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Wireless Network gear question


wdietsch

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Last review on Tom's Hardware of the high-speed wireless hardware (802.11g) had Linksys providing high speeds but less reliable connections, and D-Link providing the reliablity but not quite matching for speed.

 

Each has their slight security flaws, each with their own workarounds or fixes (for more specific info on these, see the Bugtraq archives).

 

edit: I was thinking of Linksys vs. Netgear, not D-Link, in the above comparison.

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The problem with all this low end crap..er, gear, is that many of the listed feature simply don't work, or work unreliably.

 

Traditionally, Linksys has been a leader in the low price and really crappy reliability categories. I've seen some indication that the Cisco buyout is changing both.

 

If you are going to run your wireless network with no security (anyone in range can use it), then choose based on price. If you intend to secure it, then find a device that includes "WPA", and on which WPA actually works. You'll also need wireless cards for the PCs that support WPA.

 

WEP is fatally flawed and can be broken in minutes. To date, I don't beleive that WPA has been cracked.

 

-Loren

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doesn't really matter what encryption you're running when hidden admin accounts are installed on the unit, and the password is publicly known (as is the case with the Netgear wireless unit). Their first "fix" was to change the admin password. Unbelievable. Companies like that tend to not get my business.

 

I have not had any issues with D-Link products. Apple's Airport products are also extremely well-made and have great software, but are a little more expensive. You get what you pay for.

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The Netgear boys left themselves a backdoor, eh? They haven't been the same since they went away from ZyNOS.

 

Speaking of which, I've deployed a bunch of ZyXEL gear, including a big multi-wap one at one of houses in the greek system at UW. It's worth a look. Street prices are much lower than list. Some of the ZyAIR products support 3rd party Radius, and some even include basic Radius authentication.

 

http://us.zyxel.com

 

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a ZyXEL reseller.

 

-L

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Hmm, maybe I'm haplessly the access point for the latest terror viruses, but I've got no complaints about my $10 Belkin wireless-b router. I figure it'll deter the casual snooper and would be the same level of no use against a determined bad guy.

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