Networking with Netgear DG834G and ? Firewall

[willie45]

Hi

I have an iMac, MBP, Dell Desktop, and HP laptop all accessing the internet via a Netgear DG834G wireless router. This router was originally set up for the windows machines as I am a recent Mac user. I have installed Leopard on my iMac without any problems so far (apart from the documented error message on Disk Utility, which I can cope with for the time being ! ).

So far so good.

I have heard about the LEopard firewall being a bit suspect and being pretty useless when it comes to computing I am not sure whether the wireless router has a Firewall function built in. I bought it a few years ago and cant remember much about it. I just installed it and forgot about it. I only added the Macs to the network in the last few months. I am unsure what to to. Can anyone advise please?

Thanks

Willie

 

[coopermac]

I am not an expert in either field but if it helps here go's.

Ensure that the Leopard firewall is turned on, I understand that the default setting is off. There have been a few discussions around by networking geeks on possible faults in the Leopard firewall but the bottom line would seem to be that for the average user it is definitely good enough and should be used in conjunction with the router firewall (two firewalls are better than one).

I have the DG834GT and it has its own firewall. Ensure that the wireless security is setup correctly using the best method available to all machines. This is done via the routers setup pages which you can access (usually by typing 192.168.0.1 into your browser). Change the default login and password as soon as possible.

I would suggest viewing the documentation on the Netgear installation CD or downloading it from the Netgear website and making a note of all yor setings before making any alterations. The Netgear documentation and heplfiles are easy to follow. Also make a note of any login/passwords you set as in a few months time you are bound to have forgotten them.

If you live in an urban area then it would probably be best to limit the access tot he wireless system to the MAC address of the macines you want to use it. This gives added security to lock out the casual searcher in your vicinity.

My system was set up for PC's originally and using Two desktops (one on XP and one on Win98), an IBM thinkpad and an Acer laptop. I added my recently puchased MBP (first ever Mac) without a hitch and all work togeather fine.

Hope this helps

Coops

 

[willie45]

Hi coops sorry not to have acknowledged your reply sooner but for some reason I lost this thread. Anyway your reply was helpful and what I wanted to know

Willie

 

[elppa]

Leopard by default has all sharing services turned off.