1 - Linksys Wireless B Media Adapter

Everything works get and I had no issues with the Microsoft Base Station and the Linksys cards.  In fact, the MS Base Station even improved the speed of my internet connection.

I went from d/l'ing speeds of @ 200kbs to @ 300-400kbs.  

So I can't complain!
-GGKoul

StephenH:
Basically it doesn't matter the brand.  Basically, what you want is to look at the standard.

802.11b is 11mb/sec and 802.11g is 54MB/sec.    All are intercompatible.

Linksys, Netgear, 3Com, Apple, D-Link, Orinoco all seem to make good wireless equipment.

maraxle:

--- Quote from: gprime on February 14, 2004, 03:19:04 pm ---
--- Quote from: maraxle on February 14, 2004, 07:26:02 am ---Just keep in mind that wireless security sucks.  Do the best you can to lock it down.  Enable WEP, lock it to just your sister's card's MAC address, change your SSID from the default to something non-obvious, and don't broadcast it.  Even then, I can park outside your house and be on your network in 5 minutes, but at least it'll be a little more challenging than how most people configure their WAPs.

--- End quote ---

LOL I highly doubt that ... come on now ... it's not THAT bad !


--- End quote ---

It is that bad.  I've seen it first-hand, though ethically I wouldn't do it myself.  I've also walked around with NetStumbler on a PDA and seen how many unprotected WAPs there are out there.  WEP itself is decent encryption (the 128-bit variety), but the implementation on most WAPs targeted at home users (read: cheap WAPs) is poor.  It uses a 24-bit initialization vector that when randomized is halfway decent.  However, most of the cheap WAPs out there use either a static or sequentially generated initialization vector, which makes cracking the key extremely easy.  

As for locking it down by MAC address, the 802.11x protocol only encrypts the actual traffic, not the header, making that ineffective as well.  All I have to do is capture a few packets of the traffic going by and I have the MAC address you're using.  Now I wait until you turn off your laptop and go to bed (or DoS you), change the MAC on my card (yes, you can do that), and I am on your network.

By the way, this is coming from the perspective of a somewhat paranoid security professional.

Frostillicus:
FWIW, I just got a Linksys WRT54G at best buy for *drum rolll* 70 bucks.  Well, after 10$ instant savings, 10% off coupon, and a 10$ soon-to-be-in-the-mail rebate :)

It's pretty nice.  It's pretty light, too. The Rampster helped me out a lot with settings (I'm a network newbie).  Anyone remember when there was a direct correlation between quality and weight? heh.

Mario:
I picked up a Netgear MR814 router from Amazon for $25 after rebate. It was at my door in 2 days. It's been working great so far. Setup was super-easy. I just plugged it in and it worked.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00006HYKM/qid=1076900021/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1_etk-pc/002-0835018-0785607?v=glance&s=electronics&n=541966

Mario

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