The macosxhints Forums - Internet is slow via WiFi router

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- - Internet is slow via WiFi router (http://hintsforums.macworld.com/showthread.php?t=101922)

Quote:

Originally Posted by agentx

when and if you are directly connected to your modem make sure you have a firewall on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by paragon (Post 534847)

Why??? And why shouldn't I be as careful with the WiFi connection (my router's firewall isn't on! should I turn it on?

A router provides a very important barrier between your computers and the outside world in the form of something called NAT, or Network Address Translation.

You may notice that your computers, when they are behind a router, have an IP address that begins with 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x. (There's also a third possible series of addresses behind NAT, but they are less-often used.) These banks of IP addresses are known as 'unroutable', because they cannot be found on the Internet as a whole, only behind jillions of NAT routers.

Because your IP address is not routable from the internet as a whole, crackers that want to break into your computer when it is behind your NAT router have to go through a whole bunch of difficult gyrations to indirectly attack you. Being behind a NAT router makes any attack on you hundreds of times more difficult than when you are connected directly to the modem, where they can attack your computer directly.

So, that's why you need a hardened computer to be directly on the internet (I'd say a lot more than just turning on your firewall--read and follow the NSA guide to hardening OS X if you want to be directly on the internet), whereas behind a NAT router, it's a lot of hard work and persistence for a cracker to attack you, and they may as well just look for easier fish.

Trevor

thanks for the clarification.

Quote:

Originally Posted by agentx (Post 534849)

You should have wifi security on as well preferably with WPA2 security But WPA will do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by paragon (Post 534852)

now I am completely confused. my wireless security is wep (because that is what I could remember from another router I had once) where can I find a tutorial with all this important info?

WEP is a old form of wireless 'security', and it was never very good--just a rushed-to-market hack to give wireless networks something, anything to keep out the bad guys, but today is completely and utterly broken. A cracker parked outside your house can break your wireless network using WEP within minutes. It's really pointless. Even WPA (the original, not WPA2) is beginning to get a few cracks to it. You should really be using WPA2, although as agentx says, WPA is still (barely) acceptable for a little while longer.

Trevor

Quote:

Originally Posted by paragon (Post 534856)

but the WPA2 ask me to inpot numbers and other things I have no idea what they are so I prefer learning a bit about it and the differences.

Wikipedia: Wi-Fi Protected Access

Trevor

wow, that is so much great info but unfortunatly i have no idea how to apply it.
where can I find out my isp dns server number? and where should i type it in in the router settings?
What is WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK???
if I chose WPA2 what type of encryption should I choose: TKIP or AES
what is the radius server ip, radius port, radius password (I mean what kind of password should i put in) and group key update period???

To turn on WPA2 in your TP-Link TL-WR542G router, first log in to the configuration page. Look at the left nav bar, under Basic Settings, go to Wireless > Wireless Settings >
1. click "Enable Wireless Security", then
2. set "Security Type" to WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK, then
3. set "Security Option" to WPA2-PSK, then
4. next to "PSK Passphrase", type in a password, that you are now creating, for your wireless network. Make it at least 12 characters, but something memorable to you. For an example method of making a good passphrase, take a song that is well known to you, and use the first letter of each word of the chorus. Let's say for example that you really like Hey Jude by the Beatles. Your passphrase could be
Hey Jude, don't make it bad.
Take a sad song
and make it better.
Remember to let her under your skin
...gives you
HJdmibtassamibR2lhuys
It's long, memorable, not found in any dictionary, a mix of capital and lowercase letters, and even a number thrown in.
5. Click "Save". Now, on your computers and other wireless clients, enter the WPA2 passphrase, and they can connect.

To manually set your DNS servers, log in to the router's configuration page, then look at the left nav bar. Go to "Basic Settings" > "Network" > "WAN" > click "Use these DNS Servers" > enter the IP addresses of a primary and secondary public DNS server under "Primary DNS" and "Secondary DNS".

Trevor

You go to the Google search and type how to increase the speed of the wifi router U will find the solution for your problem.And then u can check your internet speed through the website [ URL="http://www.ip-details.com"]http://www.ip-details.com[ /URL]

just wanted to add that in the end it was a faulty router that caused all the problems

I too have switched to OpenDNS and have no issues using it. However, like the OP, I feel my WiFi with Snow Leopard is a bit wonky.

Didn't ask - are you still using Tiger. Leopard, Snow Leopard.... Is this with a new set up?