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Wireless Dorm Room :)?

post #1 of 21
8/5/03 at 5:44pm
Thread Starter 
Alright my room mate and i both have WiFi laptops, hes got the old AW latop with 3.06 HT, and im getting a dell M60 with a/b/g WiFi, but here my question i need to buy a router/access point, but which one? ANd is it possible that one will not work with the school network? We are not allowed to have wireless but i think they wouldnt know, is there anyway to do this so they dont know we have wireless?

So whats the difference between access points and routers, and which would be better for a dorm, and how do we keep the school from knowing?
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post #2 of 21
8/5/03 at 5:52pm
Thread Starter 
Oh and the Ones im looking betwwen arr the linksys WRT54G, and the WAP54G
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post #3 of 21
8/5/03 at 7:03pm
get G capabable. the lynksys seems to be a quality piece of kit, and is coming down in price by the day, was around $100 at sams club today.
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post #4 of 21
8/5/03 at 7:12pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah i was defintly going to get G, both of those are G, but one of them is a router while the other is a Access Point
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post #5 of 21
8/5/03 at 7:17pm
when you say one's just a router...i'm assuming it's a one port deal with wireless G, if it were me, i'd pay the few extra bucks and get the AP w/4 ports. ya never know when you might have a visitor to your room without wireless, and can plug directly...or in the off chance that your wireless card dies.
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post #6 of 21
8/5/03 at 7:20pm
I am not familiar with those models but generally, an access point is just that, there's no routing. You need to check the specs to see what they have. Perhaps its just a matter of semantics.

I would suggest you get something that has at least 4 cable ports as well as the WiFi. You just never know when you'll need them. Perhaps adding a printer or a buddy drops by without WiFi but he does have Ethernet.

As to whether or not the school will be able to tell, unless you line your dorm with lead, yes, they will be able to tell and so will anybody else with a WiFi. It will show up on their systems. You can encrypt it and all that, so they can't glom onto it without working at it too hard, but they will see it and there's not much you can do about that.
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post #7 of 21
8/5/03 at 7:55pm
Thread Starter 
Well both of those models i am talking both have 4 ports, i can not actually figure out the differences. Will the school actuallly care?

WRT54G
http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...mid=&pfp=srch1

WAP54G
http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...mid=&pfp=srch1
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post #8 of 21
8/5/03 at 9:51pm
Thread Starter 
SO what is the difference between Access Point and Router?
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post #9 of 21
8/5/03 at 10:41pm
I believe routers have wired ports for cat5 while an AP doesn't Also, routers can assign internal addresses to computers (NAT) and have only one public IP(WAN). I could be wrong.

But, on this other thing:
Quote:
We are not allowed to have wireless but i think they wouldnt know, is there anyway to do this so they dont know we have wireless?
What's up with that? You'll definately want to turn off the SSID broadcast so that you AP/router isn't announcing its presence to the world.

<pictures in mind>
Resident Assistant walking around dorms with laptop running NetStumbler and frantically banging on the door. "I know your in there and I know your using wireless, Let me in!" What happened to the good old days, I only had to worry about keg parties and kids smoking pot.
</end mental picture>

Do they get one of those Kensington detectors?
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post #10 of 21
8/5/03 at 10:51pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Loki047
SO what is the difference between Access Point and Router?
Beakmyn pretty much hit it. If you already have a router get an AP, if you dont' get a router.

The access point is like a hub, except it converts the media type from wired to wireless. A router has an access point in it to get the wireless capability.

For ease of setup get the router, don't get an AP and a seperate router, it costs more and they can conflict if they aren't setup right.
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post #11 of 21
8/5/03 at 11:14pm
Thread Starter 
Did you guys see the links?
WAP54G - is the access point but both of them seem to be the same. Whats the difference between those two?

THanks for the info, i think ill get the router, even though they are both the same price and seem to have the same specs
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post #12 of 21
8/5/03 at 11:33pm
i believe that you can turn off the "broadcast SSID" option in the router configuration, so that no one else can see it unless they know the exact name of the SSID you use. i have installed a number of wireless networks for residential homes, and always turn this option off, just in case.
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post #13 of 21
8/5/03 at 11:38pm
You will want a AP. if you get a router the school net admins WILL find you. With an AP it simply makes the wireless users part of the school network, just as if you were plugged in. If you have a router then it adds all sorts of complications.

-Dan
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post #14 of 21
8/5/03 at 11:43pm
Thread Starter 
you sure? Why would the router make it knowable to the admins?
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post #15 of 21
8/6/03 at 8:01pm
Well for starters. The reason they won't allow you to have wireless is generaly one of three things. A: the admin is a hardass, B: security reasons, C: lazy admin. Being an admin my self I would not allow wifi unless it was approved my me or my staff, and then tested by us. A router will take up an IP that will have to assigned to one of your workstations. If you don't clone the mac like for cable modems, the connection won't run correctly.
THey can run a scan against the entire school's IP range and fingerprint them, I have done this my self. An AP is merely a bridge between two types of ethernet. Wireless and wired, essentialy a switch for wireless cards. A router does just that it routs between two logicaly seperate networks. It's how the net works. Hope this helped. It's kinda scatter brained but it's almost quiting time. Corrections or further questions welcomed.
Bill
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post #16 of 21
8/6/03 at 9:08pm
I'm thinking either
1. ignorance of what wireless is and how it works
2. security. Maybe they're afraid that people outside of the school will be able to connect through you wireless connection without your knowledge and have access to the school's network resources.

However since most dorms are made of concrete the signal won't get too far especially if your deep in the bowels of some dorm complexes.

Anyway the WRT is the router version
WAP is the access point version.

I prefer the router since you can the create your own little mini-network. Of course it is the school's network and they write the rules.
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post #17 of 21
8/7/03 at 2:36am
Thread Starter 
Yeah it is their ruiles, but which one should i get for the dorm? WHich will be the least obvious to find out about?
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post #18 of 21
8/7/03 at 4:04am
Have you ever use this device, WiFi Finder? I bought one and it works wonder.
I believe if they really want to find any wireless network devices, you won't be able to hide it. It's depend on how strict they are.
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post #19 of 21
8/7/03 at 11:55am
with what bsmith said, EVERY router i have ever played with allows you to clone the MAC address of one of the resources using it...are you still able to find the router beyond this?

that wifi finder might find a signal, but if the whole campus is wireless, what good will it really do?
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post #20 of 21
8/8/03 at 11:38am
Quote:
Originally posted by raypou
...that wifi finder might find a signal, but if the whole campus is wireless, what good will it really do?
Good point.

Now my question. Most dorms have an RJ45 jack(s) right inside them. Why then do you (Loki047) want wireless in your dorm. The hardlines are much faster.
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