Question about routers and shared connections

Hello,

I plan to get a router from my telephone company and heck as embarrassing as it is I do not know anything about it! I use a combination of dial-up and wireless plugin modem since forever and this is to be my first crack at getting one.

Now my telephone company is offering a Dlink broadband modem DIR-300 well at the lowest plan I can afford at the moment. The other model is a CDRKing WRT-688 (Wireless Router)
1T1R 150M WIRELESS AP ROUTER (DD-WRT FLASHED). This one will be a wired connection and the model will not have a firewall.

1. Can you guys share some inputs as to how can I be safe with that model of a router..?

2. What do I need to know about using one?

I know my friends "share" their connections.

3. If I am to share this connection that I will purchase, what may be the necessary information that I need to know..? (Maybe a step-by-step points to consider scenario that I need to know to be safe, say, I'll allow 2 wireless connections to mine --one wired/2 wireless).

4. What should I be wary of with this kind of sharing?

5. What may be threats (not necessarily virus but people wanting to use my connections without my express authority) that I need to know of...

6. How can I protect myself from unwanted usage?

7. Now this dsl-plan that comes with the router will not have a firewall, how can I setup say, Online Armor or Comodo to protect me...?

8. How can I limit the connections to only three? Can I do that on the router? Or will I need tools to do that...? If I can do that can you kindly tell me how can I set that up?

9. How can I protect my 3 user connection properly...? I'd like to have Admin control on the 3 user setup and I do not know how to do it..?

10. Now on that particular shared setup(one wired / 2 wireless), how can I balance the bandwidth usage...? I fear that the other or both might be hogging all the bandwidth and cripple me. How can I setup say, allocated bandwidth for the 3 users?

11. Are there tools that I can use to do that? What apps that might be? (preferably freeware please).

12. Supposing that I am now using it and I see that there's an unidentified user/connection in the "Networks", what will/must do?

13. How can I terminate an unidentified connection...? Through Online Armor/Comodo perhaps (can I do that?)or there are better ways to do it?

14. How can I monitor the usage of the 3 users? Again if I may..tools or apps that can do the job...(preferably freeware).

So sorry for the ton of questions here. Fact is I don't know and I am asking so I can learn this from you guys. Seems to be elementary but I have to start somewhere huh :)

Please share a lot of inputs :)

Thank you very much :)

Senior Raul as you have a non wifi router your a person can use your connection only if he is manually connected to the router. Just installing Comodo or Online Armor would be sufficient protection. I would recommend you to purchase a good internet security suite like Kaspersky or Norton to defend you well.
I do not think you will see an unidentified connection. IF your router is at your home some one has to manually connect through ethernet cable to it to acess it. As you have a non wifi router so you need not worry much.
For other router configurations it is best you flash DD-WRT on to your router.You can search howtogeek.com they have pretty good router setting up guide.
You can use Ntop for network monitoring ntop.

I do not use router based connection except my school uses it and I have worked with it. IF your using a dlink router check this guide Official D-Link Device or Products Online Emulator | Raymond.CC Blog

Hello avibky,

Thanks for the reply. Well I mentioned sharing the connection, 1 wired(mine) and 2 wireless wifi. I'd like to ask if on that 2 wireless wifi connections, Online Armor and Comodo will be sufficient protection also..?

Forgive the ignorance bt what is DD-WRT..?

Quote:

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I do not think you will see an unidentified connection. IF your router is at your home some one has to manually connect through ethernet cable to it to acess it. As you have a non wifi router so you need not worry much.

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-- A neighbor who got the same plan from the telco has also shared his connection. His is 2 wired and one wifi wireless. He see's an unidentified user often in the explorer>Networks...how can that be terminated...? What can I do if I have that? What may be the cause of it..?

Thank you :)

You can set your connection as Public then. DD-wrt is actually a software or better a firmware which will overwrite your routers default one and provides more functions. Comodo or OA would be sufficient i suppose.

I am not really a network guy anyway as I said pls check how to geek.com as they have a lot of guides for router configs.

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Senior Raul I am not sure which router are u planning to buy can you explicitly specify pls. ?

Here is a good guide to find out intruders in your wifi network Stop Unauthorized Use Of Wifi- Get Alerts On New Connection

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SeniorRaul

Forgive the ignorance bt what is DD-WRT..?

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As avikby pointed out, DD-WRT is a very popular firmware for routers that has lots of extra features. And I also commend him for pointing you towards How To Geek. They frequently publish articles about basic and advanced router firmware setup. Here's a basic one: Turn Your Home Router Into a Super-Powered Router with DD-WRT

There's also a Wiki which lists compatible modems: Supported Devices - DD-WRT Wiki and the Dlink DIR-300 is on the list.

Personally, I use Tomato -- on a Linksys WRT54G -- which is the other popular firmware that you will find tutorials about at How To Geek (HTG).

Here's a blog article -- but not from HTG -- comparing them: DD-WRT vs Tomato: Clear choice?

Now, I'm just barely competent when it comes to router firmware and security. Main thing I've done is to setup good basic security on my router:

1. Change the default password for router login to a highly secure one
2. Use WPA2-Personal protocol with AES encryption and a randomly generated 64 character password for wireless connections
3. Disable telnet access to the router.
4. Restrict access to the wireless connections to only the MAC addresses of your machines and devices.
5. Setup a rule which disables the wireless network during the times it's not needed.

Just doing 1 & 2 will put you far, far above the security curve of most people. You don't have to go to custom firmware. Note that step 2 is vitally important - that alone will stop the hacker kiddies in your neighborhood. I don't think I need mention that the first thing they do is try stand default passwords to access your router.

One forum where you will find people that are highly knowledge about router security and setup is LinksysInfo.org They are focused on Linksys routers but the information on DD-WRT, Tomato and general router security will translate to whatever router(s) you end up using. Definitely worth your time.

I used to have DSL and was unhappy because I had to use a combination modem - router. I think that's what you are having to do as well.

One possibility that comes to mind is to hook up a second router to your modem-router and install DD-WRT or Tomato on it and have it handle the wireless setup. I've seen articles about this sort on thing on HTG.

But I would first venture over to LinksysInfo and get advice on the simplest and best way for you to proceed. Hope this helps. It took me awhile to just learn and understand this much about the world of routers.

P.S. To the Mods: what happened to the advance formatting buttons for posts? Had to manually input the codes for the List & Bold functions?

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P.P.S. I forgot to mention this. Once your have your router securely setup, then you only need install a Internet Security suite on your machines. You see, the router security is a separate deal from your individual machine security. Personally, I suggest Kaspersky IS 2012. But your choice is really dictated by your likes and needs.

Good post Jelson. My net connection had expired and now I am back online. Was at aunts place all this while and was egg hunting at coffecup.