intro to "secure" wireless

****Caution, implementing this may take a long while and for the average joe or jane it is NOT worth it.....but if you dont like store bought routers then you should proceed with an Open(Source) mind and your typing fingers ready


1. first lets understand the basic concept of OpenSource routers

http://www.routergod.com/?p=44

2. next lets look at a basic layout of the system

http://www.nas.nasa.gov/Research/Tasks/Networks/Wireless/whitepaper.html

3. lastly a great article on what and how to do it

http://www.linux.com/articles/49990

4. If you actually got this far, I congratulate your big leap of creating your very own opensource router from scratch(almost)....you no longer have to worry about jimmy and sue stealing your wireless....HOORAY

 

Or buy a router that has WPA.

 

hence what I said in my ****caution statement

 

If you don't trust WPA, you can't trust Wi-fi ... or computers in general. I know the FBI and people with too much time on their hands could crack my security, but I don't spend much think thinking about it.

 

Heh. I just get a WRT54GL and put DD-WRT on it. It's much cheaper and more functional as a router than any hacked-together box, and it's still using Linux. I even have a second VLAN configured so when I decide to get a second AP again (my secondary router died) I can provide free, unencrypted wireless Internet access that doesn't even touch the physical port of my internal network, and run my secure AP with WPA. I figure it's secure enough. It even sets up computers on the VLAN in a completely different DHCP pool.

 

I never said you couldnt trust WEP...........I Just thought LINUX people in general enjoy do it yourself work that didnt include your general everyday store bought things.......

obviously I over estimated the appreciation of home oriented gateways in this forum

 

Back in the olden days, my router (wireless and wired) was an old PC that I had dedicated to that task. At the time I did it, it made sense to spend the effort on that because wireless routers were too expensive and not flexible enough for my needs and I had a PC sitting around.

Eventually, however, the technology improved to such a point that installing one's own "home-grown" router became something reserved only for special situations or people who really really want to deal with the additional maintenance required.

Er... by the way, you can't trust WEP. WEP is just too weak. WPA is a minimum nowadays.

 

What I personally like is using store-bought things to their ultimate potential. I mean, if I have to set up my PC to do wireless routing, have multiple wireless and NIC's for all my PC's, I'm gonna spend a lot more on it than I did on my WRT54GL. And it runs Linux, and does everything I need (and more!). It's not so much about just the hacking, it's about making the most out of what you have access to.