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Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: tigers_gonads on 26 September 2015, 16:22:35

Title: Router advise please
Post by: tigers_gonads on 26 September 2015, 16:22:35


As above

We have emptied the penny jar and after much debate, we are taking the plunge.

It will be of the wireless variety sadly.
Kc-com are just too expensive for use  :-[

For 15 quid a month (50 gig up and down a month) plus 99 quid installation / setup, I don't think we will get anything better around here  :-\

So i've a couple of questions for the IT lads on here ...................

1/. What router please ?
Need it to be as secure as possible. ie Kali proof  ;) (TB / Matt will know exactly what that means)
Not fussed about broadcast range as I will be running cat5 cable around the house at a later date.
In the meantime, anything that needs broadcasting can be sent a/. via a 2.4gig hotspot on the media centre and the lads pc at the back of the house which has a duel band 2.4 / 5 gig internal card.

2/. Cat5 cable network
These are just run in series ain't they ?

Many thanks in advance  :)



Title: Re: Router advise please
Post by: TheBoy on 26 September 2015, 20:59:58
CAT5 is point to point, not daisy chained.  So if you have 2 PCs side by side, each will need a cable back to router.
Title: Re: Router advise please
Post by: Gaffers on 27 September 2015, 08:25:49
Kali proof?  hmmm, such a diverse brief! ;D

Well tbh any router that uses WPA2 will be kali proof as long as it is implemented correctly (do not use default pw, make sure it is long enough, uses random character in the full ascii range, etc) if you want something more then go for a commercial grade router which uses WPA2-Enterprise although the prices could make you want to compromise.  WPA2-PSK can only be hacked through brute force, so if your pre-shared key is weak it would be more susceptible to be cracked.  If you need to use simpler keys that are considered weak for ease of use, then work out it's 'half-life' using a cracking calculator and use this to determine a frequency of change for the PSK.  Hiding the SSID is pointless when up against a machine using kali.

I am also gathering that by using cat5 you are not going to be transferring large amounts of data between machines so again I would settle for something a little more standard. Also remember that if security is your priority then data transferred on network cables is not encrypted by default and if anyone has physical access to your network they will have access to your data.

As for hardware, Iam no expert on which models are best but all I do know is that router performance is based on it's internal backbone and not necessarily the protocol it uses (b,g,n,etc)
Title: Re: Router advise please
Post by: tigers_gonads on 01 October 2015, 09:58:24
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you lads  :-[
I've just done 4, 16 hour (including travelling) days in a row so done nothing more then work, eat, try and sleep and shit  :'(

Tb ............. Message received and understood, thanks  :y  :)

Guffer ............ Got yeh on the WPA-psk bit  :y
Found out last week that my mates old man (who lives a few doors down the road) was bragging to his lad after a few beers that he has got his hands on a 30Gb dictionary hence me making this little project as secure as reasonably possible  ;)

A couple of years ago, we finally managed to get the council to fork out to re plaster the ground floor of the house because the plaster was 60 years old and shite. In there wisdom, the tossers just dry lined (with plasterboard that has a nice silver foil backing) and skimmed the lot turning my ground floor into a nice faradays friggin cage so wireless room to room file transfer is crap regardless of the range / power output of he router  >:( >:( >:(
You only get semi decent wireless outside if you position a Alfa adapter/ ariel on a window sill and Rx / Tx through the glass.

As for data transfer speed ................ we might send a few music / photo files point to point around the house and maybe link a couple of pc's up and play a shoot them up fight sim game or 2 but that's about it tbh.
Other then me linking up a phone to the router while in the same room, the network should be a totally closed loop.
Looking at using cat5 cable because i've half a role sat in the shed  ;D
Is they anything else that's better ??


Title: Re: Router advise please
Post by: Gaffers on 01 October 2015, 11:37:36
You can also keep an eye on your router logs and if he tries to brute force your router then just filter his MAC address.  He might change it when he realises but if you frustrate him he will soon turn to an easier target.

Plus if he's a script kiddy then he might have the dictionary but maybe not the expertise to use it properly.  These amateurs are also very bad at covering their tracks so you could always think of some kind of response (within the law of course) ::)
Title: Re: Router advise please
Post by: zirk on 01 October 2015, 12:02:51
Cat 5, guessing its actually Cat 5E, if not then 5E and Cat 6 is better spec but tbh for short runs, ie house, it wont make a lot of difference.
Title: Re: Router advise please
Post by: tigers_gonads on 01 October 2015, 16:52:39
Cat 5, guessing its actually Cat 5E, if not then 5E and Cat 6 is better spec but tbh for short runs, ie house, it wont make a lot of difference.



That's the one  ::) ;D
Its been sat in there for a couple of years since my last Cctv job.
Max length will be no more then 50ft so it should be no problem.
Title: Re: Router advise please
Post by: tigers_gonads on 01 October 2015, 17:11:51
You can also keep an eye on your router logs and if he tries to brute force your router then just filter his MAC address.  He might change it when he realises but if you frustrate him he will soon turn to an easier target.

Plus if he's a script kiddy then he might have the dictionary but maybe not the expertise to use it properly.  These amateurs are also very bad at covering their tracks so you could always think of some kind of response (within the law of course) ::)


I've known him for a good 20 years.
He started off with all this CB radio stuff and quickly moved onto bigger things.

Years ago (maybe 15 or more), the dickhead was caught by me telling one of my other neighbours (the one known as Forrest Gump  :D) about a rather intimate conversation I had had that morning with the missus via my old analogue mobile phone.
Needless to say, after pinning the idiot up against the lamppost and whispering sweet words of discouragement in his ear he has as far as I know refrained for doing that anymore   :-X
I had is lad banging on the door that night.
When I told him what had gone on, he shock my hand a said I should of chinned the see you next Tuesday  ;D
Apparent, he hates his old man too   ;)
We have been firm friends ever since   :y ;D
Title: Re: Router advise please
Post by: TheBoy on 02 October 2015, 14:30:35
Cat 5E is fine for gigabit under normal household conditions
Title: Re: Router advise please
Post by: tigers_gonads on 06 October 2015, 13:18:09
Cat 5E is fine for gigabit under normal household conditions


Been away with the van so just go got this

Noted  :y

Cheers Tb  :)