[dave2005]

Hi all, new to this forum but i thought it would be the best place to find some much needed info.Ive recently been using a wireless router (linksys wrt54gs) no reel problems but im very security concious and after reeding about how easy it is to crack the security on these ive decided to use powerline adapters.My problem is the ones im looking at http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/sto...ory_oid=-32721 says that i also need to buy a router. Help as i thought these were just plug in and away you go, i have limited computer knowledge so a little advice on this would be a great help.....thanks....DAVE

[Jimmy Hat]

Right. Do you have a password on your wireless network? If so what security type does it say for your network? If its WEP then yeah itll be pretty easy to hack. If its WPA it'll be extremely difficult to hack and if its WPA-PSK then itll probably be impossible to get onto without the password> Changing it to WPA or WPA-PSK would be your best option. If you want to know how to do check all that then let me know. There are all sorts of potential problems with powerlne networks. Welcome to the forum Dave.

[dave2005]

Thanks for the reply Jimmy,ive actually sold the router now but im sure it was wep. About these problems with powerline adaptersany chance you can elaborate on them or perhaps enclose a link to the problems as im having little joy finding anything on them. thanks DAVE

[philthomas]

If you are really worried about security, a wired Network will be your best option. More hassel, but very secure.
With a wired Network, there are no security worries.
The powerline adapters are not completely wireless, so are not that far removed from a wired network, but they still have potential security issues.

Have a read here :

http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/powering-up...k-usage/153487

Also many powerline adapters use USB ports, which can be a flakey interface at the best of times and they rely on software, installed on each PC, for security protection.
All of this compared to a straight forward Ethernet set up, leaves many areas for problems/issues.

The Linksys WRT54G tht you parted with may have been set to WEP encrypyion, but a simple change of setting would have allowed you to use the more secure WPA that Jimmy Hat mentioned above.

HTH

[dave2005]

thanks Phil, that made interesting reading and something to think about. DAVE

[Jimmy Hat]

Yeah the powerline adaptors arent totally secure, you'd be alright but it wouldn't be as secure as an ethernet network or maybe even a WPA wireless network I dont know. Oh btw WPA PSK isnt a more secure version of WPA like I said it was, it's basically the 'home version' of WPA (whatever that means). On the powerline adaptor front Ive heard of problems with interference and general unreliability, but whether these problems have been fixed in the latest models I dont know. Sorry cant find any webpages actually detailing the problems but I'll keep an eye out.

[dave2005]

cheers for that Jimmy, ive actually bought a better wireless router now (belkin) that was a doddle to set up and has all the security issues i was worried about sorted.

[Jimmy Hat]

Alrighty then. Great stuff.