Hehe. I got a wireless card the other day (Airlink 300N AWLH6080). I didn't think I'd get it to work and expected to take it back, but after screwing around for a day with drivers in linux and compiling a few different ones, I got it to work and I could see networks all around.

This was a cheapy buy, comparatively, so I wanted to try it first. Of course, the only way to really try it (since I don't have a wireless router yet) was to *ahem* hop on someone's wireless. So I used a few programs and got on.

My question is: why in the hell, in this day and age, would the majority of people in SILICON VALLEY of all places, still rely on WEP keys (and all of them that I found were using 64 instead of 128 or more). WHY? It is well known that anyone running any os (okay maybe there aren't tools for mac yet hehe) can crack keys. So....why does everyone still use WEP?

Do you use WEP? Are you aware of this? When I get the router this weekend I'm using WPA and MAC filtering, etc. Then I'll try to run the programs against myself....I thought this was going to be something people stopped doing, seriously. In Michigan, all the neighbors used WPA instead of WEP, and we all lived in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps it's because people out here are broke and use really old routers or something???? LOL!

Some things really, really bug me. The fact that I supposedly live in the tech capital of the world (keep in mind that here, where I live, I *just* got the ability to watch stuff "on demand" from Comcast after over a year of interrupted service daily due to the upgrading). Our phone lines are from the 60's. The majority of the neighborhood has 2 bedroom apartments going for $1450 (that's cheap) to $2500. And this is the type of tech we have LOL.

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where i live the phone lines are from thr 60s and i have no porblems with my DSL connection. DSL is pretty much good on most cable as long as there is no fibre or loading coils between you and the CO

Most people dont know that. Plus, capture enough packets and you can crack most WPA keys as well.

WEP is enough to stop people who aren't trying to fuck you.

Both WPA and MAC filtering are useless against people who ARE trying to fuck you.

It may that the WEP is on purpose because you are in a "geeky" area. WEP still has far more support than WPA. If you just have a wireless router and a Windows box or two then WPA is easy. Start adding some "geek toys" or other OSes into the mix and WPA becomes a big PITA.

- Many Linux distros still don't support WPA easily. Just because you know enough to get Linux installed doesn't mean you know enough to get wpa_supplicant working.
- Mac OS 10.2 and below don't support WPA at all and 10.3 and 10.4 don't support it properly (don't know about 10.5).
- Lots of electronic devices with wireless only support WEP and not WPA. The Nintendo DS is a good example.

I have a second wireless access point with WEP (main one is WPA) just for all the things that don't support WPA or if I'm playing with a Linux distro. It's MAC filtered by my firewall and off when nothing is using it.

i have a firewall that has a port just for a wireless access point. It is isolated from your internal network, so i dont care if its hacked. I have the AP wide open to share with neighbors. Meanwhile i have a password setup on the firewall, you get a wrong password you are constantly forwarded to http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com/ no matter what URL you enter, just my attempt at humor with people

Posted by nostra-YOUPPI! ... you are constantly forwarded to http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com/ no matter what URL you enter, just my attempt at humor with people

this one is good for that too.

http://r33b.net/

ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD.

MutantMandias wrote: Both WPA and MAC filtering are useless against people who ARE trying to fuck you.

absolutely. layer 2 (mac) filtering is pretty useless. spoofing is easy under most modern OSes.

Posted by MutantMandias WEP is enough to stop people who aren't trying to fuck you. Both WPA and MAC filtering are useless against people who ARE trying to fuck you.

True - but there are a few more things you can add on top of it that can make it a lot more difficult. You are right though. If one understands what they are doing, WPA is nothing.

But for people who just follow a stupid tutorial with no real knowledge of what they are doing, they might get stuck at WPA with additional protection (MAC, other crap, shared keys, etc)....at least the additional measures would keep those types out....maybe? LOL...

Sigh.

To reply to the post about the phone lines, we can get DSL here but it is not guaranteed. I tried to order and they said they would have to replace the lines....at our cost, since they aren't upgrading here yet. Wooo....

I think I might know why the cable is slower here than it is supposed to be. Okay I don't know for real haha. But ever since we moved in, the cable lines are carrying household current on them (yes, been electrocuted twice now). Fiance didn't believe me so he brought his volt thingy home and measured, and it's just like sticking your finger in the electric socket. That's really, really bad. The other day I got zapped because there's a spitter on my line and I forgot about it, (and I haven't wrapped it with tape yet) so I was fixing the computer and moved it, and pressed my arm against it. That sucked.

Would that have anything to do with slowing down the internet slightly? (total random question).

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Posted by Washu It may that the WEP is on purpose because you are in a "geeky" area. WEP still has far more support than WPA. If you just have a wireless router and a Windows box or two then WPA is easy. Start adding some "geek toys" or other OSes into the mix and WPA becomes a big PITA. - Many Linux distros still don't support WPA easily. Just because you know enough to get Linux installed doesn't mean you know enough to get wpa_supplicant working. - Mac OS 10.2 and below don't support WPA at all and 10.3 and 10.4 don't support it properly (don't know about 10.5). - Lots of electronic devices with wireless only support WEP and not WPA. The Nintendo DS is a good example. I have a second wireless access point with WEP (main one is WPA) just for all the things that don't support WPA or if I'm playing with a Linux distro. It's MAC filtered by my firewall and off when nothing is using it.

Wow. If someone can run linux, how could they not get the supplicant working????? That's just a no brainer to me. LOL! True, the network manager sucks ass in Gnome, so you just get a different one if you like guis, or you just do it through command line and configure a few files. Network Manager refused to work at all and I believe it was conflicting with my command line actions (as long as it was up, it was rewriting files) so I uninstalled. Now command line works just fine. But I installed Wicd (which was a PITA to compile when I had no internet for dependencies).

See, that's a good strategy (WPA for main, WEP for "non-important" stuff).

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Posted by sandaili the cable lines are carrying household current on them (yes, been electrocuted twice now). Fiance didn't believe me so he brought his volt thingy home and measured, and it's just like sticking your finger in the electric socket.

In most areas, cable does carry a whole lot of current up at the pole, but it is supposed to be taken off the line before it goes into the house. That is a serious problem that whoever connected your house should resolve at their expense.

I'm not sure that it would necessarily screw your connection, but it is indicative of a shitty job, which also implies that you probably still have old, shitty RG-59 cable in your house, which is not suitable for a data connection.

It depends on the company, of course, but the company I worked for years ago would require that all data installs included a new RG-11 drop line from the pole, and new RG-6 cable to be run through the house.

And, yeah, that current can sting. Touch it the wrong way at the top of the pole and it can knock you 10 feet through the air.

Posted by sandaili Okay I don't know for real haha. But ever since we moved in, the cable lines are carrying household current on them (yes, been electrocuted twice now).

sounds like the coax lines are not properly grounded. and yes, this would cause slowdown.

Coax by its nature, is grounded.

As soon as it gets connected to any device that has a ground, it is grounded.

That shouldn't matter much as the kind of power levels introduced by the cable companies shoud certainly NOT be enough to cause an RF shock.

i definately would check that cable line, if your cable guys are anything like the ones working for videotron up here they should be made to hang up thier spikes. MY friends had cable telephone put in last week, took 2 technicians 8 hours. Now to do this job, you isolate the house phone wires from ma bell at the demarc plug in the modem to the cable and phone wiring and BADA BING you are done. They eventually did this, but at the demarc they disconected ma bells wires BEFORE the protector. Meaning any lightning strike on the line on the street would not be directed to ground by the protector, to top it off the protector was still conected to the house wiring so i was getting a DT from the new cable phone service. Needless to say i was ripping, i fixed the problem to protect the house, took pictures beforehand and wrote a nice complaint, my friends got 2 months free phone.


**being a certified norstar tech makes you sound like you know your phones with these cable pole jockeys

Posted by exkalibur Coax by its nature, is grounded. As soon as it gets connected to any device that has a ground, it is grounded.

im aware of that. its not _properly_ grounded.

power levels on a line should never really be perceivable. you should be able to touch the open tail of the wire and not feel anything at all on the last mile. typically if you are (too much) getting power on the last mile (subjects home), there is a ground problem. there could also be a 'jump' if you have lines running in-conduit together, but this would also introduce noise to the line. again noise (SNR) would keep the cable modem offline, if it is unable to lock on to signal that is able to push thru the noise floor.

Posted by exkalibur Coax by its nature, is grounded. As soon as it gets connected to any device that has a ground, it is grounded. That shouldn't matter much as the kind of power levels introduced by the cable companies shoud certainly NOT be enough to cause an RF shock.

That's why I am pretty sure that there is bare line or something somewhere that is f'ed up - I know the levels from the company ain't causing it.

The problem is that it happens in both rooms (so the issue is apparently somewhere outside the house) since both those lines come from outside and from the same source.

If I ask them to fix it, it will cost me money since I am "not experiencing issues". So I'll get charged $50 for a guy to come out. They have to have tons of complaints before they will fix anything. However I think if I bitched enough I could pretend I was going to sue them or something and make them come and see us measure the voltage since I KNOW they don't have those....and then perhaps they'd be forced to come out.

Maybe when I have some extra money I can have the guy come out and see us measure it....*shrugs*

BTW this is the company that thought my modem was still connectd and on and cycling, when it was dead and already on the way to them to be exchanged (I called for directions to the exchange place, and they were like, don't exchange it - we'll see if we can fix it right now - oh, I see your modem is on and connected, there is no problem). Yeah, right...!!!!

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Posted by neX_ im aware of that. its not _properly_ grounded. power levels on a line should never really be perceivable. you should be able to touch the open tail of the wire and not feel anything at all on the last mile. typically if you are (too much) getting power on the last mile (subjects home), there is a ground problem. there could also be a 'jump' if you have lines running in-conduit together, but this would also introduce noise to the line. again noise (SNR) would keep the cable modem offline, if it is unable to lock on to signal that is able to push thru the noise floor.

Yeah. Never in my life did I think I would get shocked from it. And I don't mean like, a spark or something. I mean, zzzzzzaappppp, deep, muscle-twitching stuff like being shocked with a stun gun (had it happen to me for 'fun')....of course not at that level, but the numb/tingling/burning was terrible and the inability to move off the line at first was really crazy.

Then to have my arm touch the splitter/joiner and get shocked to heck because my arm was between it and the metal computer case, that sucked because I was wedged in between and couldn't move quickly. Arrgh!

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Posted by sandaili And I don't mean like, a spark or something. I mean, zzzzzzaappppp, deep, muscle-twitching stuff like being shocked with a stun gun (had it happen to me for 'fun')....of course not at that level, but the numb/tingling/burning was terrible and the inability to move off the line at first was really crazy. Then to have my arm touch the splitter/joiner and get shocked to heck because my arm was between it and the metal computer case, that sucked because I was wedged in between and couldn't move quickly. Arrgh! L

Yeah, um, how is that not "experiencing problems?"

If, for example, you had a pace-maker, that would be a life threatening shock that that they have exposed you to.


For a while, I was doing quality control inspections for a cable company. If I found this, I would get the installer fired.

Oh, I totally agree. Around here, though, this company does not.

I forgot to mention my "installer" when we moved here. First off he was supposed to use existing holes, otherwise we got charged. I told him this...I tell him to shut the front door since I have pets, when he goes in and out. I walked out from the bedroom to find the door wide open. I told him three more times, and I just had to like, sit out there and close it every time he came in and out because he wouldn't.

He looked like he hadn't taken a shower in days (talking about arms and hands, and I used to work as a maid so I know what a days work will put on you, this was ridiculously gross). He did not know how to program the cable box. He left without getting a signal. He also started touching my fiance's mac (I told him leave that one alone, the PC was the one getting the internet) and so I had to wash it (white mac). Everything he touched was sticky, he left mud and dirt and grease everywhere, and oh yeah - he drilled a hole in the bedroom wall with a huge drill bit, without permission (supposed to use old holes), and put NO caps on it whatsoever and called it a day. I was so frustrated at that point I just caulked it and put a cap on myself. You could see outside with the cable in the hole. And that was "installed".

Comcast just plain sucks. Yes, there are plenty of cheap, good, high speed DSL companies here. The problem is, none of them will work over the phone lines for our buildings.

Everyone around here gets away with "it's not our problem". Hence the (semi) cheap rent of no 1400 (used to be 1250).

Comcast was the company that I believe disconnected an old lady's phone or something and didn't come back and help her, and then she came in to the main office and smashed their computer with a hammer....LOL...

They are not well liked.

My only alternative would be using satellite and I am not paying for that. I'll live with being shocked instead of paying 1,000 bucks a month (yah right) for internet.

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