Wireless Networking

[Arc Lite]

I have the main ethernet wire that runs into my office coming into a switch allowing me to hook up the desktop and the laptop to the network.

Would it be possible to also have a wireless router coming off of the switch? Just not sure if that would work. Mainly want to still be able set security settings for the wireless and be able to connect wirelessly to the network from the laptop.

Thanks

[WoodenPlank]

I have the main ethernet wire that runs into my office coming into a switch allowing me to hook up the desktop and the laptop to the network.

Would it be possible to also have a wireless router coming off of the switch? Just not sure if that would work. Mainly want to still be able set security settings for the wireless and be able to connect wirelessly to the network from the laptop.

Thanks

You need a wireless access point, not a router. Most routers, however, can have the routing functions disabled, thereby turning them into an outright access point. If this is on a corporate-style network, however, you may or may not be able to get an access point functioning. If this is in a home network, or in a small business that has a plain off the shelf router set up, then you can probably do so no problem.

[Arc Lite]

Thanks.

It is a business. More like a small business. We are a small local / county government office with no IT staff. (prior to me starting here last here most things were contracted out). I've been trying to do more IT stuff to save this office money. I'm pretty much a one-person department that has an office in the Assessor's office just because there is room. And I think they pretty much have an off the shelf set up.

I'm not an idiot, but I know little about networking compared to most other stuff. I'm pretty sure they would be fine with me putting the access point where ever it would need to and go and it sounds like it might not be a problem.

[WoodenPlank]

Thanks.

It is a business. More like a small business. We are a small local / county government office with no IT staff. (prior to me starting here last here most things were contracted out). I've been trying to do more IT stuff to save this office money. I'm pretty much a one-person department that has an office in the Assessor's office just because there is room. And I think they pretty much have an off the shelf set up.

I'm not an idiot, but I know little about networking compared to most other stuff. I'm pretty sure they would be fine with me putting the access point where ever it would need to and go and it sounds like it might not be a problem.
Just find the local cable or DSL modem, and see if the existing router has a wireless AP on it. If a server is handling routing functions, then you should be gold. Also, check to see if your network is using static or dynamic IP addressing. Static means youll be manually assigning the AP its own IP address.

[sil3nt8o8]

and don't use wep encryption, use wpa-psk

wep is cracked.

[MrBogey]

and don't use wep encryption, use wpa-psk

wep is cracked.

All common wireless encryption is cracked. Some is just easier than others to shake the keys out.

[weeniewawa]

I would use every security feature possible since there is peoples personal data at stake. I think WPA 5 million enterprise super duper will be good, and turn off broadcast SSD. maybe use MAC addressing also. I would hate to have someone's data stolen and be in charge of that. I think the best security tho, would be a nice new ethernet cable ;)

[blazin]

If you're manually assigning each computer an IP address and arent bound to specific IP's already, you could let the router assign them via DHCP. Then there will never be any possible IP conflicts when you join computers wirelessly. You could ditch the switch altogether.

[thelord68]

If the router you want to use doesn't have an AP (access point) mode - Linksys doesn't, then do the following:

Disable DHCP on the router, and put it in place of the existing switch. Plug the wire from the wall into one of the lan jacks on the router, as well as the cable from the desktop. Do not use the WAN or Internet port on the router.

If all you need is an access point, pick up this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127053

I carry one around in my laptop case. It has a physical switch for operating mode - access point, router, client. Comes in handy.

[Sinn Fein]

That's a nice little AP.

As others have said, turn off SSID broadcast, enable MAC filtering, and use WPA2 encryption with a 63-character key. I use this site, it'll generate a random key for you:

http://www.yellowpipe.com/yis/tools/WPA_key/generator.php

[WoodenPlank]

That's a nice little AP.

As others have said, turn off SSID broadcast, enable MAC filtering, and use WPA2 encryption with a 63-character key. I use this site, it'll generate a random key for you:

http://www.yellowpipe.com/yis/tools/WPA_key/generator.php

x2
Im personally using WPA2-PSK, with my router set to rotate encryption every 6 minutes. The key hopping makes it siginificantly more difficult to crack, unless they try to hack the keyword, and good luck to them with that.

Turning off SSID Broadcastig is also excellent, but it will require anyone that needs/wants to use the wireless to get the ID from you. May be a benefit or a headache depending on circumstances.

MAC address filtering is only viable when the devices using the wireless will rarely change, since every time you add a new device (or change cards in an existing one) its MAC must be added to the access list.