wireless questions

[redsss]

I just got a wireless router (Netgear MR814v3) and have some questions:

1) What is the procedure to enable WEP? Do I enable it on for the wireless NIC first or the access point? Do I copy the values of all 4 keys from one to the other? The docs are very vague on this...

2) I am able to restrict access by mac address, but I'm curious, if I restrict access to one mac address, and I trade that computer for another computer (forgetting to update the access list first), is there a way to gain access to the router setup utility via wireless?

 

[MaxPipeline]

1) You need to enable WEP on both the access point and the wireless NIC. It really doesn't matter which you do first. But if you are trying to configure your router using the wireless NIC (NOT recommended) then it would make more sense to configure the router first because if you configured the NIC first you will instantly lose connection to the router and will not be able to reach it unless you turned WEP back off. But again, this is NOT recommended. It is always better to configure your router via your PC's ethernet port hardwired to your router via CAT5. As for configuring all 4 keys, you really only need the first key (or whichever you choose to be the default key). Your wireless NIC most likely only accepts one key as well. You should use 128bit encryption which has better security.

2) Assuming you trade your PC but keep the wireless card, then you will not need to update your access list. The MAC address is specific to each network adaptor whether it is wireless or wired. It is not specific to your PC per se. So unless you trade your wireless NIC along with your PC, you should be OK. But again, this should be a non-issue if you configure your router using the ethernet port. The access list only affects wireless users, not wired users.