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Thread ID: 81788	2007-08-07 07:51:00	Home network help.	Mantis (3703)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
577708	2007-08-07 07:51:00	I have recently helped a friend set up a small home network... They connect to the internet via a Linksys W54g wireless router (via a lan cable) with my desktop. There is also a laptop that connects (via its wireless adaptor) to the linksys router to connect to the internet. We used the Win XP home network wizard to create a small network so I could share the printer that is connected to the desktop with the laptop. The wizard did it's thing and created a network automatically. After figuring out that Zonealarm (free edition) was blocking the connection, everything now seems to be running fine... We can print from the laptop without a problem (when disabling Zonealarm)... What do we do now to keep the network secure? Is there anyway to remove this network and start again to create a new one? And does anyone know how to setup Zonealarm so it allows a connection to the network to share the printer? Thanks. M.	Mantis (3703)
577709	2007-08-07 08:19:00	Look here (forums.zonealarm.com) What do you mean remove and create another one? Has only one PC got ZA on it or both? It'll most probably be better, if u got the version that supports wireless. It should be safe enough if ZA is installed. Altho as above the version that supports wireless maybe better, if this isnt whats installed.	Speedy Gonzales (78)
577710	2007-08-07 08:51:00	Thanks for the speedy reply Speedy . . . . The desktop has Commodo Firewall running, and the laptop has ZA Free . Looks like it might be the best idea to replace ZA with Commodo . . . . When I look at the network under Control Panel/Network Connections . . . It doesn't give me an option to remove or delete the network . . . If I wanted to delete this network and start again (for what ever reason) how would I go about doing this? Are there any settings I need to adjust or change to make the network more secure? Thanks again . M .	Mantis (3703)
577711	2007-08-07 09:06:00	I dont use ZA so cant remember what is where! Comodo would most probably be easier on both. At least I know where to look. Since, thats what I'm using. All you have to do, is open Comodo, go to tasks, define a new trusted network, and next (on both if u install it on both), / the LAN adapter will appear, then click on next till it says finish. Thats it, file sharing and printer sharing will work. Just as long as you've gone to the printer in printers / properties / sharing tab and selected share this printer. And created and shared a folder on both. The printer will work on the networked PC, after you've gone to printers / add printers and added it. The only thing in Network connections are the LAN icons for the onboard NIC's. You cant delete them they'll come back once you reboot (coz theyre onboard and Windows will reinstall the drivers). You cant really delete the network if theyre connected by ethernet or wireless. The only way they'll disconnect from each other is if you give them different workgroup names, or disconnect the wireless. From either one of them. Or disable one of them If the router supports MAC filtering use that instead for the wireless. I've read that its better than WEP or WPA. The only thing you would have to do to create it again is to make sure the workgroups have the same name, and the ips are on auto (for the net), if youre on BB (under the LAN properties on both). Otherwise put the ips in manually, if youre on dialup. And you do the tasks bit as above to share folders and printer.	Speedy Gonzales (78)
577712	2007-08-07 09:32:00	In ZA you first need to know your routers address, something like 10 . 1 . 1 . 1 . or 192 . 168 . 1 . 1 to find out click start/run then type in CMD press ENTER- type in ipconfig in the command prompt box that appears and you will see the gateway address . Open ZA on left click on "firewall" go to the "Zones" tab on the right, down the bottom click "add / IP Range" if your IP address is (Example)10 . 1 . 1 . 1 you will see two rows of box's IP Address - type in each box the numbers as required . Top row 10 . 1 . 1 . 1 Second Row 10 . 1 . 1 . 255 Name it what ever you want in the description and click "apply . exit from zone alarm . That will open the full range of address from 1 - 255 . what ever your routers IP address is, the last numbers are always 1 top row, and 255 bottom row .	wainuitech (129)
577713	2007-08-07 12:13:00	If the router supports MAC filtering use that instead for the wireless. I've read that its better than WEP or WPA. Mac filtering is easy to hack if one wanted to. WPA is way more secure.	berryb (99)
577714	2007-08-07 14:47:00	A few comments here, i have done a lot of wireless network hacking, and Mac Filtering was the easiest one to hack, there are so many tools that allow you to spoof past this. WEP is easy enough to crack also, WPA is a much harder nut to crack. If the password is more than 12 characters it will take a very long time to crack. So i would advise you to use 256 bit WPA encryption (just don't forget the password!)	Bozo (8540)
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