Transcript: Chat - Wireless Home Networking with Windows XP
Published: May 23, 2003
Please note: Portions of this transcript have been edited for clarity
Moderator John_E (Microsoft): Good day. Welcome to today's chat 'Wireless Home Networking with Windows XP.' Before we begin the chat, we'd like to go over the ground rules and basic instructions.
Moderator John_E (Microsoft): First, the lower window is where you will post your questions and follow-up questions. In order to assist our hosts with finding the questions, we ask that you precede any question you ask with a Q:.
Moderator John_E (Microsoft): If you are following-up on an answer you've already received, please add the persons name you are following-up to after the Q:.
Moderator John_E (Microsoft): Second, as some chats are very active, try to be patient while we go through and type answers up. If we don't answer the question in a reasonable amount of time (say 15 minutes,) send it again.
Moderator John_E (Microsoft): Third, today's chat is scheduled to last about an hour.
Moderator John_E (Microsoft): Fourth, you may want to go to Chat Options on the left hand side of your screen and uncheck 'Turn off all new whispers' and 'Don't display any messages with URLs'
Moderator John_E (Microsoft): Fifth, we've been experiencing some issues with Tablet PC OS in these chat rooms. You may experience some crashes and we recommend not using the Tablet PC OS in this room. We are aware of the issue and are working on it.
Moderator John_E (Microsoft): Before we begin, lets meet our hosts for today's chat.
Special Guest Barb (MVP): I'm Barb Bowman and I am a Product Development Manager for Comcast High Speed Internet and have been writing about Wireless Networking technologies in Expert Zone Columns since the launch of Windows XP and the Expert Zone web site.
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): My name is Warren Barkley. I am the Lead Program Manager for wireless in the Windows team. Our team is responsible for wireless configuration and security in the Windows products.
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): My name is Anton Krantz. I am a program manager in the wireless networking group in Windows. I'm responsible for the wireless zero configuration service in Windows XP.
Moderator John_E (Microsoft): Now, lets get on with the show. Start sending in your questions.
Special Guest Barb (MVP): Q: SMC-What are the three most important things I should do to secure my home wireless network (SMC and Netgear)
Special Guest Barb (MVP): A: First, use the strongest WEP (128 bit) , Second, if the router supports access control lists, use them and only let authorized MAC addresses access wireless, third, keep up with firmware upgrades for the router.
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): Q: what are the security features included with windows xp specific to wireless? stated another way - how to we keep unauthorized users off our home network and protect our data w/o the need to purchase a 3rd party app? A: You should secure your
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): A: You should secure your access point with a strong WEP key (104 bit - 13 ASCII or 26 hex characters). You should also ensure that you choose open authentication as opposed to shared key authentication. Shared key authentication can be cracked very easil
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): Shared key authentication can be cracked very easily whereas it takes much longer to crack a WEP key. You can protect against attackers cracking the WEP key by changing it periodically. In addition, you should filter your AP to only accept the MAC address
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): MAC addresses of your wireless laptops.
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): Q: hello..i have attempted to setup a wireless network with three computers but only two computers are reliably on the network..is there any documentation on setup..I have a USR Wireless 802.11b 11m router and PCMICA NIC cards
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): A: There is some documentation on the MS web site http://www.microsoft.com/wifi but your specific problem I doubt is addressed there. We have seen some APs that can only handle a couple of clients at a time. If you can get any of
Special Guest Barb (MVP): Q: SMC : If I have a SMC wireless router as my "base" and connect another WAP 50 feet away, will that 'extend' my range by 50'?
Special Guest Barb (MVP): A: You should be able to set up roaming by doing this if the hardware supports roaming. Use the same SSID but a different channel and extend the range. I've done this with other brands myself, but not a SMC.
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): Q. With 802.11b can I use manufacturers 'A' pcmcia card in manufacturers 'B' PCI adapter and expect it to work ok ?
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): A. Yes, any card that has a WiFi alliance logo (WFA) has been through interop testing and will work together. See www.wirelessethernet.com for a list.
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): SMC : Is there a simple explanation of MAC addresses somewhere? they seem to come up in WIFI conversation alot A: The MAC address is the physical address of the network adapter (for example the wireless network adapter). Each adapter has a unique address
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): Each adapter has a unique address and the prefix identifies the manufacturer. You can see it by typing ipconfig /all.
Special Guest Barb (MVP): Q: SMC : Are there dangers associated with leaving a "port" open? I believe for my ReplayTV to connect, I'm supposed to leave a port open (can't remember which port)..?
Special Guest Barb (MVP): A: You would forward that particular port to the IP used by ReplayTV on the router you are using. This should not put your computers at risk
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): Q. Also, I've read that 102.11g is not really that helpful for most people, due to throughput restrictions of cable modems, etc. Is this accurate that the bandwidth of cable and DSL really doesn't fully utilize the 11MBps of 802.11b, so no real need for
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): A. Most cable modems and DSL run at speeds below 2 Mb so 11b is enough to fill that link. If you need more speed in the home you would want to consider 11g or 11a. See Barb's column "Wireless Choices" for info about speed.
Moderator John_E (Microsoft): The URL for that article is http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/columns/bowman/02september03.asp
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): Q: ok novice user question... limiting the access to my 802.11 wireless network to a specific MAC address is the main way to keep people from using that network? One of my fears is that somone close buy could access the internet using my wireless network
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): my wireless network A: Using a WEP key is the best way to secure your home network. The AP will drop all traffic from users who do not have the WEP key and they will not be able to decrypt any traffic without the WEP key. MAC address filtering is an add
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): is an additional step you can perform to limit access to your AP but you should use a strong WEP key as a minimum
Special Guest Barb (MVP): Q: Does anyone know of a comprehensive list of current 802.11 devices - not just PC's but also tablets, PDA's, Pocket PC's etc?
Special Guest Barb (MVP): A: This is a moving target and nearly impossible. It would be like trying to find a list of motherboards that support a certain feature. So, unfortunately, the answer is none that I know of.
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): Q. is there anyway to test if a AP can handle multiple clients
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): A. There are few wireless specific loading tools. In most cases it has to be tested manually. APs should be able to handle more than 2 but there is no standard on that.
Special Guest Barb (MVP): Q: SMC : What is the safest way for me to allow someone to access our home office network securely? Does having a Wireless Router help?
Special Guest Barb (MVP): A: Remote Desktop would be ideal as it is encrypted. You'd have to forward port 3389 to the XP machine being used as the RDP host.
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): Q: Are WEP 'keys' entered in the clear ? How do you stop users from passing them to their friends outside the company ? A: WEP keys are entered in the UI and in Windows XP they are masked as they are entered (like passwords). There is unfortunately noth
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): There is unfortunately nothing to stop a user divulging their WEP key to another user (like a password). You mentioned "company" in your Q, so if you are using wireless in a corporate environment, you should use 802.1X authentication, which offers greater
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): which offers greater security and automatic key management.
Special Guest Barb (MVP): Q: i have been thinking about getting an MS wired BaseStation, but I cant find any in the stores here - are they being recalled? I am in Canada
Special Guest Barb (MVP): A: They should be available. NOT being cancelled or recalled.
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): Q. List of devices --- actually I don't want all the devices, just the categories. Is there more than just PC's with the full Windows environment. Are all WIN-CE devices capable for instance?
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): A. It depends on the device and the OEM. The software is there but it is up to the OEM whether they use it. You might gets pointers from the PPC site on www.Microsoft.com/pocketpc
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): Re. WEP keys in clear.....Does WinXp support 802.1X ? Is is a superset/subset of 802.11 ? A: Yes it does. 802.1X allows for user authentication and automatic distribution and cycling of the WEP keys. We have a lot of documentation on 802.1X on http://ww
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): We have a lot of documentation on 802.1X on http://www.microsoft.com/wifi
Special Guest Barb (MVP): Q: SMC : I've seen brief article indicating there are places like San Francisco where I can use an 802.11b laptop at a Starbucks. Do I have to have a special password, or be registered? How do I find places like that?
Special Guest Barb (MVP): A: The 802.11 planet website has lists, any using XP, available networks will be discovered. Configure the network and bring up the browser and there will be a login screen with information.
Special Guest Barb (MVP): any should be 'and'
Moderator John_E (Microsoft): As a reminder, this chat is 'Wireless Home Networking with Windows XP' and is scheduled to last approximately 30 more minutes.
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): dmk : Which book on wireless home networks would you recommend? A: You should start by reading the Wireless home networking articles in the Expert Zone section on http://www.microsoft.com/wifi
Special Guest Barb (MVP): Q: How do you disable 802.1x authentication?
Special Guest Barb (MVP): A: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/columns/bowman/02september09.asp has details. Right-click the wireless connection, and then click Properties. Click the Wireless Networks tab.
Special Guest Barb (MVP): A:Select the network name in the Preferred networks window, and then click Properties. Select the Authentication tab. Make sure that the check box for authentication is not selected.
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): Q: I have a wireless network in my home office. One AP in the basement another on the second floor. I use the wireless primarily on my Compaq Tablet PC. I find that when copying data to or from a server, if it's a large file, the tablet PC will loose t
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): Yes, we have seen this with some home APs. In general the problem is that the AP runs out of resources and locks up for a brief period of time and drops the connection. Some Home AP and all enterprise APs have the horsepower to prevent this. We can't reco
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): cont.. We can't recommend models but I am sure people on the newsgroups would have suggestions
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): Q. whats wrong with the MS Routers? A. Nothing that we know of currently. Is there a specific problem?
Special Guest Barb (MVP): Q: dmk : Are there reasons *not* to use an 802.11g AP or gateway if you have only 802.11b pc cards? E.g., do the b cards set the highest point for security, despite the presence of G AP?
Special Guest Barb (MVP): A: The G standard isn't ratified yet, so if you can hold off, you should do so. Right now 128 bit security is available on both B andG so the security is equal. WPA will offer a boost in WEP security, and is coming soon from many vendors.
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): Q. i have a small business network setup. the main server is currently win2k server but would like to switch to win2k3. but since universal plug n play is not supported, what steps are necessary for the computer to recognize the wireless base station?
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): A. Wireless Zero config will see the network and allow you to attach to that AP. If you want to secure that connection you need to configuration WEP keys on both sides.
Special Guest Barb (MVP): Q: SMC : I'm trying to decide whether to put my printer on wireless or hardwired connection. How much bandwidth does a typical printing transaction take? It would be more work to do the hardwired (in other room)
Special Guest Barb (MVP): A: I personally prefer to use a printer attached to a wired pc over my router and print to it from my wireless laptop as a shared printer,so the wired desktop does the heavy lifting.
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): Q. I keep seeing firmware updates, etc on the MS broadband www site - then again, I think the MS Routers are great
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): A. We hold our wireless products to a high quality bar so anytime there is a problem we want to fix it right away.
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): Q: Is there a way to completely stop an external party from detecting your wireless network? I know you can shutoff broadcasting and use WEP, is that sufficient? A: Not broadcasting the SSID does not add any security to your network. Think of it simply
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): Think of it simply as a network identifier. You can protect your home network by using WEP and even if an external party detects your network, they can't use it. Additionally you can use MAC filtering on the AP to restrict access to known users.
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): Q: is it possible to setup a db for login in permsissions against an AP?
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): A: If you have a large network you will want to look at RADIUS which is part of Windows server. See http://www.microsoft.com/wifi For small networks there are not many solutions that are lightweight.
Moderator John_E (Microsoft): This chat is scheduled to last about 10 more minutes. Get your last minute questions in now!
Special Guest Barb (MVP): Q: John_Visio_MVP : Other than wandering around with a laptop, are there any interesting uses for wireless. I'm planning on using wireless so my daughter can connect with her friend acroos the street,
Special Guest Barb (MVP): A: I have an 802.11b wireless security camera set up. Also the Smart Displays use 802.11b and they are pretty cool. And I've enabled my XBOX to be wirelesss as well as an eye-2-i from Dlink.
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): Q: We have 2 PC's in our house. Which would be a better idea; wireless or wired networking? We have a PC upstairs in the master bedroom and we have a PC right here in my room (the one i'm on).
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): A: My wife doesn't like me drilling holes in the ceiling so that's why we choose wireless and I work on wireless software.
Special Guest Barb (MVP): Q: dmk : Is there reason *not* to use an 802.11g AP or gateway if you have only 802.11b pc cards?
Special Guest Barb (MVP): A: If you buy one today there is no real guarantee that they will be upgradeable to the ratified standard, but the ones out nbow that are draft will work fine with the "B" cards,
Special Guest Barb (MVP): Q: Q: Barb, comcast is finally laying cable. Is there a website for compatible modems before I buy one?
Special Guest Barb (MVP): A: There should be a list on www.comcast.net somewhere, but if not email me and I'll send you the list
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): Q: Don't think I saw answer to: SMC : You've mentioned "forwarding" a port number a couple of times. Where can I find out how to do this?
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): A. It is different for each device. You will need to find the docs for that device or ask on the newsgroups.
Moderator John_E (Microsoft): That's about all the time we have left for today's chat. Lets give our hosts our thanks and we'd like to thank you for your questions.
Special Guest Warren (Microsoft): Thanks for your questions
Special Guest Anton (Microsoft): so is the wireless zero config service available with windows 2003 server? A: yes
