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Solafaa

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
I will be moving into an apartment in London in a year or so and would like to know what i will need to be safe (from virues and people steeling my bandwidth). My friend would move in with me so i would be using a rotuer to connect 2 macs and 1 PeeCee, the macs are both laptops so i will connect them wirelessly and the PC desktop would be connected via ethernet. What will i needto be safe. Should i get a software or hardware firewall? how can i be safe from someone trying to steel my bandwidth?

I am not technical at all so i need help in this department.

Thank you.

EDITED: Do you know any fast ISPs in London with lots of bandwidth?
 

iSaint

macrumors 603
Setting up a secure wireless network should keep people out. To keep those who are already in, out (your roommates), don't share any of your folders, and activate the firewall(s) built into your compters. There should be plenty of help and options on the wireless setup to secure your systems.
 

OryHara

macrumors regular
Nov 22, 2004
110
0
San Bruno, CA
not to sound like a freeloading hippie but whats wrong with sharing your bandwidth, unless of course your downloading/uploading massive amounts of data
 

Applespider

macrumors G4
OryHara said:
not to sound like a freeloading hippie but whats wrong with sharing your bandwidth, unless of course your downloading/uploading massive amounts of data

Because many of the ISPs in the UK now have bandwidth limits. And because while I'd like to believe that other people would share my ethics in terms of not downloading illegal material, not trying to snoop into my files or not using my connection to be an anonymous internet user while spamming or planning nefarious activities, I've decided to be safe rather than sorry and closed my network.
 

pubwvj

macrumors 68000
Oct 1, 2004
1,901
208
Mountains of Vermont
Solafaa said:
I will be moving into an apartment in London

You want to be safe in London?!? A city?!? Egads! Not possible.

Solafaa said:
I would be using a rotuer to connect 2 macs and 1 PeeCee, the macs are both laptops so i will connect them wirelessly and the PC desktop would be connected via ethernet. What will i needto be safe.

Wired networking is safer than wireless.
Mac is safer than Windows.

On the wireless, enable encryption, do a closed network and lock the network to the Wi-Fi card ID's. How depends on your software but the settings are there in most (all?) cases.

On the firewall issue, what you have on the Mac, especially behind NAT and DHCP from Airport is excellent.

I would not let the PC's near the internet. Turn off Internet services on them. Use the Macs for the Internet. There are ways of improving Windows security but it is so full of holes you will have a hard time in succeeding in making it as safe as the Mac, if at all.

Simple solution is to dump the PCs or use them unconnected.
 

joeconvert

macrumors 6502
Nov 18, 2003
299
0
TX
pubwvj said:
There are ways of improving Windows security but it is so full of holes you will have a hard time in succeeding in making it as safe as the Mac, if at all.

Simple solution is to dump the PCs or use them unconnected.

This was a very informative post until I got to this point. Windows isn't perfect, but neither is it near as bad as it is puported to be on this and many other discussion sites. I fear that as the Mac market share rises, so will the security problems of many Mac users that have the above outlook on Widows. The best defense for any operating system on a public network is understandign the real threats and deploying countermeasures to those threats. Mac OS X has a number of superb features that aidein securing the platform thanks to its BSD/Unix heritage, but it is far from infalable.
 

pubwvj

macrumors 68000
Oct 1, 2004
1,901
208
Mountains of Vermont
joeconvert said:
I fear that as the Mac market share rises, so will the security problems of many Mac users

The security of MacOSX has little to do with market share but rather the fact that Apple does not ship quite as buggy as system with anywhere near as many open security holes. And when one is found they are pretty fast to close it. Even if the Mack was 99% of the market this would still be true.

joeconvert said:
The best defense for any operating system on a public network is understanding the real threats and deploying countermeasures to those threats. Mac OS X has a number of superb features that aide in securing the platform thanks to its BSD/Unix heritage, but it is far from infalable.

Agreed. And it is a lot better than Windows, praise the Jobs. :)
 

OryHara

macrumors regular
Nov 22, 2004
110
0
San Bruno, CA
Applespider said:
Because many of the ISPs in the UK now have bandwidth limits. And because while I'd like to believe that other people would share my ethics in terms of not downloading illegal material, not trying to snoop into my files or not using my connection to be an anonymous internet user while spamming or planning nefarious activities, I've decided to be safe rather than sorry and closed my network.

fair enough
 

zen.state

macrumors 68020
Mar 13, 2005
2,181
8
Applespider said:
Because many of the ISPs in the UK now have bandwidth limits. And because while I'd like to believe that other people would share my ethics in terms of not downloading illegal material, not trying to snoop into my files or not using my connection to be an anonymous internet user while spamming or planning nefarious activities, I've decided to be safe rather than sorry and closed my network.

I agree with you when it comes to not downloading illegal stuff like music or film. what I think is wrong though is the fact that tv show based bt sites have been shut down.. how is it wrong to d/l a tv show? you can turn on your tv anytime and watch a local channel totally free.

I like to download the dailyshow each day at work and watch it during lunch. where is the harm in that?
 

dejo

Moderator emeritus
Sep 2, 2004
15,982
452
The Centennial State
zen.state said:
I agree with you when it comes to not downloading illegal stuff like music or film. what I think is wrong though is the fact that tv show based bt sites have been shut down.. how is it wrong to d/l a tv show? you can turn on your tv anytime and watch a local channel totally free.

I like to download the dailyshow each day at work and watch it during lunch. where is the harm in that?

I don't see much harm but the broadcaster might. The Daily Show is not carried on local channels totally free.
 

Solafaa

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
pubwvj said:
I would not let the PC's near the internet. Turn off Internet services on them. Use the Macs for the Internet. There are ways of improving Windows security but it is so full of holes you will have a hard time in succeeding in making it as safe as the Mac, if at all.

Simple solution is to dump the PCs or use them unconnected.

I dont want to be 100% safe, that is not possible i know but i would like to be as safe as possible.


How can i limit the number of wireless users able to get into my network?
 

swiftaw

macrumors 603
Jan 31, 2005
6,328
25
Omaha, NE, USA
Solafaa said:
I dont want to be 100% safe, that is not possible i know but i would like to be as safe as possible.


How can i limit the number of wireless users able to get into my network?

Three ways

1) Do not broadcast your network SSID, thus people passing by will not 'see' your network.
2) Make sure you turn on WPA encryption (much better than WEP encryption) - this will mean that computers will need the access key to be able to connect to your network.
3) Set up the router to only accept connections from computers with hardware (MAC) addresses that you specify.

These 3 things should make it very hard for non-authorized computers to connect to your network.
 

Solafaa

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
swiftaw said:
Three ways

1) Do not broadcast your network SSID, thus people passing by will not 'see' your network.
2) Make sure you turn on WPA encryption (much better than WEP encryption) - this will mean that computers will need the access key to be able to connect to your network.
3) Set up the router to only accept connections from computers with hardware (MAC) addresses that you specify.

These 3 things should make it very hard for non-authorized computers to connect to your network.


Ok perfect, but one thing how do i do all that? do i need any sofware or hardware?
 

Mord

macrumors G4
Aug 24, 2003
10,091
23
UK
MAC (media access control not short for macintosh) address filtering would be a good idea (means only computers with MAC addresses (aka yours) on the pass lint can use the network.
 

pianojoe

macrumors 6502
Jul 5, 2001
461
25
N 49.50121 E008.54558
zen.state said:
I agree with you when it comes to not downloading illegal stuff like music or film. what I think is wrong though is the fact that tv show based bt sites have been shut down.. how is it wrong to d/l a tv show? you can turn on your tv anytime and watch a local channel totally free.

I like to download the dailyshow each day at work and watch it during lunch. where is the harm in that?

They don't give you the show for free, they grant you to watch it at a time of their choosing, and by means of communication of their choosing. You are allowed to tape the show and watch it later. This is the often-heard-about "fair use": You make a personal copy for private use. Downloading is not just making a copy of the broadcast, but taking part in an illegal file sharing activity. Since the owner of the copyright didn't grant you the right to do so, you are not allowed to do so.

If I have a book you want to read, I can let you read it, or not. It's my decision.

I admit that it's hard to understand the difference between merchandise and intellectual property. I've written a theater piece, and right now it's being performed and they don't want to pay me royalties. They claim, I had written it anyway, so where's the harm? I need to find a lawyer, everything, a lot of hassle. This ongoing filesharing discussion "There is no intellectual property" is going to kill whole branches in the creative business. Thank you very much.
 
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