I have a desktop with router and a laptop with wireless
card. What steps do I take to share files and printer?
Thanks.
Here are a couple websites with good tutorials on file / printer sharing in
general:
<
http://www.cablesense.com/>
<
http://www.homenethelp.com/home-network.asp>
<
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/>
Since you mention wireless, there is more work you should do to protect yourself
(and the rest of us).
Here's a story about somebody's very stupid wireless neighbor. Don't expect all
wireless neighbors to be this stupid.
<
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/11/22/264890.html>.
The point is, you need to protect a wireless LAN with more precautions than just
the NAT firewall.
Enable WEP / WPA. Use non-trivial (non-guessable) values for each. (No "My dog
has fleas").
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.
Change the subnet of your LAN - don't use the default.
Disable DHCP, and assign an address to each computer manually.
Install a software firewall on every computer connected to a wireless LAN. Put
manually assigned ip addresses in the Local (highly trusted) Zone. Open the
following ports for file sharing, only in the Local Zone: TCP 139, 445; UDP 137,
138, 445.
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 neighbor?.
Use non-trivial accounts and passwords on every computer connected to a wireless
LAN. Disable or delete Guest userid, if possible (XP Home is a bad choice
here). Rename Administrator, to a non-trivial value, and give it a non-trivial
password. Never use the Administrator renamed account for day to day
activities, only when intentionally doing administrative tasks.
Stay educated - know what the threats are. Newsgroups alt.internet.wireless and
microsoft.public.windows.networking,wireless are good places to start.
Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
