Well, I am moving out and going to be living in small apartment for the next couple years. My lease starts on June 15th, but I will not be physically living in the apartment until August.
Anyways, I plan on setting up a wireless network within the apartment so I can place a second desktop in an alternate location and also be free to use my laptop wherever. Now, I admit that I know as much about networking as my five year old niece. I think I have the schematic of the physical network, so basically I am looking for corrections, suggestion, and answers (yeah, yeah…I am looking for everything).
Alright here it goes. The cable goes into the cable modem (Linksys BEFCMU10) which is then connected by Cat5 to a combined WAP/cable router/4-port switch (Linksys BEFW11S4). From this switch, Cat5 will be run to my main desktop. My laptop, connecting through a D-Link 650+ wireless card, would then be able to connect to the network through the WAP. Now, I may or may not install another desktop (either wired or wireless) to this network also, and there is also the possibility of installing my Casio E-200 wirelessly.
Now, being that I will be in an apartment complex (‘hotel’ style and on the fourth floor) security is a major issue. I do have concrete walls above, below and all around me, but I do not think it would be enough to terminate my signal. So, what can I do about security? What is WEP? What about firewalls – hardware or software, both? I must admit that I do not have anything that is critical to protect but I don’t want people to be snooping around my files and I definitely do not want them stealing my bandwidth.
I appreciate any comments of suggestions on anything. Thanks,
ILC