wireless in office

[reet]

hey all. my hubby works for a real estate office. they have a wired network in the office. also set up for the main branch in another state to connect to their computers. many of the agents are getting wireless notebooks and handhelds. they have asked about adding a wireless router to be able to access the internet, but the office says that it wouldn't be secure. but you can take a laptop into the office and connect to the internet by using a cable through the office without any setup on your computer.

would there be a way to add some type of router or hub to a network outlet for the wireless agents to connect to the internet only? they aren't really worried about accessing files on the network.

[kram 2.0]

Actually, wireless isn't as insecure as it could be - you just need to take the right precautions. What could happen, is that you could set up a router that only allows certain computer to log on, or perhaps even a "password every time you long on" type setting. You know how it is when you go to Airports and stuff and they won't let you access the internet until you agree to the terms or pay? It's kinda like that.


Hope that helps,
kram

[reet]

thanks kram......a few more questions then.

If they set up a router that would be password protected, they would be able to access the internet and then if they wanted to access the file system, they would then have to join the network workgroup correct?

the other thing that the office was worried about was hackers. that there are some apartments and houses nearby, and they worry about someone hacking their internet or files on the network. comments?

[bailey]

you don't need to replace the router at all
just add a wierless access point and leave everything else as it is, it'll work fine that way for the wired units and the wireless ones

[glc]

Add a wireless access point and secure it properly. Change the default SSID, turn off the SSID broadcast, and use at least 128 bit WEP security. Give the SSID and the WEP key to the agents as they need them, and change them frequently.

[nocturnx]

Yep that will work, or set up a VPN (Virtual Private Network), I think this will work best.

[glc]

Why a VPN? This is an office network, and the agents are going to be sitting in the office with their notebooks - all they need is to reach the router to get on the Internet.

[nocturnx]

Oh I was thinking they would be traveling about and wanting to connect to the network for file sharing and such. I must have misunderstood the "main branch in another state" part. If you want security use a VPN.

[glc]

they have asked about adding a wireless router to be able to access the internet

they aren't really worried about accessing files on the network