MoneySaving and Security Tip - Turn your wireless router power output down

Conor_3

HaushinkaGreenDay wrote: »

Sure, just type 'WPA WPA2 hacking' into Google and you'll find loads of sites detailing not only how to do this but what software you'll need.

No you won't. You'll find a ton of software to crack WEP but nothing to crack WPA or WPA2 other than some lame !!!! dictionary software, which just keeps having a go with different words until it gets it, or a brute force method which will get there eventually. . On my router, dictionary attacks won't work and the brute force method will take you about 128 years.

All you'll find in regards to achieving what they have with WEP in respect to WPA is a research paper showing that they had managed to decode one single packet on a WPA encrypted network and that was it. They weren't able to connect with the router or transmit data through it.

As for your pointless BBC news article THAT WAS WRITTEN BEFORE WPA WAS EVEN INTRODUCED and BBC Watchdog are hardly known for having even a basic clue about I.T.

Pssst

Thats the end of this thread then..!

John_Gray

I would agree that there is little more that needs saying!

samhale

WEP cracking uses packet sniffing- not dictionary attacks? So you could have anything on it?
That's what I assumed, but then again the BT Homehub standard password is like 98nd92nd92nd

Conor_3

samhale wrote: »

WEP cracking uses packet sniffing- not dictionary attacks?

Yes which is why it takes all of 30 seconds to crack.

basmic

Done an experiment with my Linksys WRT54GS v1.1 running the Tomato (link) firmware v1.23.

• 1 PC connected, wireless disabled, no network activity - 6.7w
• 1 PC connected, wireless disabled, uTorrent active = 7.6w
• 1 PC connected, wireless enabled (default of 42mW wireless transmittion power), no network activity = 7.6w
• 1 PC connected, wireless enabled (11mW wireless transmittion power), no network activity = 7.6w
• 1 PC connected, wireless enabled (1mW wireless transmittion power), no network activity = 7.6w
• 1 PC connected, wireless enabled (100mW wireless transmittion power), no network activity = 7.6w

Argue that my meter is faulty; argue my router is faulty...whatever. Those are my readings!

BargainGalore

Only way I can assume of turning power down on Netgear dg384g is turn wireless off

superstylin

TorrestheGreat wrote: »

Most pointless thread of all time?

quickest way to stop people trying to offer well meaning advice?

robt_2

HaushinkaGreenDay wrote: »

The main point of my post was for security reasons - the money-saving part would be prevention of unauthorised network usage, which in turn would save money by preventing, at best, ISP download limits being exceeded; and at worst, personal information and data being stolen.

I love the way you assume that people who can't set up security to make it secure in the first place would be able to change their power output settings.

John_Gray

superstylin wrote: »

quickest way to stop people trying to offer well meaning advice?

I don't think there is any objection to "people offering well-meaning advice", but making a post with such a pretentious title which is inaccurate in many details which the OP did not bother to check surely requires correction, if only for those who are not familiar with the topic and could be misled.

To give an extreme example, if you were 'advised' that it was a pretty neat idea to walk up the third lane of the M1, you would know immediately that this advice was wrong. But a young child, or someone from a land where there were no cars, might well accept this as fact.

There is the concept of the "duty of care", and making out that something is fact when it has not been checked or verified falls short of this ideal.

[end of pretentious post! ]