Finding who's on the network

I have a wireless network,which I believe is secure using a
combination of encryption and MAC filtering.

Its centred around a (Belkin) combined wireless router and ADSL modem,
with two PCs and a couple of laptops potentially connected
(wirelessly) at any one time, although most often its just one of the
PCs or one of the laptops, or both laptops.

Is there a feature within XP Pro, or a stand alone utility that I can
use to identify who is, at any given time, actually connected to the
network, just in case there's a security hole somewhere?

Brian




bigbrian

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, bigbrian
says...
>
> I have a wireless network,which I believe is secure using a
> combination of encryption and MAC filtering.
>
> Its centred around a (Belkin) combined wireless router and ADSL modem,
> with two PCs and a couple of laptops potentially connected
> (wirelessly) at any one time, although most often its just one of the
> PCs or one of the laptops, or both laptops.
>
> Is there a feature within XP Pro, or a stand alone utility that I can
> use to identify who is, at any given time, actually connected to the
> network, just in case there's a security hole somewhere?
>
The Belkin will do this. If you log onto the router with your browser,
the first item on the menu is LAN Setup. Under that is "DHCP Client
list. That'll list all computers that are connected and have IP
addresses assigned by the router.

If you are paranoid you can use MAC Address filtering in the Firewall
section. The easiest way to set this up is to fire up all the computers
on the network, go to the MAC Address filtering and add them all there
then enable it.


--
Conor

An imperfect plan executed violently is far superior to a perfect plan.
-- George Patton

On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 19:03:29 -0000, Conor <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, bigbrian
>says...
>>
>> I have a wireless network,which I believe is secure using a
>> combination of encryption and MAC filtering.
>>
>> Its centred around a (Belkin) combined wireless router and ADSL modem,
>> with two PCs and a couple of laptops potentially connected
>> (wirelessly) at any one time, although most often its just one of the
>> PCs or one of the laptops, or both laptops.
>>
>> Is there a feature within XP Pro, or a stand alone utility that I can
>> use to identify who is, at any given time, actually connected to the
>> network, just in case there's a security hole somewhere?
>>
>The Belkin will do this. If you log onto the router with your browser,
>the first item on the menu is LAN Setup. Under that is "DHCP Client
>list. That'll list all computers that are connected and have IP
>addresses assigned by the router.

Excellent. Thanks

>If you are paranoid you can use MAC Address filtering in the Firewall
>section. The easiest way to set this up is to fire up all the computers
>on the network, go to the MAC Address filtering and add them all there
>then enable it.

I do use MAC filtering...just looking for a belt and braces approach

Brian

"bigbrian" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 19:03:29 -0000, Conor <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
>>If you are paranoid you can use MAC Address filtering in the Firewall
>>section. The easiest way to set this up is to fire up all the computers
>>on the network, go to the MAC Address filtering and add them all there
>>then enable it.
>
> I do use MAC filtering...just looking for a belt and braces approach

The network installation company that I used to work for told us to use MAC
address filtering rather than WEP or WPA filtering as it was easier for the
customer to tweak if he wanted to allow additional PCs to access his network
later on.

But according to Wireless Guide by Jeff Duntemann, MAC address filtering can
be overcome if a hacker has the ability to sniff out the MAC addresses of
PCs that are able to use the network and can then set his own PC to use one
of those MAC addresses.

Martin Underwood wrote:

> according to Wireless Guide by Jeff Duntemann, MAC address filtering can
> be overcome if a hacker has the ability to sniff out the MAC addresses of
> PCs that are able to use the network and can then set his own PC to use one
> of those MAC addresses.

True, but probably 99 times better than nothing -- casual wireless users
are far more likely to latch on than a dedicated hacker is likely to be
around and interested enough.

Or, worse, a not-so-casual non-expert wireless user. Recently the police
somewhere in the US happened to find that someone whose car they had
stopped was a paedophile who used unprotected wireless networks he
happened to find from a laptop computer in his car. So HIS Internet
connection was squeaky clean but, if you lived near his route, YOURS
wasn't. They only caught him by chance; he'd have continued for ever but
for a driving offence.

Best wishes,
--
Michael Salem