[Nottingham] Wireless routers

[ForkBombFluf]

On Fri, 21 Oct 2005, Ashley wrote:

Hi Ashley,

> At a recent meeting a wireless router was discussed that runs Linux
> and could be reprogrammed to output a higher power signal.  What make
> / model was it?

The one discussed at the meeting which the power can be increased on was 
the Linksys WRT54G, and the firmware upgrade mentioned is done by 
http://www.sveasoft.com/ though there are others avaiable 
(http://www.hyperwrt.org/ and http://www.batbox.org/wrt54g-linux.html for 
starters)

> What is the best wireless secuity setup that can be used with XP home?
> (not my choice!!!)

I believe all routers support WEP at the very least nowadays.  Obviously 
you'll want your wired network to be as secure as possible for starters. 
(Dare I utter the word IpSec? ;-)  )  Ideally you could put the wireless 
segment of your network on a different subnet from the wired machines, and 
route any traffic that needs to go between the subnets through a firewall 
so you've got control over what sort of packets can get in and out.

You can also usually tell the access point to NOT advertise its SSID, 
which should help prevent bored neighbors from accidentally running across 
it.

  > Can I block access to all but specified mac addresses?

Yes, though it is best to use encryption as well as a MAC access list.
MAC addresses are easily sniffed.  (and then clandestinely cloned!)

Cheers,

-Stef