I have ZA on my XP pro and Norton Internet Security on my XP Home. I have
opened file and printer sharing for the IP address of the other computer.
( How do
I change my IP address). THis setup lets me access either computer from both
machines.
Thanks Chuck for ur guidance.
My landlord wont allow me to drill holes in the walls to pass the ethernet
cable. The wireless
router is mine but it is kept in my landlord house. I dont want to spend for
another
router if I can..
Thanks for the advice regarding munging my email address.. I have done it..
hope it is right.
Damu,
Munging is much better.
I guess the question here is whether you trust your landlord. Not just do you
trust him to not try to snoop on your computers, but do you trust him to not get
infected computers, which could (with some combined threat worms) install on one
computer, then attempt to spread across the LAN.
If you trust him (her?) then your physical setup should be fine. You can get by
with file sharing protected by fixed ip addresses, then blocking file sharing
using your firewalls (NPF and ZA) to trust only the single ip address of the
other computer.
Since the router is yours, I presume that you maintain it under your control.
Even though it's physically under the control of your landlord. Good.
Change the router management password, and disable remote (WAN) management.
Enable WEP / WPA. Use non-trivial (non-guessable) values for each. (No "My dog
has fleas").
Enable MAC filtering - add your landlords and your computers MAC addresses.
Change the subnet of your LAN - don't use the default. See step 2 below.
Disable DHCP, and assign an address to each computer manually. For your
landlords protection, do this to his computers too. See steps below.
Install a software firewall on every computer connected to a wireless LAN. Put
manually assigned ip addresses in the Local (highly trusted) Zone.
Don't disable SSID broadcast - some configurations require the SSID broadcast.
But change the SSID itself - to something that doesn't identify you, or the
equipment.
Enable the router activity log. Examine it regularly. Know what each
connection listed represents - you? a wireless neighbor?.
Setting up manually assigned IP addresses:
1) On each computer, wired or wireless, save the current settings. From a
command window, enter "ipconfig /all >c:ipconfig.txt". Save and / or print each
file and keep it safe, for future reference.
2) Change the LAN address of the router. Default might be 192.168.0.1, I would
use, say, 192.168.201.1. Subnet mask stays at 255.255.255.0.
3) Assign ip addresses for each computer. For your landlord's 3 computers,
let's say 192.168.201.101, .102, and .103. For your 2 computers, say
192.168.201.151 and .152.
4) Determine the DNS server settings for the computers. Some routers actively
provide a DNS server, others direct you to your ISPs recommended (provided) DNS
servers. The correct values for you will be in the ipconfig.txt listing (from
step 1).
5) Setup the ip and dns server addresses on each computer. For XP, Settings -
Network Connections - (right click on) Local Area Connection - Properties gets
you the Properties wizard. Then TCP/IP Properties - General tab gives you the
configuration. Select "Use the following ip address", and "Use the following
DNS server addresses", and enter an ip address, subnet mask, default gateway
(192.168.201.1), and dns servers addresses.
As you change ip settings on the router, and on each computer, remember that you
will lose connectivity when changes are made. Always think 2 or 3 steps ahead
of what you're doing, but execute and test changes 1 step at a time.
Making changes to a wireless router, from a computer connected wirelessly, is
not a good idea. Whenever possible, use a wired computer to make router
changes, so the wireless changes don't block you from accessing the router.
The above looks pretty complicated, but after you get used to it, it won't be.
Do everything methodically, and if you make a change and it doesn't work, change
it back, so things work again. Then figure out what you did wrong, and try
again.
Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.