[vox-tech] Seeking Router Advice

[Nick Schmalenberger]

On Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 03:10:42PM -0700, Troy Arnold wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 01:31:02PM -0700, Scott Miller wrote:
> > If your router can't do WPA2, chances are it's an 802.11b router.
> 
> FYI, I had a Netear WGR614r5 that just quit after many years of good service.
> It supported 802.11g but not WPA2.
> 
> > There are speed benefits to having 802.11g or 802.11n router +
> > similarly capable wifi cards in your computers. :)
> 
> Most definitely.
> 
> > On 10/29/2010 11:01 AM, Bob Scofield wrote:
> > > 1) Should I get a new router just to use WPA2?
> 
> It's my understanding that the issues with WPA are with TKIP and that it's
> not such a big deal unless you have a motivated and fairly skilled
> attacker.  A reading of
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporal_Key_Integrity_Protocol> explains
> that weaknesses in TKIP may allow an attacker to inject a handful of
> packets into your network, but it does sound like it would take an awful
> lot of persistence to do anything more than be a nuisance.  WPA2 also
> benefits from reduced overhead in the key exchange and caching of keys when
> roaming across multiple APs so if you were using multiple APs around the
> house, it might work smoother on a WPA2 network.
> 
> If your device supports WPA/AES then I'd switch to that.  Even if not, I
> personally wouldn't sweat WPA/TKIP for casual home use.
> 
> > > 3)  If I did get a new router, what would be a good one to get?
> 
> I recently grabbed a Netgear WNR3500L which is pretty hackable and capable.
> I didn't do a ton of research, but I did enough to be satisfied.  
>
I think the dlink dir-615 and dir-825 are very good. The default
firmware supports ipv6 and is so labeled on the box, and I bought
them for just that reason. I haven't had a chance to use the
dir-825 yet, but the dir-615 works great with ipv6 in 6to4 mode
and the wireless works great with wpa2 also. Also, check out
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/3816236/The-DD-WRT-Controversy.htm
for information about dd-wrt, the guy who makes dd-wrt seems to
think of it more as his private business than an open community
project. I've had alot of good experiences with OpenWRT which is
definitely an open community, but the default firmwares in
various routers I've used have also worked well. I think if you
do get a new router, be sure to look for ipv6 support because its
definitely a crucial feature these days. With ipv6 I am even able
to print files directly from my mail server to my printer at
home without having to forward a port on the router, its great!
Switching to wpa1 should be fine also. 
Nick Schmalenberger