Wireless Newbie

[Jim Carter]

On Mon, 23 Jun 2003, Headshot wrote:
> I am a complete newbie with wireless gear so be gentle (:
>
> There are a few wirless networks around where I live and I can connect to
> some of them. However - I am stumped on how I can actually browse what is on
> these networks. I am using WinXP Pro on my laptop so any help would be
> appreciated.

Resources on the wireless net itself are generally not significant.
Mainly what you get out of wireless is access to the global internet,
same as with a dialup connection but better.  Of course be considerate
of the net's owner and use it as intended (or don't use a non-public
net).

In the US (and probably in AU as well) a common use of wireless
equipment is for a family to have one internet connection (DSL, cable
modem, or even dialup), and/or a shared printer, backup device or other
hardware resources, and to make them available to multiple computers
without the need to run wires around the house, which can be a royal
pain, particularly in an apartment where you aren't supposed to make
holes in the structure.  I also like being able to use my laptop in
any room, any chair -- I call it the "CouchNet".

Just in case you're a newbie globally, here are a few items to look
for.  You can do these as well with your dialup access, but generally
a person motivated to pay for wireless will also get a DSL or other
broadband connection.

1.  Practice using search engines so you get answers and you aren't
buried in irrelevant references.  My favorite engine is www.google.com;
different engines have different advantages.

2.  There are web sites about *everything*.  A lot is crap; a lot is
objectionable; a lot is extremely useful.

3.  Through my DSL connection I get probed about once a minute by a
virus trying to reproduce, from all over the world.  Windows or Linux,
I hope you keep your machine up to date with the latest security
patches, and you use some kind of firewall product (e.g. the one that
comes with WinXP, assuming it's not too draconian for your situation).
And you should have an antivirus product, with the virus definitions
updated frequently; I'm sure you're familiar with that issue from
your e-mail account.

4.  WEP is easily cracked, but I recommend that it should be turned
on, if only to announce that a private net is private.  I assume that
all my wireless transmissions are being intercepted by MVD ("Homeland
Security") agents in black helicopters.  All my login sessions are
encrypted at the 4th protocol layer by SSH (also available for
Windows), and I avoid situations where I have to send a password
across the net (wireless or not) in plain text.

Hope this helps, and welcome to wireless networking!

James F. Carter          Voice 310 825 2897    FAX 310 206 6673
UCLA-Mathnet;  6115 MSA; 405 Hilgard Ave.; Los Angeles, CA, USA 90095-1555
Email: jimc at math.ucla.edu  http://www.math.ucla.edu/~jimc (q.v. for PGP key)