Wireless network set up.

December 19, 2007 10:25 AM

Wireless routers: can I tell the router what devices to allow without having to enter passwords on those devices?

I have a wireless router (Belkin Pre-N). I have two laptops and a tivo that connect to the router. When I look at the router's setup pages, I see that there are two, sometimes three other devices connected -- they don't have names I recognize (like, they aren't "nextdoornighbor's computer" or anything). I would like to tell the router to only allow my notebooks and tivo to connect, instead of blocking out the other devices by MAC address, or by password protecting it (for some reason, when I try to password protect it, it just results in none of my devices working and me having to reset the router).

I don't really care if someone else is using my internet access, but sometimes the router gets sllllloooow. (right now we're only connected at 24.0....) The computers are firewalled.

I'm not sure I'm even asking this question properly, and googling doesn't help because I don't have the right words. Please help!

posted by dpx.mfx to computers & internet (10 comments total)

You can usually set up a MAC whitelist, so only the specified devices can connect.
posted by GuyZero at 10:27 AM on December 19, 2007

If you have determined neighbors, then this will just require them to spoof their MACs. MAC address filtering isn't an effective security measure.
posted by philomathoholic at 10:48 AM on December 19, 2007

The average Windows user doesn't even know what a MAC address is, let alone how to spoof one. I've white listed by MAC address for years without a problem. Most routers make it easy. make sure everything is connected, and then log into the router. There should be any easy way to allow all currently connected devices without typing in the MAC addresses by hand. After a reboot you should be set.
posted by COD at 10:55 AM on December 19, 2007

MAC white listing will probably work well enough. You just add the MAC addresses of the devices you own to the white list. People can spoof MAC addresses. I'm not sure anyone will bother to do this.
posted by chunking express at 11:16 AM on December 19, 2007

As far as the router being slow, remember that your internet connection is the limiting factor here. Your wireless connection may claim to be connected at 24 Mbps, but unless your high-speed internet connection is 24 Mbps, you won't notice a difference.

Case in point, my cable internet connection advertises a 6 Mbps download speed. My N-series router says it's 240. In real-world use, my connection to the web will only be 6 Mbps. I might be able to transfer data to other computers on my LAN at higher speeds, but the web remains capped at 6 Mbps.

Also remember that the speeds listed on the Belkin are typically not achievable in real-world conditions. Your wireless connection may be slow due to interference from other networks on the same channel or neighboring channels, or 2.4 ghz phones or microwaves. Also, distance from the AP comes in to play. The 240 Mbps listed on the box can only be seen at the lab.

If you don't want to use MAC filtering, as you indicated in your post, you may have to look at limiting DHCP to 4 addresses, or use static IPs on the four units.

MAC filtering is useless. It's like someone walking into the White House with a name tag that says "The President."
posted by Psionic_Tim at 11:29 AM on December 19, 2007

While I disagree that MAC filter is useless for home users, turning off DHCP and using statis addressing is another way to stop casual users from stealing wireless internet. It's easily overcome as well, in theory, but in practice most people will just look for a different open AP to use. WEP isn't perfect either, but it's good enough for most home users.
posted by GuyZero at 12:14 PM on December 19, 2007

Mac listing is probably fine for your purposes - yeah, someone can get in if they're determined (they scan for wireless users in the area, set their computer to pretend to be each one individually, and get in), but its probably just cheap neighbors. I stole internet for a bit before I got hooked up with cable.
Passwords are better by far - without passwords, all the data you send is unencrypted, so people could hack your bank account, email, ebay, paypal etc even without getting on your internet, something most people don't realize. I'd buy a new router personally; you could plug your current one into the new one for things like TIVO that have trouble with passwords and where you aren't worried about security, and then use WPA2 for the working router for your computer so you don't get your identity stolen.
posted by lrodman at 1:28 PM on December 19, 2007

(right now we're only connected at 24.0....

Thats meaningless. How fast your connection is to the router is not how fast your connection to the internet is. Typically your connection to the internet is 1.5 to 3mbps. So if everyone is at 24 mbps then you have more than enough to access that 1.5-3. 54, 24, etc just means how strong your signal is NOT how fast your internet connection is.

MAC address filtering is useless. Get WPA working on there. Call belkin. Get the newest firmware. Return it.
posted by damn dirty ape at 1:51 PM on December 19, 2007

Agree with philomatholic. MAC addresses are easily spoofed.
posted by allelopath at 1:55 PM on December 19, 2007

Change the default name, turn off the SSID, and use WPA not WEP. That's about what you need to know.
posted by TomMelee at 4:08 PM on December 19, 2007