WLAN and unauthorized users...

[MrGaribaldi]

I just set up a little wlan at my parents home, and has encountered a little problem...

There should be 3 clients connected (2 through lan, one through wlan), but there are 4 clients connected...

I'm using a Belkin Wireless Cable/DSL Gateway Router.

I've set it up to use MAC filtering, so if you're not on the list, you shouldn't be able to connect nor associate with the router... But the unknown client is still there....

I've yet to set up encryption, due to the fact that MS won't allow me to use a passphrase, but needs the HEX keys instead... (And I haven't had time to create 20 different keys, and set it up on the diff. computers...)

And besides, there seems to be a quite big security hole in the encryption when using 802.11b anyways...

But shouldn't MAC filtering save me from having unauthorized clients on the network?


Anyone have any idea on how I can get rid of that user...
(And make sure he doesn't come back?)

 

[PHATMAN5050]

That may just be a flaw, or you could try enabling the WEP Encryption. Did you buy it from CompUSA by any chance? If so you better have gotten TAP on it! lol As long as there arent any files on the computers that are really confidential, I wouldn't worry about it, unless of course there is a hacker in the neighborhood.

 

[Goalie]

On occasion I've seen some similar things where WinXP will report it's MAC Bridge address out to the world too (I think that's what it's listed as..)... dunno why it does that. Dunno what the solution is either. But I know XP is the guilty party in the situations that we've seen it before in a LAN situation..

Sorry to be so uninformative, but maybe this will give you a clue..

 

[Elcarion]

That should keep the user out unless he copies a valid MAC address. Are you sure that someone didn't log in to the router and add other MAC addresses? Did you change the default ID/password to something that uses a strong password?
If you do use encryption try to see if your hardware supports TKIP. Many products will with a BIOS upgrade. This provides for much better encryption then standard WEP; I will keep most people out. A determined person is still likely to break the encryption.

 

[MrGaribaldi]

Since it's limited to 4 MAC adresses, and I've filled them all, I doubt it, but I'll try to re-enter them...

Thanks for the info on TKIP, I'll try to find out if it supports it...

I don't think it's WinXP that's behind it, as it calls itself Rolf1... But thanks for the idea

And luckily, no I didn't buy it at CompUSA, but Elkjøp, which is (allmost) the norwegian equvialent, allthough they sell all sort of things..

I might return it anyway for another model, as I'm having trouble with FTP's, net access & such... It's slowes down to a crawl sometimes...

Downloading my email has gone from taking a cople of secs to allmost a minute!

But I'll upgrade the firmware first to see if that fixes it...


Anyways thank you again for helping me out!

 

[Rick]

From what I've read and experienced, wireless has a way to go before it becomes secure.

Something I would like to do is setup a wireless network here. But I have been hestitant as I do not know how to make it secure.

 

[XtR-X]

This may be a little of then what you are saying, but I've had problems sometimes on a router (linksys) that it sometimes things the cable/dsl modem is a user, A USER on the UPLINK port, correctly for the modem.

You may already know this but Internet > Uplink; Slot 2 and up > computers. Slot 1 should not have anything there, unless you are using multiple routers or switches.

 

[MrGaribaldi]

Interesting... Maybe I should change the CAT's to one higher port...

I'm currently in what is labeled as port 1, but there's a separate port for uplink...

I sendt of a report to Belkin yesterday, so it'll be intereseting to see what they can come up with...
I'll of course post anything relevant here, so others having similar problems'll have an easier time

Rick> Yes... But does it really matter?
If you use MAC filtering, noone should be able to associate with the WLAN, nor use your inet connection...

Yes, they might still be able to sniff out your packets, bu then you could allways set up a little vpn, which should remove that problem... It's a hassle, but that's the price for "total security"...

Since my father is using a VPN solution from Cisco to connect to his office, is the reason I don't really care too much about the security as I would otherwise...
(Besides, we're all using ZoneAlarm alongside the NAT and Firewall in the router....)

And there are limits for how interesting your network is, when you have to be within the range of the WLAN to access the machines, since you won't be able to share whateveres there with others...

 

[MrGaribaldi]

Just a little update if anyone's interested...

I got a reply from belkin, which told me to upgrade my firmware, but gave me another link than the one I'd found on their hp...

After applying it, everything works like it should...
No "extra" client, I can listen to web radio, game etc., without any of the lag I had earlier...

Suddenly it wasn't such a bad buy after all...