Planetarion Forums

Androme · 3 Jul 2004, 20:16

Well i'm thinking about how to network this when I buy a mac...

I was wondering how to set up a TCP/IP network. Should I run out a line from my D-LINK router into the AIRPORT base then use it wirelessly or will I have to use a device to make my cable modem's line split in half - one line to my D-LINK the other to an AIRPORT? Also, is it possible that I just add the AIRPORT wireless card to a ibook or powerbook and it will work with my D-LINK?

I have 2 PC desktops (one is using a wireless card the other one is hooked up directly to the router (these work on a TCP/IP network already)) and I will be adding 1 powerbook or 1 ibook.

I'm not very good with networking or hardware but if you use simple terms I'll be able to understand.

JetLinus · 4 Jul 2004, 16:22

Although I habe no idea, what the "AIRTPORT BASE" is, and if it's an accesspoint or whatever, I'd suggest to connect the D-Link router to the cable modem FIRST.
For security reasons etc. Also, how would you connect the router to the airport thingy anyway? It only works the other way round imo.

Well, so:

CableModem connected to D-Link Router
D-Link Router connected to AIRPORT thingy.
Set DHCP of the router to ACTIVATED preferrably.
Set up a filter, so that the MAC adress of the aiport thing matches, and that the router will assign a constant IP to it everytime (D-Link calls it "Static DHCP" I think).
Try your best to get everything working from there.

I'm not sure if you REALLY nead that static DHCP thing, but it's nice.

Androme · 4 Jul 2004, 17:47

Ah - thanks Jet

The Airport is something on the Mac.

flapjack · 5 Jul 2004, 12:56

if the airport thing is WiFi based, it should work with any other Wifi access point, both the 11 and the 56mbit versions.
Do however turn on WEP/WPA and you might need some programs for your mac computer in order for it to be able to communicate with the windows computers, but I don't know much about macintosh computers.

Tactitus · 5 Jul 2004, 14:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androme2

Well i'm thinking about how to network this when I buy a mac...

I was wondering how to set up a TCP/IP network. Should I run out a line from my D-LINK router into the AIRPORT base then use it wirelessly

Yes, that would work.

Quote:

or will I have to use a device to make my cable modem's line split in half - one line to my D-LINK the other to an AIRPORT? Also, is it possible that I just add the AIRPORT wireless card to a ibook or powerbook and it will work with my D-LINK?

Is your D-LINK router a wireless router? If so, yes; that would work too. You don't need to have two wireless routers.

Androme · 5 Jul 2004, 15:47

It's a wireless router yes - thanks

JetLinus · 5 Jul 2004, 16:28

Oh alright then, didn't consider this wireless router alternative... So, well. Whatever, 'nuff said.

And still: If you configure DHCP to assign certain network cards always the same "dynamic ip address", you can identify the PCs inside your network easily, and set up rules for port forwarding (needed for stuff like battle.net)

And YES, DO activate the WEP encryption, you don't want to be one of the 50% open wireless hosts, do you?

flapjack · 5 Jul 2004, 16:46

50%? lol, it's like 75% around these parts. Within 1km of where I live are at least 18 Wlans, with only 4!!! (excluding my own) protected by WEP/WPA, the others are completely open.

Oh and you can setup port forwarding with your computer name, so it doesn't matter if your IP changes.
On a small network however, you'd probably be best off manually setting your IPs and banning all other IPs from your LAN. Simple yet effective

Madina · 11 Jul 2004, 23:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetLinus

And YES, DO activate the WEP encryption, you don't want to be one of the 50% open wireless hosts, do you?

when using the WEP i couldnt get this comp to connect to my router, so what i did was set the router to only accept certain connections from specific MAC addresses - do you know if this is secure?

JetLinus · 12 Jul 2004, 00:23

Hmm, sounds ok. Although it's 2 different things: This MAC filter ensures only the authentication process, but not data integrity and sensibility.
Maybe other people could read / log your network traffic, or maybe even change it.

I have no REAL idea if potential hackers look for this sort of "security" and try to spoof MAC adresses. I mean, if they know what method you use (like I do now), they could (easily?) try to break it.

Apart from that, WEP isn't REAL security as well. I think you need to sniff some traffic (100MB? 1GB?), and analyze it, to passively get the encryption key.

Well, at least your accesspoint is not OPEN anymore, and it will certainly stop anyone else from using your internet (and see your shares hopefully). So, hmm, seems enough.

mist · 12 Jul 2004, 02:16

wep lasts about 15 minutes on 11mbit, apparently - hence the whole china demanding that anyone importing wifi stuff uses their encryption standard instead.

however, if it's going to take 15 minutes to access your wifi, as opposed to no time to access the one down the street, odds are you'll be safe

-mist

flapjack · 12 Jul 2004, 11:45

WEP 64 bits last about 15 minutes. WEP at 128 bit lasts several hours, WEP at 256 bit will last for an undetermined length of time (I have yet to get through it, using an 11mbit Wlan and a P4 2.4ghz for the cracking.)

most producers of Wlan equipments however are already featuring firmware updates to allow for WPA, which is deemed uncrackable provided you use a decently lengthy key.

Oh and for Linux computers, it's a piece of cake to fake a MAC adress and it's even easier to see exactly which MAC adresses are around, so just your MAC filtering is no garantue for anything