Girl Geekette

Back in the first article, Wireless Networking - At What Cost? , John Hancock was introduced. He had just bought all of his supplies at Circuit City to set up a wireless network at his home. He bought a new laptop that has a built in B/G network card and a wireless access point. When he got home, he simply set up the access point, went through a simple configuration wizard and was on the network in less than fifteen minutes surfing the internet with his high speed internet cable modem and his new laptop. John did not take any security precautions when he set it up. He did not think he needed any type of security on his network. Because the type of wireless router he bought is also considered a firewall, and because he has a software firewall on his laptop, he did not even consider the need to have any kind of security set up on his network. It was also mentioned in this article what when he received an alert from his software firewall that he did not pay any attention to the alert. He did not notice that it was coming from inside his network, not from the internet.

Flash - (5.84 MB)

This movie will open in a new window.

Discussing wireless networks can be a very broad subject. It can lead to many different subjects. One of the best ways I have found to sum it all up - the good and the bad - is by presenting it as a movie. Although this movie covers the very basics of wireless networks, it is one that the average person might even discover a few new things about wireless networking and what it can do.

There are many people like John Hancock in this world. They hear about the benefits of Wireless Networking and decide it is a great opportunity. As mentioned earlier, it can be a break from the "Corded World". It is easy to set up most wireless connections out of the box. Technology has pretty much made them plug and play. Most of the time, you do not have to have much knowledge of what goes into wireless to get it to work. Answer a few questions in the setup about how you normally connect to the internet and you are on.

In the first article, it was mentioned that the Wireless Access point he had bought also had a firewall built into it. So, he did not even blink twice when his Norton Firewall alerted him the the fact that someone else was on the network. This other computer that joined the network might have broadcast a "HELLO" to other computers on the network to see if there were any other computers on the network that answered. This is most likely what set off the alarm on Norton’s Firewall on John’s computer.

You have now been introduced to John Hancock. He is among the millions of people each year who now use the comforts and benefits of wireless networking to ease his life. You may already know him, or someone like him. He has a high speed internet connection at home, purchases a new laptop, and decides to take advantage of the wireless technology. Along with being able to use his new laptop wirelessly at home in any room or outside, he can also take it to places such as airports, restaurants, and "wifi hotspots" and use wireless to search the internet and read email.

Although with the comforts, there are also insecurities. The insecurities are in the local wireless network itself.