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Thread ID: 71930	2006-08-22 03:17:00	WiFi (mis)user caught ...	Graham L (2)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
480028	2006-08-24 22:41:00	Too many other wireless networks in the area will degrade your quality, but whether or not they're encrypted should not make too much of a difference. vinref: Yes, I'm talking about wireless networks. A wireless network is quite different from a VPN in terms of capabilities. For a wireless network you issue a password and all users gain access to all network traffic. There is usually a single key (or very few). If you want to change the password, you have to change it for everyone. For a VPN you usually issue a unique password or certificate to each user. You can then add and remove users on an individual basis. You can accurately identify the user performing any action (by comparing VPN server logs to IP addresses on other servers. Since you can identify users, you can also set up filtering rules, limit certain types of user to certain actions, restrict heavy bandwidth use, convert all adult images on the fly to various pictures of kittens or do pretty much anything you want. A good VPN server is like a swiss army knife. Wireless network security simply attempts to replicate the security of wires embedded in the walls. If you have a better encryption system on top, the wireless encryption becomes obsolete.	TGoddard (7263)
480029	2006-08-24 23:12:00	I was just wondering what is the range like a modem/router like D-link 604GT which I think thats what mostly people use I always wonder what the range is for the wireless... Well I just tested a Dlink 604GT against their new 802.11n (draft) wireless router (the 635 Rangebooster N60). My house is old, with lost of chunky old walls and wiring. I tried copying a big file down on both networks from a network attached storage device (also did it over Etheret to a desktop as a comparison), and the strength of a standard 54Mbps network in that environment is not great once I shifted out of the office and put a few walls between me and the router. Of course, it is actually likely that someone sitting next door to me -- directly opposite my office -- would get a better signal than I did down the other end of the house with all the walls in between, but even so, I don't think the signal strength would be that great. If you were sitting in an apartment, with only a shonky thin wall between you and your neighbour ..... well that would be different. But with 802.11n -- that is a different story. The 802.11n router had a vastly superior result doing the same test in the same locations. I sure as heck wouldn't want to leave an 802.11n network unsecured in a neighbourhood full of teenagers struggling with their moral compass ....	Biggles (121)
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