[ale] Wireless networking options?

[hbbs at attbi.com]

I need a little sensibility calibration here...

As far as crowded business settings go (as opposed to more spread-out home
settings), what is left hanging open cracker-wise given that the 256-bit
encryption is the only measure being used?  

My understanding is that the encryption being discussed here would make it very
hard to sniff traffic out of the air, but that it doesn't do anything about the
issue of having an unwanted machine syncing up to the WAP using that very same
encryption.

It also occurs to me that, as far as that encryption goes, it would be kind of
bad to be able to select between 64/128/256-bit encryption or no encryption at
all just via software, because in that case, the presence or depth of that
encryption is only as trustable as the protection on the software mechanism that
controls it and therefore by extension the protection on the machine(s) that
has/have the mechanism.   

It is starting to seem to me that this whole 802.11b business is being marketed
as a trivially easy way to network machines that might be sufficient for home
use up to a point (i.e., someone would have to warwalk in your yard to mess with
you) but should only be used in business/commercial settings as a last resort
and then only with careful hardening and in support of as few machines as possible.

And how does 802.11b traffic behave in the aggregate?  Does it collide?  It is
full duplex?  Do all machines operating off a common WAP share the same 11Mbps
bandwidth?

- Jeff
> From my last post that started the whole conversation. I
> guess I should have responded with what my final choice
> was.
> 
> I decided just to simply use a D-Link set-up on the B
> series spec. D-Link is cheaper and faster than Linksys and
> was clearly marked that it supported 256bit encryption.
> 
> All in all, it was almost a joke at how easy it was to
> set-up. Before I even opened the boxes I read some of the
> FAQ's on their website and read through all of the
> instructions before hand. I think I had about 30 minutes in
> installing/setting-up three devices. A PCI card for a
> desktop, laptop card, and the router. In fact, I think I
> spend more time filling out the rebate forms than what it
> took me to install everything. 
> 
> The only thing that was slightly disappointing is that with
> a higher level of encryption you suffer on the bandwidth
> due to overhead but it doesn't seem to be that bad of a
> hit. If it ends up being a problem I still have 128, 64 bit
> encryption levels to make use of.
> 
> Just my $0.02 :D
> 
> 
> --- George Carless <kafka at antichri.st> wrote:
> > Since this whole wireless thingamebob seems to be such a
> > hot topic right
> > now, here's a question for you all:
> > 
> > I've just moved into my new apartment, and I'd prefer not
> > to wire cat5
> > everywhere.  I've about three or four machines I'd like
> > to network up - my
> > server, my Windows machine, my MAME arcade machine..
> > maybe a pc in the
> > kitchen for recipe browsing, if I decide to get *uber*
> > geeky.  So, I
> > figure that wireless is probably the best way to go.
> > 
> > However, a quick look around indicates that most of the
> > wireless hubs
> > that're out there seem to be integrated dealies that do
> > NAT etc.  I
> > already have a perfectly good Linux machine doing all of
> > that jazz, and I
> > understand what it's doing reasonably well, so I'd prefer
> > to avoid
> > replacing it.
> > 
> > So -- can anyone provide me with some guidance as to what
> > I should be
> > shopping for, if I just want to connect the machines
> > together without
> > doing anything too fancy?  My setup right now is pretty
> > standard:
> > 
> > Linux machine with eth0->cable and eth1->hub, providing
> > ip masquerading/nat
> > other machines with eth0->hub
> > 
> > Any advice much appreciated.
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > --George
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ale mailing list
> > Ale at ale.org
> > http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> 
> 
> =====
> Kevin Stoll
> http://kevinstoll.com/
> 
> OpenSource Software...FREE!
> Angering Bill Gates...priceless.
> ============================================================
> 
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