Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Another IT question, re: WiFi setup and WEP

Nah, just saying I have one and like it isn't going to get me in trouble. I've been toying around the idea of picking up an iBook for a personal laptop. Maybe when the x86 switch happens. I've worked with Macs a bit but have never owned one. I helped a friend of mine build a recording studio and he uses a couple there on the digital side. It's pretty interesting. He has a Ghost board hooked up through some DAC/ADC's to a dual G5. But he also has an older board hooked up to a 2-inch 24 track. Plus a bunch of tube preamps, Echoplexes, that sort of thing. As well as the DSP gear and such. It's a great place to geek out. Anyway, I've become pretty accustomed to OSX working with him. I really do like it. Hard to stop double-clicking and right-clicking (he has a Logitech mouse). We are going to set up my M22ti's there some day to see how they work as ref monitors. He has some ancient Tannoys now.

My mac mini does duty as my kid's computer in the home theatre. Use it for Living Books CDs, my kid loves all the Little Critter ones. I also use it to edit my DV vids. iMovie, iPhoto, etc are very intuitive and easy to use. I can't say the same for Pinnacle Studio.

Latest incarnation

Peter, you can ask, but it doesn't mean I'd give an answer...

I'm a field apps engineer.

Yeah, my buddy the studio guy has a mini at home. Very cute. I'm thinking an iBook would be a great starter Mac since my desktop needs are well taken care of. I have a "server" I built that now has just over 1Tbyte of storage, a "beige box" Linux machine for most of my uses, an aluminum-cased, water-cooled, windowed, lighted Windows gaming machine I spent way too much time and money building, and enough parts and odds and ends to build probably 3 more machines. My wife has a machine I built with a very cool aluminum desktop case that fits perfectly on a shelf on her desk. Gigabit ethernet for wired connections, 802.11b/g for wireless, which includes a D-Link "media server" which streams content off of the server through my HT system. Criminy, I couldn't be more of a geek if I tried (he says as he unpacks his Motorola Razr which he begged his manager to approve, mostly because his friends already have them).

i hear ya, i'm a gadget freak too. My mini also serves as the iTunes server, since it's connected to the receiver via USB.

Razr is cool, I have a Treo 600 but I'm pining for the Razr Berry/Moto Q.

MOT Q

The thing is, I don't even like cell phones. I don't like phones in general. But if I have to have one it better have geeksappeal. I "trial-ed" the Treo 650 here for 2 weeks along with some managers to see if they would be useful. It was cool, but still a bit to large for my taste. Some of the managers and salespeople got the Treo though. I got the black Razr which looks cool next to the black iPod Nano. Nano...small...shiny...must...haaaaave!

Wow, this thread got hi-jacked pretty quick...

Back to the topic, why use WEP? I understand it encrypts your data using a set key, blah blah blah, but it also robs speed. Maybe you live in an area that has a lot of potential wi-fi "hackers" (you know, those people that have a laptop and just drive by to see where they can hop on someone's open internet link), but most of them look for the people with absolutely no protection at all to steal a link from. You can try limiting your access point to specific MAC (not Macintosh) address(es) for your wireless card(s) for yourself and anyone else using your link. The Access Point should ignor anyone else that is not in the MAC list.

Sure it isn't 100%, but neither is WEP. WEP is a LOT stronger, but again, do you REALLY need it. Just a thought, it is your setup. Do what you wish.

WPA is actually much more secure than WEP. MAC filtering is a good way to do it. War-drivers are a concern here in Portland, which is full to the brim with geeks. I don't know if OSB has these concerns. The overhead from using WEP or WPA isn't that much, maybe 1%. One concern is liability from an unauthorized user co-opting your connection for purposes such as spamming, file downloading, or child pornography. It's just better to have some security on. Now if you don't want to use encryption or MAC filtering, most AP's allow you to turn off their broadcast feature, which means the SID isn't broadcast. This makes it hard for a war-driver to connect since he needs the SID so he can associate to your AP. But he will likely know there is an AP nearby, and the proper tools can help him scavenge that SID.

From what I've heard it's pretty easy to sniff the MAC address and then spoof it. Me, I use WPA and MAC filtering at home. I run an open network (SSID Broadcase on, that is), though. Easier to troubleshoot, and SSID Broadcast disabled doesn't get you much security anyway.

It's true. If you can sniff the MAC, it's nothing to spoof one. As a matter of fact, many Windows drivers allow you to enter an alternate MAC address. If they don't, there's easy ways to do it. WPA for now is the way to go. MAC filtering is a good secondary. I don't broadcast, filter the MAC, and use WPA. WEP is almost too easy to break anymore. One word: NetStumbler.

OK, always listen to your own advice. I am a strong proponent of cut and paste, mostly because I'm too lazy to type. Plus, I don't want to risk typos. I always do this when retyping passwords.

I was setting up my WEP and copied my password onto paper. Being the genius that I am, I failed to notice that the number '8' looks too much like the capital letter 'B'.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, I'm done now. I almost chucked my desktop out the window yesterday too.