My wireless network is up and running... some Qs (1 Viewer)

[Jay H]

I used to have just one PC, so I had my cable modem connected directly to the PC. Since I turn things off when not in use, I used to just turn the cable modem on and then turn my PC on, by the time my ancient PC booted W2k, the modem would be authenticated to the server by then and all is well.

It appears now with my Netgear WNR2000 router, I have to have the modem authenticated and sending packets before I turn that on. is that correct? I had one problem installing the thing and that was connecting to the internet with just the wired PC, because I didn't reboot my PC (as per the instructions, ya know.. that male complex thing..

). Anyway, is that true? I have to turn the cable modem on, then wait for a bit til the modem is sending, then turn the router and PC on... It doesn't seem to be able to connect if I just turn everything on as before.

Once I got the internet connection fixed, everything else went really smooth and I reflashed the firmware and set up my laptop. Uninstalled my software firewall (Comodo) since I guess the router should be handling that and I am going to read up on configuring the router via the browser.

I also set the bandwidth to 145Mbps since I doubt my cable modem has a higher bandwidth anyway and most of my traffic would be internet stuff, streaming audio (not video) and basic surfing...

Jay

 

[Ken Chan]

Where are you setting the bandwidth?

If you're really paranoid or curious, you can still use your software firewall, but it won't have as much to do. For example, reports of incoming packets should go way down, because they're being blocked at the router.

The usual sequence is modem, router, then computer, but it shouldn't really matter because they should all just retry until they get a connection, once they are configured correctly. It will take a little longer though.

 

[SethH]

I would encourage you to get the security (WPA) setup asap.

 

[Jay H]

Thanks, I'll have to tinker with that when I'm at home.

As far as WPA, I set up my wireless router to be secure (WPA-PSK) when I installed the router. I played around in the browser setup and need to figure out how to change my access username and password from the default.. It seems that a lot of people do not setup WPA. In fact, right now I am at my sister's place who has dialup and no network and connecting via somebody who has a WLAN-G setup that is unsecure. I know my neighbors across the street for me at home has an unsecure network and the next place I shall check is my father's place... Heck, I should just cancel my cable modem...

Jay

 

[Patrick Sun]

Stop being so cheap, just leave the cable modem on all the time, treat it like water coming into the house. You don't turn off the water at the street when you're not using it, do you?

 

[Jay H]

At the street? No, unless you have a backhoe that I can borrow and one of those T bar things that the water company uses to turn pipelines on and off.

I hate those little blinky lights... Heck, I turn off my cable box and my HTF 6 plug strip when I'm away on the weekends.

Jay

 

[Jay H]

OK, read online that WPA2-PSK is newer and better than WPA-PSK and since my laptop is as new as my router, changed my settings to that...

Oh, I have to go now to turn off my water line...

Jay

 

[Clinton McClure]

I have a T-bar you can borrow for that...