Linksys apparently does support Mac users... When they introduced the WRT54GX (pre 802.11n standard), it was not Mac-compatible. I discussed the problem a few times with them, and well, now there's a fix for the problem. I hadn't even noticed until now, but they made it publicly available on 7/1. I was under NDA until release, so I couldn't say much until then. They did care when the problem was reported, apparently enough to fix it.

This is still no reflection on what might happen when a consumer calls the retail support line, but apparently Linksys does at least make an effort to ensure compatibility.

Thanks,all.OK where do I turn the services off and the firewall on?

You'd probably better off to read a complete overview on Mac security to fully understand what to do.

Although it may come as a surprise to some, the NSA has done something really useful in publishing a pretty good guide on Mac security:

http://www.nsa.gov/snac/downloads_macX.cfm

What you want to watch out for is the Modem you are going to get from Tiscali: most UK providers will supply you a USB Modem, if you want to use a router with your broadband, you'll need an Ethernet Modem.
There is also one more thing to consider if you are going to use a router: you will only have limited access from the outside world to your mac. I use a firewall (which is more or less a router) which can look at the TCP/UDP packet coming from the outside and if matches pattern xy then sends it to the machine with the IP xy.xy.xy.xy. Some routers can do this, the feature is called "port forwading" or "virtual servers", the marketing geeks will have probably 1000 more words for this.

ron

Ooops you're absolutely right, I apologize for such a terrible comment!

R.

Thanks.
Photon beam-Tiscali have indeed sent me a USB modem,but it's supposed to work with OSX.Alas,I'm not getting Broadband because it seems my line can't take 1Mb.But it can apparently take 514k,so they're just switching to that,so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
But will the USB modem work with a Mac anyway? and can I protect myself using it somehow? Tiscali don't yet offer Mac technical support...
Your firewall-is that something external?

You can't convince them to send you an ethernet modem?

The USB should work if it has OS X drivers, but it's a poor choice for many reasons. For one, the fact that it requires drivers rather than using a standard, ubiquitous interface like ethernet. Also you won't be able to use a hardware router/firewall.

If you do end up using this, make sure you understand the Mac's built-in firewall and enable it. All in all, Mac OS X is very secure, so your risk is small, but non-zero.

Carlos is absolutley right, the USB Modem will work, but your naked ar** will be visible to whole the Internet. This is not a major problem for os x, just make sure you are not "sharing" (Settings->sharing) anything and enable firewalling.
I i were you, just have a look on ebay, mabe even ebay.de(germany) you should pick up a standard ethernet modem (they all run on a standard called "annex b" in europe) for less than 30quid.
My firewall is an "external box" made by sonic wall, these boxes are fairly expensive, mine was approx 600quid, but I need it for several reason ;-))
A standard router like the Siemens or SMC boxes are very good and will cost you less than 70quid, some of the Siemens already have the Ethernet modem integrated.
If you are interested, I can get my girlfriend to check which model the Siemens router is which I set up in their office.

take care
ron

Getting an ethernet modem is certainly a good idea, however, DSL, although there are standards, has lots of obscure parameters which may vary. Before getting another modem, make sure it works or you get to adjust the settings as needed.

You must also have a very long line to get such crappy bandwidth.

Hi Carlos,

nope, they won't go for that. My sister has a mini and because the box is "instant on/off" the modem supplied by Tesco (a BT reseller in the UK) doesn't sync the dsl line fast enougth. This wouldn't be a problem for a pc (can you believe that "Apple->sleep" doesn't work on a pc :D ?) because the beige boxes take a few minutes to boot and thus giving the modem a chance to sync.
The mini is on within 2 secs, the modem gets power->try's to sync and fails to get an internet connection. This apparently freaks the modem in such a way that you can only reset the modem, stick it back onto the mac and then give it approx 30-40 secs to sync the dsl line..........
After I worked this out, I called the "engineers" at Tesco helpdesk, they still wouldn't supply an ethernet modem. I just got her one from ebay.de for 17uk-pounds (30$us)

sheesh, that's customer service. Well at least now Tesco Helpdesk knows how and why Mac & USB modems don't always work ;)

take care
ron

unfortunatley it's nothing to do with the length of the copper lines, most dsl-lines in the uk are 512kbit. I'm from the uk, but work in germany, my "local provider's" smallest line is 2Mbits /192kbits, but will be upgraded to 4mbits/192kbits free of charge. I would have rather have had 2mbits/2mbits, but who's complaining ;-))


take care
ron

Thanks all.
An update.I went to cancel my Tiscali a/c,having received no signal in 10 days,and spending most of that time on the phone to them/BT/various Mac specialists,only to be told that they have ANOTHER kind of Modem which works with Macs (maybe..).Why didn't they tell me that in the first place? So I'll try that before going through the whole cancellation/reconfiguring with another ISP which takes upwards of 20 days.The other modem should arrive in 3 -5 days so I'll keep you posted.If that doesn't work I'll try Telewest BB who at least offer Mac support and actually send a human being out to help install.
Re my distance.Our exchange is Broadband enabled,but I live in the woods 6.5 kilometers from the exchange,and apparently all the wiring in my village is ancient and has a lot of aluminium.(I'm told).But my neighbour 50 yards away gets Broadband on his PC through a router no problem...
The whole process-I've made about 50 phone calls,half of which are to callcentres in India-has made me want to put an axe into something. :mad:

6,5 km are really the outer limits of todays DSL-technology.
They'll have a really hard time to get any modem to sync at that distance at all and there will be lots of errors (frames will be resent tranparently resent, but it'll show in bandwidth and latency).

You're not out of the woods yet ;) ...

Extraordinarily,this USB Modem-which has just arrived-works! I'm now on 514k.Everything seems fine re windows,signal etc.
But...help please!
It's called a SpeedTouch USB from wanadoo and it goes straight into the USB port.I'm guessing that it must have installed some drivers.There are lots of Files put into OS9.
So back to my original question-how can I protect myself? Do I need a router,will it work with this Modem? How do I make sure Firewall is on and Sharing is off?

Go into the system prefs, Sharing, and click the Firewall tab. Turn on the FW, and make sure all of the ports (services) are either off or properly secured. IE, if you want to turn on file sharing, just make sure all of the accounts have good passwords (do a search for "good passwords" if you don't fully understand what that means). SSH is a particular risk, and if you don't plan to remotely use the command line interface, there is no use for it.

Thanks,Carlos.

ssh is a particular risk? Please back up this statement. I personally can't think of any service as secure or as safe to leave on as OpenSSH is. Any minor bugs that are found in OpenSSH are very promptly fixed. There have been a grand total of zero vulnerabilities found (at least publicly) in OpenSSH in 2005 (source: Secunia), and those from 2004 were fairly trivial and quickly fixed.

Trevor

A while back, I bought a Linksys WRT54G router that 's also a Wireless Access Point. I bought it so I could use my Mac in a home that already had 2 PCs. I wanted them all to share the same broadband connection.

Using info I found by searching forums here, I was able to track down the specific settings I must use to make the Linksys play nice with my Mac, which accesses it wirelessly. I seem to recall some shenanigans about OS X's Network prefs pane not allowing me to use the same security key that worked with PCs -- I had to use a numeric one, not an ASCII one. I forget the details, but you could search them out here if you decide to go with the Linksys.

I love it. Haven't had a speck of trouble with it.

LinkSys firmware upgrade and the Mac
 

A less technical way to upgrade the firmware in a LinkSys router, as of summer of 2004, and Panther, was to use Firefox to administer the router.

Piece of cake.

Sorry not to have defined.
 

Firefox information is here.