Wireless Network - Setup

[Murugs]

I need to setup a wireless network in my friends office.
He has a cable modem connection and 2 laptops and 3 desktops. Planning to buy a wireless router and get a wireless PC card for the laptop. Thats easy.

How do I secure the wireless network so that nearby offices/residents hack into my network or start using the internet connection.

Also my friends house is 2 miles away from the office. Can he use the office internet connection..will the wireless networks work for 2 miles.

regards
MP

 

[vipergg]

The answer is you need to setup the router with a new hard to figure out SSID , select a channel number for all your wireless nics and setup 128 bit WEP encryption . The items must match between the router and the wireless nics . The hardwired connections are not affected by this , basically they just need to be setup for dhcp and they should work . The answer to your last question is no , most wireless connections are only good for 300 -400 feet , you won't be able to connect 2 miles away unless you happen to luck out and find someones network that they didn't lockdown . ;-)

 

[lgarner]

Also, disable SSID broadcast. Otherwise, choosing a hard-to-guess one doesn't do much.

 

[Murugs]

Thanks for the answer guys.
Could you point me to some step by step link to achieve this security thing..I am having trouble understanding terms like SSID and WEP encryption..

regards
MP

 

[tharder]

Dowload a "quick start" or "user" guide from one of the manufacturer's you are looking at to buy. All the mainstream ones have "wizards" that walk you through this now. The user guide will give more indepth info, the quickstart has the 1-2-3 go method..

Depending on you friends budget, you may be able to buy a set of bridges to connect his home. On the office side, the clients would be able to connect to the local bridge unit for wireless access as well as it performing the bridge function. Your biggest obstacle for the home connection would be a line-of-site path for the radios...