Gone wireless

[spear]

Gerday all.

Just doing a little test.

I wandered into my local electronics store yesterday and picked up a wireless router so I can run my laptop as well as my PC.

I managed to get it all hooked up, and am now submitting via the laptop.

Might be old hat to some of you younger guys, but for me this is good stuff.

Now the pillion can't complain that I'm on-line when she goes to bed.

I CAN TAKE THE VENTURE FORUM TO BED AS WELL.:Im not listening to:rotfl::rotfl:

[Maritimer]

I had to get a router as well this Xmas. I bought the wife a laptop and the grand kids are now equiped with a Wii and playing online games. Gotta keep up with technology

[Pilot]

Gerday all.

Just doing a little test.

I wandered into my local electronics store yesterday and picked up a wireless router so I can run my laptop as well as my PC.

I managed to get it all hooked up, and am now submitting via the laptop.

Might be old hat to some of you younger guys, but for me this is good stuff.

Now the pillion can't complain that I'm on-line when she goes to bed.

I CAN TAKE THE VENTURE FORUM TO BED AS WELL.:Im not listening to:rotfl::rotfl:

 

I remember the good old days when you went to the library if you wanted to know something.

[Chinto]

Unless you live way out in the country with no one around for miles make sure you set up the higher level of security on your wireless router. If you live in an urban setting chances are good you'll have uninvited quests on your network. The out of the box router security is mostly off for easy setup. Once you are hooked up and running you should turn on the security function of the router.

 

The link below better explains what I am trying to point out.

 

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/bowman_03july28.mspx

 

The wireless set up is definitely cool but it opens up a security risk if you do not take this issue into account.

[timgray]

Actually that's a bit over the top. wireless does not travel far un assisted. if you have at least 100 feet to the neighbors you can leave it wide open, they would have to be standing in your lawn to get a signal. If you want to check, wander around your yard with the laptop looking at signal strength. Brick homes eat up the signal faster than the fake brick we have now.

 

Also the security is there to keep kids and freeloader neighbors out. It cant keep out a determined person. set it for WEP with a key and call it good if you're paraniod.

 

Finally, even living miles from anyone will not keep it safe. I can pull in a wireless signal and get internet from 5 miles away using the old 3' satellite dish setup I built. works great camping. I set it up and point it at the campground clubhose that has free internet, and now I have internet at the campsite. I have been able to grab the clubhouse signal from nearly 2 miles through trees. But then I'm considered one of those determined experts I warned about earlier. I used to beam free internet to a neighbor across the lake with the Dish setup back 8 years ago.

 

Basically, if you live with people on top of you (the tiny city lots) get it set up for security. if you live in the country or have a large lot, dont sweat it.

[Chinto]

Actually that's a bit over the top. wireless does not travel far un assisted. if you have at least 100 feet to the neighbors you can leave it wide open, they would have to be standing in your lawn to get a signal. If you want to check, wander around your yard with the laptop looking at signal strength. Brick homes eat up the signal faster than the fake brick we have now.

 

Also the security is there to keep kids and freeloader neighbors out. It cant keep out a determined person. set it for WEP with a key and call it good if you're paraniod.

 

Finally, even living miles from anyone will not keep it safe. I can pull in a wireless signal and get internet from 5 miles away using the old 3' satellite dish setup I built. works great camping. I set it up and point it at the campground clubhose that has free internet, and now I have internet at the campsite. I have been able to grab the clubhouse signal from nearly 2 miles through trees. But then I'm considered one of those determined experts I warned about earlier. I used to beam free internet to a neighbor across the lake with the Dish setup back 8 years ago.

 

Basically, if you live with people on top of you (the tiny city lots) get it set up for security. if you live in the country or have a large lot, dont sweat it.

 

 

Exactly, what I said.

 

In my subdivision all the lots are half to three quarter acre sizes and I can log onto 3 different neighbors networks from my recliner because none of them have set up the WPA protocol. The WPA protocol requires you to know my passcode setting to get on. If I use a 15 character alpha numeric sequence, good luck with figuring it out. With digital signals one bar strength is all you need. I think leaving your network unsecured is the same as leaving your bike's keys in the ignition while parked at the mall. Maybe it will still be there when you get back. Yes I know they can lift it onto a trail but that is a lot more work than simply driving it away don't you think?

[Maritimer]

Well, my buddy and I made a WiFi booster that can reach nearly 10 miles. He lives on a bay and he can easily reach the 10 miles across. I only get around 12 more entry points strong enough just in my neighbourhood and I live in the country (because of the vegetation.)

 

Don't believe for a minute that you are procted just because you are in the country.

Edited January 15, 2009 by Maritimer

[pegscraper]

Okay, how would one go about building a wifi signal booster?

[Maritimer]

Mine was based on this design. If you google for it you will find all sorts of model to make. Some simple, others a bit more difficult. They are all directional.

http://consumerist.com/assets/resources/2007/04/The%20Government.jpg

 

But I didn't have this type of strainer so I used a large flour sifter. I placed mine on a tripod so I can direct it to what ever direction. Works great. Even in the basement on my PC I can still catch a dozen or so. Upstairs on the laptop I get a few more.

 

A booster is nothing more then some kind of parabolic contraption that can gather signal and direct it to your WiFi adaptor. The larger the parabolic contraption, the stronger the signal you will get and more entry points you will have access to.

 

Not much good while in your car though LOL

 

For more like this, you can google "DIY WiFi booster" or search instructables.com. That is where I got the instctuctions for the one above and adapted it to the material I had available.

 

Cheers

Edited January 16, 2009 by Maritimer

[pegscraper]

There are a lot of things I don't understand about computers. I don't know what I'm looking at there. What is that stick? Is that an airport of some sort, or is it the kind of thing that is available through cell phone companies for internet service? The airport card in our laptop is an internal thing. I don't know how I could fab up such a "dish" for this.

 

It was said earlier that with digital signals, one bar of signal strength is all that is needed. So does connection speed vary at all with signal strength, or do you have maximum connection speed with just one bar?

[Squeeze]

There are a lot of things I don't understand about computers. I don't know what I'm looking at there. What is that stick? Is that an airport of some sort, or is it the kind of thing that is available through cell phone companies for internet service? The airport card in our laptop is an internal thing. I don't know how I could fab up such a "dish" for this.

 

It was said earlier that with digital signals, one bar of signal strength is all that is needed. So does connection speed vary at all with signal strength, or do you have maximum connection speed with just one bar?

 

Lynn this is WiFi Stick for connecting the WiFi Device(the Stick) via USB Port to the Computer. This Setup with a USB Extension Cord and Thing makes up a basic Parabolic Antenna. This boosts the availble Range for the WiFi Signal. This won't work with a integrated WiFi Antenna.

[pegscraper]

So is this wifi device the same thing as what is offered by cell phone companies, or are they different? The case looks similar. They both plug into a USB port. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they operate the same.

 

This "dish" boosts the available range or signal strength. Does boosting the signal strength increase the connection speed at all, or does that stay the same?

[Guest tx2sturgis]

This "dish" boosts the available range or signal strength. Does boosting the signal strength increase the connection speed at all, or does that stay the same?

 

In theory and in practical use, stronger signal normally means a faster connection, (up to a point) because of fewer 'retries' of the digital data packets. As signal strength deteriorates, the wireless units must resend the same digital packets more often, because of higher noise levels relative to the desired signal. This causes a slowdown in the effective throughput. In other words, the pages take longer to load, and long downloads can grind to a halt.

[pegscraper]

I see. Thanks. I was always more of a gearhead than a computer geek.