wi-fi Archives

Home » wi-fi

How to set up and optimize an Asus RT-AC66U

Dave Farquhar Servers and Networking December 5, 2016March 7, 2018AES, asus, malware, NVRAM, SSH, Universal Plug and Play, vulnerability, WAN, wi-fi

Consumer routers drive security professionals like me crazy. I’m happy to say I finally found a router that doesn’t drive me nuts. I want you to buy an Asus RT-AC66U. I’m going to tell you why, and I’m going to tell you how to configure it. Here’s how to set up an Asus RT-AC66U and how to optimize an Asus RT-AC66U.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

dfarq.homeip.net

Lock the function keys on a Lenovo Thinkpad

Dave Farquhar Hardware September 29, 2016March 15, 2021lenovo, thinkpad, wi-fi

Depending on your age and experience with computers, you may need to find you need to lock the function keys on a Lenovo Thinkpad. Or you may find the opposite, that you need to disable the function keys on a Lenovo Thinkpad.

Here’s how to do both.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Check your network speed in Windows 10

Dave Farquhar Servers and Networking, Windows September 15, 2016April 3, 2018cat5e, command prompt, network cables, Task Manager, wi-fi, Windows 10, windows 7

Sometimes you need to check your network speed in Windows 10. The information buried a bit but you can get there in about three clicks. When you need to know the raw specs of your network connection, here’s how to do it. Microsoft seems to have moved this recently, sometime in 2018, so I’ve updated this for the current builds of Windows 10.

Depending on your network driver, it was sometimes easier to get this in previous versions of Windows. Sometimes all you had to do was hover over your network connection icon. But this method also works in Windows 7, even if you have a featureless network driver.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Stop cordless phone interference

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized August 24, 2016November 13, 2020panasonic, wi-fi

Cordless phone interference has always been a problem–phones interfering with other things, and other things interfering with them.

That was the draw of 900 MHz phones. There wasn’t anything else running on that frequency at the time, so there was little to no interference. But 900 MHz didn’t sound hi-tech in the age of gigahertz computers. So in the early 2000s, 900 MHz gave way to 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz phones. That brought back the problem, because there’s so much other stuff operating at those frequencies these days, like wireless computer networks. But there is a solution that doesn’t involve digging up a 20-year-old 900 MHz phone and trying to find a battery that works in it.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Recommended DD-WRT settings

Dave Farquhar DD-WRT, security December 24, 2015January 26, 2022AES, AP, chrome, DDWRT, firefox, firewall, lowercase letters, malware, nintendo, SSID, vulnerability, WAN, WEP, wi-fi

I’ve been asked a few times now for my recommended DD-WRT settings, or at least my good-enough settings. I think that’s a great idea, so I’ll walk through how I configure a DD-WRT router. Follow these steps and I can almost guarantee you’ll have the most secure network on your block.

For the purposes of this tutorial, I am going to assume you are configuring DD-WRT as your primary router.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

You might need a new router

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Servers and Networking October 15, 2015February 10, 2018asus, linksys, New York, new york times, usb port, wi-fi, wrt54g

Do you need a new router? If your Internet is slow after upgrading to a faster service, and if your wifi range and reception is poor, or your Internet connection just generally misbehaves a lot, you might need a new router.

Even the New York Times, of all places, has published articles extolling the virtues of new routers. If your wi-fi at home is bad, they say, think about picking up a TP-Link Archer C7 router. I like the Asus RT-AC66U myself, but in my experience, and the experience of my colleagues, a new router makes a huge difference.

When one longtime friend upgraded to a TP-Link Archer, he told me his wi-fi improved so much his wired network was suddenly struggling to keep up with it. That’s fixable. He’s a candidate for Gigabit Ethernet.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

DD-WRT needs to be saved, but I won’t bet on it happening

Dave Farquhar DD-WRT, Servers and Networking October 5, 2015August 14, 2016classmate, FCC, pfsense, wi-fi

A college classmate asked me if there’s anything to the stories that DD-WRT might potentially get locked out due to new FCC regulations.

Unfortunately the answer is yes, there may be something to it.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Keep cordless phones from interfering with Wi-Fi

Dave Farquhar Servers and Networking April 7, 2015November 13, 2020netflix, panasonic, VOIP, wi-fi

Long ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and knights in shining armor fought them, people had landlines. And they plugged cordless phones into them. Everything was great. Then phones started using the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies. Wi-Fi came out using the same frequencies and the two interfered with each other. Now, it seems increasingly difficult to keep cordless phones from interfering with Wi-Fi.

Many people have neatly solved the problem by using cell phones exclusively. But what if that isn’t an option? You’re actually in luck, and you don’t have to dig up a 20-year-old 900 MHz phone and try to find a battery that works in it.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Build the best, most secure wifi in your neighborhood

Dave Farquhar DD-WRT, Servers and Networking March 24, 2015August 26, 2017AES, android, apple, cat5, DDWRT, lowercase letters, malware, Meraki Wifi Stumbler, Micro Center, netflix, Roku, SSID, TL, wi-fi

My neighbor asked me for advice on setting up wi-fi in his new house. I realized it’s been a while since I’ve written about wi-fi, and it’s never been cheaper or easier to blanket your house and yard with a good signal.

Blanketing your house and yard while remaining secure, though, is still important.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Initial upgrade reports on the HP Stream and Pavilion Mini

Dave Farquhar Hardware February 19, 2015February 18, 2015Ars Technica, CES, hp, pcie, Stream Mini, wi-fi, Windows 10

Earlier this year at CES, HP introduced its HP Stream Mini ($180) and Pavilion Mini ($320 and $450) mini-desktops. They’re small, inexpensive, and in the case of the Stream, silent. They turn out to be surprisingly upgradeable as well. Ars Technica has details and benchmarks, but of course I have my own priorities based on their discoveries.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

← Previous