Help with wireless router please?

[madforrit]

Hi,
I just moved into a house that is joined with my neighbors' houses on both sides. I use a D-Link DI624 to distribute the DSL connection for me and my roommates. However, I'd prefer that sneaky neighbors not be able to either monitor my connection or piggyback on it. I turned on authentication (shared key) and WEP encryption. However, whenever my laptop sleeps, it can't use the connection on waking even though the signal is strong. Turning airport on/off and relogging into the router via WEP doesn't fix it either (get a "Safari can't locate sever" message). It only works again if I restart the router by unplugging it and plugging it back in.
That being said, I was wondering if there was an option that allows me to only allow certain MAC addresses to use the router, and if so, how to enable it. I've fiddled with the router settings some and can't figure it out...

Thanks for your help,
--m

 

[Westside guy]

You should be able to add MAC filters using the D-Link Web interface. I had them set up back when I used a DI-614+. It's in with the filtering options.

Be sure to add the MAC address for the computer you're currently using first. I made that mistake. Fortunately the MAC filters are only for the wireless part of the router, so you can always plug in an Ethernet cable if you mess up.

Another good thing to do is to turn off the SSID broadcast, and then change the name of your network. That'll mean you'll need to type in the network name the first time you connect to it though.

 

[madforrit]

Beautiful! Thanks Westside guy, that's exactly what I needed!

 

[Dandaman]

Sorry, quick simple question. How do I find my MAC address on my mac? Is it basically my IP address that is listed in System Profiler?

Thanks in advance,

Daniel

 

[emw]

Sorry, quick simple question. How do I find my MAC address on my mac? Is it basically my IP address that is listed in System Profiler?

Thanks in advance,

Daniel

Your MAC address would be listed in the System profiler, but it is not your IP address. Easier to look in System Preferences > Network > Built-in Ethernet > Ethernet. Your MAC address is listed as your Ethernet ID. It will be a series of hex numbers (such as 0a) separated by colons.

Example: 00:0b:9a:62:58:d1

 

[Dandaman]

Your MAC address would be listed in the System profiler, but it is not your IP address. Easier to look in System Preferences > Network > Built-in Ethernet > Ethernet. Your MAC address is listed as your Ethernet ID. It will be a series of hex numbers (such as 0a) separated by colons.

Example: 00:0b:9a:62:58:d1

Okay, but i assume for a wireless connection with a router, then i would use the ethernet ID listed under airport instead of built-in ethernet?

Daniel

 

[slughead]

Uh you should use WEP instead of MAC address filtering. Use HEX-128 (fully compatible with the Airport card + 26 character 123...90ABC...F [hex] encryption Key).

It's quite easy to change the MAC address of many devices to mimic something else.

 

[emw]

Okay, but i assume for a wireless connection with a router, then i would use the ethernet ID listed under airport instead of built-in ethernet?

Daniel

Yes.

Are you still having the reconnect problem? If so, try updating the firmware on your router and making sure you have the latest OS X and Airport updates installed - it seems to have worked for others based on some of the current threads I've seen.