Home Office: Going Wireless? Consider Cost, Security

"It's the size of a Buick," I shouted to my wife, Judy, through the floorboards, "and it's got fangs!" I was crawling under the house, yanking new cabling for a PC that I was adding to our home network. "It's just a spider," she yelled back. Sometimes she's no help at all.

There are now four PCs wired to the network: mine, my wife's, a test PC, and a new system in the guest room for visitors. (Yep, I said wired. More on why in a sec.)

It cost me only $120 for four network cards, a router, and cabling--not counting the days I spent wriggling around in our house's crawl space, yanking new wire, and fending off lethal arachnids.

I could have avoided my brush with death by using a wireless network, which connects a desktop transmitter to a DSL or cable modem. (By the way, you can call it Wi-Fi or 802.11b if you want to sound like a tech nerd.) The transmitter broadcasts the Internet connection to transceivers--sort of like two-way radios--in each PC on the network. The transceivers also let you share files and printers. Wi-Fi has a top speed of 11 mbps, but real-world speeds are about 5 mbps--slow in comparison with wired-network speeds of between 10 and 100 mbps. Still, 5 mbps is plenty fast for my networking needs. Unfortunately, though, wireless also costs at least twice as much as wired.

I test-drove two brands of wireless networks: the Orinoco Residential Gateway RG1000, and the EtherFast Wireless AP from Linksys. Linksys's system has the edge over Orinoco's because it's a little cheaper (under $350 total for Linksys, versus almost $400 total for Orinoco), but both are a cinch to install. They come with wizards (the software kind, not the ones with pointed hats) to help you get everything up and running in about an hour.

Wireless = Wide Open

So with the wonders of wireless networking, anyone with a steady pulse is probably wondering why I don't cut the cord and go wireless all the way. Well, there's the higher cost I mentioned, but there's a more important reason to wait, summed up in one word: security.

Computer security expert Frank Keeney took me for an eye-opening ride around Pasadena, California. Frank brought along a notebook computer, equipped with a wireless PC Card and an antenna mounted on the car's roof. In a half hour of "war driving" (as he called it), we accessed over 40 wireless networks in homes, real estate agencies, businesses, schools--and even a bank. I could have browsed the Web on someone else's account or created a Hotmail account and sent untraceable e-mail. If we were unscrupulous hackers, we could easily have broken in and examined--or deleted--files on any of those wireless-networked PCs. Visit Frank's Web site to get additional details on wireless security and equipment.

Still, you're not powerless to protect your wireless network from intruders. Be sure to turn on WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), the IEEE's security protocol that's part of the Wi-Fi spec, and change its encryption keys weekly. If you're a business user, don't trust WEP alone; add a virtual private network. All networked PCs should have a firewall, and all shared files should be password protected.

Flaws and all, a wireless network can make sense if you don't have a crawl space or an attic to run wires through and you don't want to snake wires down hallways and stairs. And I have to admit that it's nifty to be able to use my notebook's wireless connection from just about anywhere in the house.

Gotta go. The hot tub just hit 104 degrees, which means it's time for me to grab my notebook and go to work.

SUMMARY

Linksys EtherFast EtherFast Cable/DSL Router (BEFSR41), $76, or EtherFast Wireless AP + Cable/DSL Router (BEFW11S4), $179; Wireless USB Network Adapter, $96; Wireless Network PC Card, $68 ($240 to $343 total, street)

SUMMARY

Agere Systems Orinoco Residential Gateway RG1000, $198; Orinoco USB Client, $120; Orinoco Turbo 11MB PC Card, $71 ($389 total, street)