Sharing cable modem wirelessly

[bob clark]

Hi Paul and Paton,

I told ya I knew nothing about networking Paul. So.....

My main computer is a gaming computer (Thunderbox XFuel w/Asus SLI mobo) and is in my livingroom where my cable modem is located. I also have an old Alienware (upgraded to 2.6GHz) that's just setting here as my backup computer and collecting dust. I just recently replaced the PSU and motherboard in it after I burnt them out by leaning the computer against the strong magnet of a subwoofer so it's almost like new again! But duh.

I don't want to network both computers up together, at least for now, since they'd both need to be turned on and I don't like that idea but would like to share the cable modem. Perhaps someday I may want to network both computers up together but for now would just like to connect the old Alienware up to my LCD VGA capable TV that's in my bedroom and get online. I plan on buying a wireless keyboard, mouse and a VGA cable (the Alienware will be kept across the bedroom) so if I want to I can get online while relaxing in bed. I'm gettin' old and lazy!

I'm wondering if I can do this with these two wireless network components. I'm trying to do it as cheaply as possible..... the wireless router is refurbished. Would I just connect this up to the cable modem that's in my livingroom.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=WGT624NAR&cat=NET&cpc=NETbsc This Netgear WGT624 108Mbps Wireless Firewall Router

And then install this wireless PCI adapter into my old Alienware that will be in my bedroom?

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=MS-6834-BULK&cat=NET PCI wireless adapter

Are both these components compatible with each other and is this the best way to wirelessly share the cable modem?

And if I decide in the future, would I be able to network both computers together for file sharing and gaming with these wireless components?

I was looking around for a USB or even a PS2 backlit wireless keyboard since the only light I usually have in the bedroom comes from the TV but the only one I could find isn't released yet and with the mouse would cost well over $300. No way! It's a Microsoft product (http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productdetails.aspx?pid=080) due for release in February of '07. It sure looks nice but it costs a lot for just a keyboard and mouse.

I can find cheap wireless keyboards and mice and cheap backlit keyboards but not both combined into one.

Thanks.

Bob.

[Patonb]

Yup.. Thats all great. A properly setup (use WPA security) WiFi connection is your easiest solution to home netorking. (Your running 2, 1 computer networks). You'll be doubely protected as it's also a NAT firewall.

Connecting the comps is 6 minute operation, to share the folders and resources. My next purchase will probably a network drive so I'll be able to access it from any of my 3 computers........ I'm going to setup a linux box on my old PIV 1.6.

Good price as well.

Can't help you on the keyboard though...Maybe rig up your own?/? Or buy a flashlight

[sjean423]

No help on the networking, I've got my own live in geeks for that ..... LOL .

Or buy a flashlight How about one of those clip on book lights?

http://www.levenger.com/PAGETEMPLATES/PRODUCT/Content.asp?Params=Category=559-640%7CLevel=2-3%7CPageID=3980

[bob clark]

Yup.. Thats all great. A properly setup (use WPA security) WiFi connection is your easiest solution to home netorking. (Your running 2, 1 computer networks). You'll be doubely protected as it's also a NAT firewall.

Connecting the comps is 6 minute operation, to share the folders and resources. My next purchase will probably a network drive so I'll be able to access it from any of my 3 computers........ I'm going to setup a linux box on my old PIV 1.6.

Good price as well.

Can't help you on the keyboard though...Maybe rig up your own?/? Or buy a flashlight

Hi Paton,

I thought WiFi was for notebooks. I know you can hook up a PC to a notebook using Wifi but can you connect two PCs via Wifi?

I may hold hold off awhile before attempting a wireless sharing of the cable modem or networking of the two PCs.

Because I'd also need to buy another hard drive since I'm using the one from my old Alienware (120GB Seagate) in my newer computer as a backup or storage drive. I have XP Pro installed (it has 4 partitions) on it so I can just pop it back into the Alienware but it would be easier/better just to leave it where it is and buy an inexpensive 40-80GB hard drive. And the next thing I'd want to do is be able to record shows off the TV and would need to invest in a video capture card. And then buy a DVD burner for the Alienware or swap out hard drives everytime I recorded a show or trade the DVD burner in my new computer for the CD-RW DVD drive in the old or buy another DVD burner and the next thing you know I'd have my little inexpensive project ballooning out of control.

Plus there's there's the lighting situation with the wireless keyboard and mouse..... I have a flashlight and even a fairly heavy-duty rechargeable battery operated compressor that backups as a 12 volt power supply that has an adjustable snake-like halogen lamp on it (for hurricane outages etc) but it would be a pain in the ass to use in bed since it weighs a ton... well about 15 pounds plus I think and I'd be getting glare etc. Or I could buy a light that snaps onto the headboard but where would it all end?

I'll just do my Internet stuff out here in the livingroom for awhile longer and wait until Comcast starts to give out their Hi-Def / DVR combo boxes for free. And hopefully I'll be able to burn DVDs from it. They cost around $350 now. I can get 4 cable boxes for free. 2-4 Hi-Defs and 2-4 DVRs boxes or whatever combination I want but not 1 combo box! It's crazy! And then hook up a network. Orrrrrrr.... (http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=VSP401-PB&cat=CON) I have half a dozen VHS/DVD RCA cables lying around here but in this Wireless Audio/Video transmitter & receiver system they only give you one.... and I believe you need 2! Whatzup with that? :)

Plus I can probably buy a cheap cable modem or rent one from Comcast for $3.50 a month.

But I do want to get a new toy. I've been thinking about getting this USB microscope/camera (http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=99101&cm_mmc=geekmail-_-daily_html-_-13oct06_IBOOKDEALB-_-IBOOKDEALprod). It's only $50 bucks. The resolution is fairly low at 640x480 in jpg and less in video and only has 100x, 200x, 300X lens capability but it's a starter kit. I can start to learn how to do my own bladder infection tests and the next thing you know I'll have found a cure for SCI! :) I can upgrade the camera to a 1280x1024 rez for $129 if I take a real interest in it and use the other one as a webcam. Some E-microscopes can go well into the thousands. EBay has a bunch (http://business.listings.ebay.com/Microscopes_Microscope-Cameras-Video_W0QQsacatZ58192QQsocmdZListingItemList) of them for sale in the multiples of $100s up to almost $2000.

I'll wait until tomorrow to make up my mind but it would be fun to look at microscopic stuff on the computer monitor. It's just that the resolution kinda sux.

Oh well, I'm just bored and need to find a hobby.... I sure ain't gonna get a job at my age!

Thanks for the help.

Bob.

[Patonb]

Well techically there is no difference between a wireless connection and a wired one, in terms of connection to the interp0rn, well except for the lack of cables. They both transmit the data exactly the same, with the wireless beng sent by radio at 2.4Ghz.
Notebooks just have built in cards which make them more portable and thus marketed based on that. Most desktops are not used portably, so it's not usually thought of as a wireless computing device, but that is changing with desktop motherboards geting intel wireless chips on board, and wireless routers being dirt cheap. Plus, who wants ugly cables runnng around their house?

Have fun deciding on a hobby.... You could always lean Photoshop, and make an interest website of people without clothes :p

[CapnGimp]

The USB 'scope will keep you entertained for hours on end B0bKat, hey Paton, you means THESE kinda wireZ????
lol It's temporary, gotta add change some drops,hopefully tomorrow they boobooed. Til then, I'm practicing my wc limbo

[Scott Pruett]

I thought WiFi was for notebooks. I know you can hook up a PC to a notebook using Wifi but can you connect two PCs via Wifi?
Every computer in our house is connected via WiFi - one Windows PC (desktop), one Apple Powerbook (laptop), and one Apple Powermac (desktop). Paton's right - just think of it as an elimination of cables. Another analogy cordless phones - just substitute a voice line for a data line, and substitute a handset for a computer. Same concept.

[Patonb]

Nice floors Cpn. I got carpet, But yha, like Those cables.

Just remember.... For the love of god, DO NOT USE WEP, use WPA to secure you connection, and don't broadcast your ESSID, network name.

The first WEP I ever cracked took me 15 minutes! 64bit encryption, done a 128 in 1 1/2hrs, but i had a crappy signal.

[Scott Pruett]

Just remember.... For the love of god, DO NOT USE WEP, use WPA to secure you connection, and don't broadcast your ESSID, network name.
depends where you live. around here it doesn't matter; my network has been unsecured for years.

[PN]

Below is an excerpt from the Shownotes from Security Now! (http://thisweekintech.com/node/3987) with Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte.

Steve: And so he's on. Now, that's not the same as being able to communicate from there on. But it turns out that, I mean, that's typical of the mistakes that were made. WEP, the WEP technology, is so badly broken that, given about an hour, it's possible to crack it for sure. Sometimes you crack it sooner; sometimes it takes a little bit longer. There are newer attacks which are able to stimulate the access point to generate much more traffic than it normally would in order to get it to give more samples of its use of the key, which then, using any freely downloadable software - I mean, there's like 10 or 15 different WEP decryption packages now, and people are spitting them out just because it's sort of fun sport. Transcript of Episode 11 (http://www.grc.com/sn/SN-011.htm).

[Patonb]

Because WEP encryption sends out a certain part of the key basically in the clear, you just collect enough and Blam. WPA can be crack, but requires a few million, verses 100,000. The brute force cracking is also much harder with WPA, upto days to break, so it's usually skipped in "wardriving (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_driving)"

Here's an article from Tom's Networking

At a recent ISSA (Information Systems Security Association) meeting in Los Angeles, a team of FBI agents demonstrated current WEP-cracking techniques and broke a 128 bit WEP key in about three minutes. Special Agent Geoff Bickers ran the Powerpoint presentation and explained the attack, while the other agents (who did not want to be named or photographed) did the dirty work of sniffing wireless traffic and breaking the WEP keys.



FULL Article (http://www.tomsnetworking.com/2005/03/31/the_feds_can_own_your_wlan_too/)

People hack your wireless not for your info, but for your IP. With your IP, one could d/l kiddy porn, make death threats to the pres, and launch nasty attacks, and It'd all come back to you.

It took me 3 days to figure out the software, and that's mainly cause it was Linux, and 15 minutes to implement it.

[PN]

Hi Paul and Paton,
I told ya I knew nothing about networking Paul. So.....

And here are your instructional videos: Lab Rats Episode 1 (http://www.labrats.tv/episodes/ep1.html) and Episode 7 (http://www.labrats.tv/episodes/ep7.html) starring Andy Walker cohost of Call for Help.:)

[Patonb]

Hey Bob,

Just seen this on Pimp My Ride..
http://www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com/

The Virtual Laser Keyboard (VKB) uses both infrared and laser technology to generate an invisible field and project a full-size virtual QWERTY keyboard on any surface.
You can use the VKB (Virtual PC Keyboard) with both your laptop and PC or with a compatible mobile device, Smartphone and PDA.
The I-Tech VKB reacts exactly like a real keyboard.
Direction technology based on optical recognition enables the user to tap the images of the keys, complete with realistic tapping sounds(!), which feeds into the compatible PDA, Smartphone, laptop or PC
http://www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com/images/virtual-laser-keyboard-hand.jpg
Looks pretty cool.

[Broknwing]

Hey Bob,

Just seen this on Pimp My Ride..
http://www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com/


http://www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com/images/virtual-laser-keyboard-hand.jpg
Looks pretty cool.

I've seen that on "I Want That" & "I Want That Tech Toys" a couple times... :D looks pretty cool If I were using a desktop computer I'd probably already have it....I'm such a techno-geek :mega:

[bob clark]

Hi Paton,

Thanks for the link. That's an interesting looking device... I wonder if it would work on my abdomen while laying in bed! I could tape the I-Tech VKB "projector" to my.... well, you know.... and have it display the keyboard on my stomach. :) But I've changed my mind about networking my computers together, at least for now. I'd never get out outta bed if I had a coffee maker and keyboard near it!

In the past couple of months I needed to stay in bed more than I wanted to in order to heal a pressure sore on the bottom of my foot so the thought of networking was rumbling around in my skull but after 2 months my foot has finally healed. And I need all the incentives available just to get the ef up in the morning. Well I ain't that bad but..... The weather has finally broken down here in FL (it got down to 45* this morning... my feet are purple already) so I'll be getting outside more often. I'm more or less a hermit during the heat of the summer down here.

I got a couple 6 packs of Samuel Adams' "Mix Packs" in the fridge so I'll probably be "sampling" them today and end up rampaging the neighborhood this afternoon.

But I still have a question concerning the wireless networking devices that I linked to. Do they hook up to my cable modem so that I can use both computers, one at a time, with only one computer turned on at a time or does one computer always need to work as a server or whatever? My main gaming computer is liquid cooled and I don't want the pump in it running 24/7 just so I can have access to a second networked computer for an hour or two each day.

Bob.

[Patonb]

Your modem hooks to the router. The router is a very simple computer, usually running some form of Unix. Your computers are connected to the router computer. You can see this if you port scan your network. You will find an extra computer at the address of 192.168.1.1(Linksys router)

So the router "computer" is always on controlling who gets what internet traffic. So to answer your question, No your gaming computer would only have to be on when you want to use it, or if you want to access your harddrive.

About the keyboard, I think it needs something, um.... BIG to attach to. So i don't think your idea would "swing"

[bob clark]

About the keyboard, I think it needs something, um.... BIG to attach to. So i don't think your idea would "swing"

You're so cruel and hurtful! :) And insightful....

[bob clark]

Hi CapnGimp,

The USB 'scope will keep you entertained for hours on end B0bKat,

I'm glad I waited a little while to order it. The newer version goes up to 900x (http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=88201&cm_mmc=geekmail-_-daily_html-_-26oct06_Geekytoys_-GeekytoysProduct).

Five (5) objective lenses (100 x / 300x / 450x / 600x / 900x)

Whereas the older one only went up to 600x. Plus it comes with a lot more accessories like metal tweezers, dissecting needle, stirring rod, scalpel, pipette, slides, etc. for screwing around with. For $55 you can't go wrong even if it's only a starter kit. I don't have $20,000 for a "good" one!

I'm not expecting to get professional results from this "toy" but it should be fun to screw around with and learn from. And I like the idea of being able to take pictures and even video with it, although I'm uncertain of the what the quality/resolution will look like in actuality. And like with the other one, I can always upgrade the digital camera for better rez.

If I like it I may get one for my 10 year old nephew (2nd cousin) in Hawaii. Last year I got him a remote control dune buggy so he's probably tired of that type of toy by now. I know my cousin (his father) certainly is! :)

When I was first paralyzed, like you, I bought a telescope (it came in a beautiful wooden case :) ) and would spend hours outdoors exploring the heavens. This was before computer controlled telescopes that can now find and track celestial bodies and take digital pictures etc. of them. I could have bought a special manual camera and attached it to the telescope but here in North Central Florida the skies aren't very clear (especially during the hot, humid, muggy summer months) very often and where I lived there were too many street and city lights to get the results one should, like up in the mountains where you live. When I used to go camping (pre-SCI) in the mountains of PA I would be amazed at how many stars and galaxies were visable there versus where I lived near Philly.

Anyway, I just hope the 900x magnification of the microscope will be able to "see" E.coli and other bacteria like Pseudomonas and its different strains. I guess I should have investigated first to make sure but what the hell, it should be fun no matter what I'm able to see microscopically. I'm going to get petri dishes and some agar culturing medium for molds but especially for bacteria. Or make my own growing medium from gelatin. An incubator would be nice to have but I'm sure with all the electronic gagetry I have lying around here I can make a box that will maintain a constant 98.6* F. or thereabouts.

I'm hoping to discover a prevention from UTIs so that that little inconvenience doesn't bother us anymore. I've already found a way to prevent them in me but I'm concerned about the long-term safety of my "procedure", so onward to better and safer things.

Anyway, enjoy your new home and take us some celestial pictures from your telescope and post them. Or of that pretty young "thang" getting undressed across the valley!

Bob.