[jaws-uk] Re: Wireless Protection

Download speeds vary according to how many users are online at any time.  
Unless you run an open network with no encyption your neighbours are unlikely 
to be using your bandwidth.  Those who are signed up with an 8MB service are on 
a sticky wicket to start with because the speed you will actually get will be 
somewhat less depending on distance.  That sort of speed and some distances 
involved push copper wire to it's limit.  The next five to seven years may see 
the rollout of something with more capacity being laid up to your door, but 
that is a big investment yet to be made.  

You should be using some form of wireless encryption and these days you don't 
really want it to be WEP as it is now possible to crack WEP encryption in three 
minutes or less.  Anyone running WEP now becomes a target as hacking kits get 
produced and distributed on the net.  If your wireless adaptors support it use 
WPA pre shared key with a really long and random key which for practical 
purposes is currently almost uncrackable in any reasonable sense of the word.

As most neighbours are not usually particularly computer savvy even using MAC 
address filtering will stop most from straying onto your wi-fi unless they know 
that MAC addresses can be falsified and know how to do it.  However, wireless 
encryption is what you really should have.

Regards.

Tristram Llewellyn
Sight and Sound Technology
Technical Support
www.sightandsound.co.uk

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ankers, Dave (UK) 
  To: jaws-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 12:32 PM
  Subject: [jaws-uk] Wireless Protection



  Hi all,

  I have seen some posts concerning wireless protection on wi fi etc I
  currently use a BT home hub with my main pc wired to it and my wife uses
  her works laptop pc wirelessly.  In the last few weeks, the internet
  download speed has seriously reduced and I have had concerns about the
  security of my system.  Could someone be using my connection and causing
  the slow connection?  My wife had to load a security code onto a memory
  stick and transfer it onto her pc in order to connect to the hub.  Has
  anyone else noticed a general slowing down of broadband connection
  speeds?
  Thanks in advance.
   
  Dave

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