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Going wireless??

Started by Carol, February 24, 2008, 15:36 hrs

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Carol

Not sure if this is the right forum to ask this question, but I'll start it here.  We just had FIOS, fiber optics installed.  Right now the two computers are connected.  We were thinking about putting a wireless card in my computer.  We had DSL and when Christopher would come home from school he used his Mac laptop wireless with the DSL. 

My question is how safe is it for me to use wireless.  It seems like I hear that wireless is not that safe.  Or has that changed?  I know I probably haven't really asked what I need to know, but if someone could give me some opinions on wireless that would help.

Thanks in advance,
Carol
It is never too soon to do a kindness, for one never knows how soon it will be too late.

When I stand before God at the end of my life. I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, I used everything you gave me.--Erma Bombeck

Buffalo2102

Wireless is safe enough if you apply good wireless encryption (WPA, not WEP) and follow the basic rules about choosing passwords (don't use anything that could be guessed, use letters and numbers, etc.).  On top of that, use MAC address filtering if available on the wireless router.

If you Google wireless encryption there are some very good articles and guides out there. 
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Carol

Thanks, I'll get Eric to look at this info.  He is the one that suggested wireless to me, but I was worried about how secure it would be. 

Thanks, Carol
It is never too soon to do a kindness, for one never knows how soon it will be too late.

When I stand before God at the end of my life. I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, I used everything you gave me.--Erma Bombeck

scuzzy

Modern day wireless security is very good, as long as it's properly implemented. Most newer routers (from the last couple years or so) should do the job well. If you have an old router, you may need to upgrade the firmware to ensure that it has the proper encryption tools.

Regardless of how good the router's encryption tools are, it won't matter a bit if it's not properly implemented. I'll gather some advice for you later when I get some time. If you don't have a router yet, I can also give you some ideas to consider. I favor Linksys, but there are other options.
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Carol

Thanks I'd really appreciate that.  I don't know what we have as far as router.  That is pretty much Eric's department, but he knows I'm asking for advice here, and he'll look at it to get it the wireless set up.

Carol
It is never too soon to do a kindness, for one never knows how soon it will be too late.

When I stand before God at the end of my life. I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, I used everything you gave me.--Erma Bombeck

scuzzy

Carol, you'll find some helpful information in this thread.
Antec Performance TX640B Case | WinXP Pro SP3 & Win7 64-bit | Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R | Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale LGA 775 3.16GHz Dual-Core | 8GB (4x2GB) PC6400 G-Skill RAM | eVGA 7600GT 256MB PCI-E | 74GB WD Raptor SATA 16MB Cache | 74GB WD Raptor SATA 8MB Cache | 320GB Seagate Barracuda SATA 16MB Cache | External 640GB WD Caviar SATA 32MB Cache | Sony DRU-V200S DVD/RW | PC Power & Cooling Silencer 500W | Samsung SyncMaster 2494 (24") LCD Monitor | LG Flatron W2361V (23") LCD Monitor

Carol

Thanks a bunch everyone.  I will tell Eric to take a look at all this info and then we will decide.

Carol
It is never too soon to do a kindness, for one never knows how soon it will be too late.

When I stand before God at the end of my life. I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, I used everything you gave me.--Erma Bombeck