Seeking wireless LAN advice

We have wireless LAN in our company. From time to time, we have some guests
visit our office and request the use of internet connection. I believe
wireless LAN is most suitable way for them to get connected to internet via
our LAN. I would like to buy a dongle of wireless adapter for guest use. I
can preset it for immediate use but cannot resolve the setting on guest's
pcs. They may be in different Windows versions. I do not if there is any
wireless adapter does not require any driver to be installed on their
machines. Some pcs are not allowed to install any driver due to their
company security measures. Any thought and ideas are highly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ray

You might want to look into wireless game adapters. They allow you to
connect an ethernet-only device to a wireless network.

-Yves

"Ray" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> We have wireless LAN in our company. From time to time, we have some
guests
> visit our office and request the use of internet connection. I believe
> wireless LAN is most suitable way for them to get connected to internet
via
> our LAN. I would like to buy a dongle of wireless adapter for guest use.
I
> can preset it for immediate use but cannot resolve the setting on guest's
> pcs. They may be in different Windows versions. I do not if there is any
> wireless adapter does not require any driver to be installed on their
> machines. Some pcs are not allowed to install any driver due to their
> company security measures. Any thought and ideas are highly appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ray
>
>

"Ray" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> We have wireless LAN in our company. From time to time, we have some
guests
> visit our office and request the use of internet connection. I believe
> wireless LAN is most suitable way for them to get connected to internet
via
> our LAN. I would like to buy a dongle of wireless adapter for guest use.
I
> can preset it for immediate use but cannot resolve the setting on guest's
> pcs. They may be in different Windows versions. I do not if there is any
> wireless adapter does not require any driver to be installed on their
> machines. Some pcs are not allowed to install any driver due to their
> company security measures. Any thought and ideas are highly appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ray
>
You might want to consider what you are going to do when someone brings a
laptop infected with an exploit that will spread thru your network like
wildfire once it is connected.

Yves,

Thanks for your idea. However, I have no idea about wireless game adapters.
Could you please point me out somewhere I can find the information.

Thanks,

Ray

"Yves Konigshofer" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> You might want to look into wireless game adapters. They allow you to
> connect an ethernet-only device to a wireless network.
>
> -Yves
>
> "Ray" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > We have wireless LAN in our company. From time to time, we have some
> guests
> > visit our office and request the use of internet connection. I believe
> > wireless LAN is most suitable way for them to get connected to internet
> via
> > our LAN. I would like to buy a dongle of wireless adapter for guest
use.
> I
> > can preset it for immediate use but cannot resolve the setting on
guest's
> > pcs. They may be in different Windows versions. I do not if there is
any
> > wireless adapter does not require any driver to be installed on their
> > machines. Some pcs are not allowed to install any driver due to their
> > company security measures. Any thought and ideas are highly
appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Ray
> >
> >
>
>

Mike,

Good point! Obviously, I cannot allow them to connect to our network
directly. Should I consider to have a computer that has installed workable
antivirus and ad-ware/spybot to be shared with the guest's pcs. Any other
idea?

Thanks,

Ray

"Mike" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Ray" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > We have wireless LAN in our company. From time to time, we have some
> guests
> > visit our office and request the use of internet connection. I believe
> > wireless LAN is most suitable way for them to get connected to internet
> via
> > our LAN. I would like to buy a dongle of wireless adapter for guest
use.
> I
> > can preset it for immediate use but cannot resolve the setting on
guest's
> > pcs. They may be in different Windows versions. I do not if there is
any
> > wireless adapter does not require any driver to be installed on their
> > machines. Some pcs are not allowed to install any driver due to their
> > company security measures. Any thought and ideas are highly
appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Ray
> >
> You might want to consider what you are going to do when someone brings a
> laptop infected with an exploit that will spread thru your network like
> wildfire once it is connected.
>
>

Sure, that's what Linksys calls them and more info can be found on their
site. Similar devices (also known as wireless/ethernet bridges) can be
obtained from most other manufacturers as well. These devices are sold so
that people can hook their PS2s and XBoxes up to their wireless networks.
I'm not sure if they all support encryption, which may be important.

As Mike is saying, you should think twice before giving outsiders access to
your company's network. You never know when a guest is going to
inadvertently or intentionally cause problems for your network.

-Yves

"Ray" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Yves,
>
> Thanks for your idea. However, I have no idea about wireless game
adapters.
> Could you please point me out somewhere I can find the information.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ray
>
> "Yves Konigshofer" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > You might want to look into wireless game adapters. They allow you to
> > connect an ethernet-only device to a wireless network.
> >
> > -Yves
> >
> > "Ray" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > We have wireless LAN in our company. From time to time, we have some
> > guests
> > > visit our office and request the use of internet connection. I
believe
> > > wireless LAN is most suitable way for them to get connected to
internet
> > via
> > > our LAN. I would like to buy a dongle of wireless adapter for guest
> use.
> > I
> > > can preset it for immediate use but cannot resolve the setting on
> guest's
> > > pcs. They may be in different Windows versions. I do not if there is
> any
> > > wireless adapter does not require any driver to be installed on their
> > > machines. Some pcs are not allowed to install any driver due to their
> > > company security measures. Any thought and ideas are highly
> appreciated.
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Ray
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

Yves,

Thanks for your information and I will visit their websites to have a look
at their products.

I entirely agree that allowing outsiders to access our network is at a risk
but as they are our partners or the colleagues of our other offices, we have
to provide that kind of service as a matter of courtesy. Thus, we need to
do some preventive measures. Normally, they need to access the internet via
our gateway and use our network printers. Currently, they are not alllowed
to access our servers and shared folders on workstations. I believe this is
a very practical challenge to all administrators nowaday. We cannot simply
respond to our customer request that you cannot use our company network due
to security issue.

Thanks,

Ray


"Yves Konigshofer" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Sure, that's what Linksys calls them and more info can be found on their
> site. Similar devices (also known as wireless/ethernet bridges) can be
> obtained from most other manufacturers as well. These devices are sold so
> that people can hook their PS2s and XBoxes up to their wireless networks.
> I'm not sure if they all support encryption, which may be important.
>
> As Mike is saying, you should think twice before giving outsiders access
to
> your company's network. You never know when a guest is going to
> inadvertently or intentionally cause problems for your network.
>
> -Yves
>
> "Ray" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Yves,
> >
> > Thanks for your idea. However, I have no idea about wireless game
> adapters.
> > Could you please point me out somewhere I can find the information.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Ray
> >
> > "Yves Konigshofer" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > You might want to look into wireless game adapters. They allow you to
> > > connect an ethernet-only device to a wireless network.
> > >
> > > -Yves
> > >
> > > "Ray" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > > news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > > We have wireless LAN in our company. From time to time, we have
some
> > > guests
> > > > visit our office and request the use of internet connection. I
> believe
> > > > wireless LAN is most suitable way for them to get connected to
> internet
> > > via
> > > > our LAN. I would like to buy a dongle of wireless adapter for guest
> > use.
> > > I
> > > > can preset it for immediate use but cannot resolve the setting on
> > guest's
> > > > pcs. They may be in different Windows versions. I do not if there
is
> > any
> > > > wireless adapter does not require any driver to be installed on
their
> > > > machines. Some pcs are not allowed to install any driver due to
their
> > > > company security measures. Any thought and ideas are highly
> > appreciated.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > >
> > > > Ray
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

How about a seperate wireless network on a seperate subnet?



"Ray" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Mike,
>
> Good point! Obviously, I cannot allow them to connect to our network
> directly. Should I consider to have a computer that has installed
workable
> antivirus and ad-ware/spybot to be shared with the guest's pcs. Any other
> idea?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ray
>
> "Mike" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
> > "Ray" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > We have wireless LAN in our company. From time to time, we have some
> > guests
> > > visit our office and request the use of internet connection. I
believe
> > > wireless LAN is most suitable way for them to get connected to
internet
> > via
> > > our LAN. I would like to buy a dongle of wireless adapter for guest
> use.
> > I
> > > can preset it for immediate use but cannot resolve the setting on
> guest's
> > > pcs. They may be in different Windows versions. I do not if there is
> any
> > > wireless adapter does not require any driver to be installed on their
> > > machines. Some pcs are not allowed to install any driver due to their
> > > company security measures. Any thought and ideas are highly
> appreciated.
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Ray
> > >
> > You might want to consider what you are going to do when someone brings
a
> > laptop infected with an exploit that will spread thru your network like
> > wildfire once it is connected.
> >
> >
>
>

What if he adds the guests to a DMZ port?

David Reed wrote:
> How about a seperate wireless network on a seperate subnet?
>
>
>
> "Ray" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>>Mike,
>>
>>Good point! Obviously, I cannot allow them to connect to our network
>>directly. Should I consider to have a computer that has installed
>
> workable
>
>>antivirus and ad-ware/spybot to be shared with the guest's pcs. Any other
>>idea?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>Ray
>>
>>"Mike" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>>>"Ray" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>>news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>
>>>>We have wireless LAN in our company. From time to time, we have some
>>>
>>>guests
>>>
>>>>visit our office and request the use of internet connection. I
>
> believe
>
>>>>wireless LAN is most suitable way for them to get connected to
>
> internet
>
>>>via
>>>
>>>>our LAN. I would like to buy a dongle of wireless adapter for guest
>>
>>use.
>>
>>>I
>>>
>>>>can preset it for immediate use but cannot resolve the setting on
>>
>>guest's
>>
>>>>pcs. They may be in different Windows versions. I do not if there is
>>
>>any
>>
>>>>wireless adapter does not require any driver to be installed on their
>>>>machines. Some pcs are not allowed to install any driver due to their
>>>>company security measures. Any thought and ideas are highly
>>
>>appreciated.
>>
>>>>Thanks,
>>>>
>>>>Ray
>>>>
>>>
>>>You might want to consider what you are going to do when someone brings
>
> a
>
>>>laptop infected with an exploit that will spread thru your network like
>>>wildfire once it is connected.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>