pocket pc

Hi,
i'm new to the boards,so hope i am putting this on the right one?
does anyone have advice on security? i recently bought a pocket pc and have been trying to connect to the web with it, i mainly got for getting my emails so i don't have to switch my laptop on all the time, i finnally got the ppc to connect, but had to change my secrity slightly, i have an orange live box and the settings are as follows: wpa, wep, wpa or wep, no security, my 2 laptops are on wpa, the ppc is on wep, what i want to know is this: is having ''wpa or wep'' setting safe? does it mean that the laptops are still on wpa? are my laptops safe on this setting?
many thanks for any help,
chris.

WEP is seen as a pretty insecure method of securing wireless, WPA is the minimum.
Depending on the age of the PPC it may not be capable of WPA.

thanks dave, i just want to know if my laptops are safe, when i look at the available networks on the laptop mine comes up saying it has wpa security, it's just that i have the setting on ''wpaorwep'' as long as my laptops are safe that's ok, i'll only be using the ppc once in a while, oh by the way---the ppc is an axim x5.

WPA2 is advisable for all devices, if you can get it.

Generally you would have to change the router settings down to WEP for all attached devices if you want to connect one WEP device.

Some routers allow two separate Wifi ID's so you could have one running WPA and one running WEP (Draytek 2820 and Netgear - DGN2000 are one's that spring to mind)

With the Axim x5, it all depends on the CF wifi card you are using - there are very few around that do WPA security.

One other possibility is to bluetooth that Axim and use that to tether to a mobile with a data plan and access your e-mail that way.

Some routers allow two separate Wifi ID's so you could have one running WPA and one running WEP (Draytek 2820 and Netgear - DGN2000 are one's that spring to mind)

Could I use either of those two routers to give me a separate "guest" connection that would also stop the guest user from seeing any other devices on the network? So just an internet connection and possibly configurable to stop the guest watching the iPlayer all day or downloading the complete set of Carry On films! Not sure who would though.

Certainly you can with the draytek, however I am not so certain of the configuration options on the Netgear DGN2000.

On the Draytek you can set up too four separate Wireless network SSID's with options for wireless isolation (wireless clients cannot see other clients on the same SSID) and LAN isolation (wireless clients cannot see other LAN clients not on the same SSID as them).

On the Draytek you can set up too four separate Wireless network SSID's with options for wireless isolation (wireless clients cannot see other clients on the same SSID) and LAN isolation (wireless clients cannot see other LAN clients not on the same SSID as them).

Many thanks pmb00cs.

So presumably buying the Draytec is about the simplest and most secure way of achieving this outcome? I have managed to put a second wireless router on my network and given it it's own ssid, but you can always see the rest of the network through it which is not desirable.

Would the Draytec be a good performer on an O2 LLU package? I don't know what chipset it uses.

Certainly the Draytek offers the ability to do what you are asking about.

It also offers a sort of VLAN implementation. It isn't 802.1q compatible, but it does allow switchport separation, so you could, conceivably, add a network device to the built in switch and separate it from the rest of the LAN. That said I have not tested this functionality in any way on my Draytek, and only one of the ports is gigabit capable.

It's not really difficult to set up the cheap n cheerful ex ISP supplied routers that abound on eBay as a simple WAP. I'm currently using an old BT Home Hub for that purpose.

As I said before, I have tried using an old unused router, (Netgear DG834G), as a second "guest" access point with its' own ssid, but I don't know how or if it's possible to set it up so a user cannot see the rest of the LAN that it is connected to. Just internet access.

In reply to a post by audiodud:

.... but I don't know how or if it's possible to set it up so a user cannot see the rest of the LAN that it is connected to...

Would you ever need that level of isolation? I thought that the idea here was to keep the laptops secure wireless wise and use the second WAP as a less secure access point for the PPC only.

Thinking about this, have you checked for firmware upgrades for the PPC's wireless card? There's a slim possibility that an upgrade would allow WPAx encrytion thereby eliminating the need for extra hardware.

Just to clarify, I have holiday apartment which I rent out and it is very close to my house. On occasion a guest has asked if we had any internet access in the apartment and just recently for the first time, I did give out the ssid & WPA password for my home wireless network which I know is in range of the apartment and usable.

At the time I was more worried about them taking liberties with my connection in terms of downloads, but then subsequently I realised I should turn off all the shares between my machines on the LAN and another wireless laptop at home because of course the guest user in the apartment would be able see all these machines and any files in the shared folders.

So that is the reason it would be useful to have a second wireless "guest" access point with its' own ssid that could only access the internet and would be blind to the rest of my LAN and other wireless devices.

Ah right........... Then encryption levels don't present a problem where you and your guests are concerned but LAN isolation does. For that, the Draytek is the way to go although they are expensive. I have a couple of now discontinued 2700v's that will do the job admirably. This particular model wouldn't suit your needs as it has no integral WAP but you may be able to grab something of that vintage at a reasonable cost.
What OS's are in use? It may be simpler to just lock down each machine tightly, particularly if you don't need LAN access between your machines.

On my LAN I have a Windows 7 and an XP desktop, a network drive, printer and a Vodafone Sure Signal. Wirelessly there are potentially two Windows 7 laptops, and a Wii, (usually used for iPlayer on the television).

Most of the time I could live without file sharing between all the machines and just activate it as and when, apart from the network drive which is accessed frequently.

So I think the Draytec solution is the simplest, albeit expensive option.