Laptop

[SPTIVO_LUVA]

Hey Guys, just brought a laptop and hooked myself to wirelessly. Good for privacy now, just wondering if anyone here is an IT or own a laptop what should i do to keep her in tip top condition or any precautions i should take.

Also since i am wirless off my original router on my desktop pc, how can i ensure that i can only use this connection and not anyone of my sneak neighbours, like i know i need to do something but could somone explain for me?

Cheers

[Mello]

post removed

Edited January 14, 2007 by Mello

[BigBum]

As Tori mentioned, never ever use your Laptop on your bed. It shouldn't be used on your lap either. Heat builds inside, causing your internal fans to work harder hence shorter life span for your laptop. Also, take out the battery if you are constantly using AC power. Set your screen to turn off every 10 or 15mins when your away in Power options in Control Panel to preserve its life.

As for the router, to secure it from hijackers, you need to encrypt your signal using authentication keys. You can access that via your routers setup menu through a browser (by typing it its I.P address). From there, you can setup a password that is required to be entered when a new user tries to access your network.

Oh and warranty... always buy extended warranty. You don't want to know how much laptop parts cost.

[SPTIVO_LUVA]

i brought 4 years extended warrenty for 160 dollars

[Saiya]

If your gonna use wireless make sure you use WPA not WEP security.

Any kid with the right program can break into WEP network security with time.

And also as others said change your default Username and Password on your router.

[Tats]

2) if its a HP, Compaq, Dell, Toshiba, IBM(lenovo), acer

*sell it immediately* 1 year warranty products usually dont last long after the warranty has expired.

I agree with the first 3 and definately Acer, but what do you have against Toshiba and IBM? Those would've been my pick for a good laptop.

[neK]

I also limit the amount of IP's available through the DHCP settings.

eg. Ive got 3 PC's connected via cat5, and 2 laptops thru wireless, ive set a total of 5 IP address available through the DHCP settings, this ensures if anyone is trying to get into my network, they cant cos all the IP's are used up (well im sure they could if they really wanted to, but ive just created another hurdle for them to jump over).

[Conquest]

As for securing the wireless access point.

The best way is to use a strong WPA encryption key as long as your laptop supports it. This site generates random keys.

https://www.GRC.com/passwords.htm

The only problem with WPA is that some devices like Nintendo DS & PSP only support WEP encryption but either way some sort of access key is better than none.

As said above make sure your change the default login & password to your wireless access point/router

Change the wireless access point name, some people recommend turning it off completely but that can sometimes cause more trouble than it's worth.

You can also enable mac address filtering which means only your laptop will be able to gain access.

And finally you can also assign a static IP to your desktop & laptop and disable the DHCP server on your modem/router.

Edited January 14, 2007 by Conquest

[Dead]

Hyo, i work for the only registered laptop repair centre in australia (apart from the manufacturers headquarters )

1) keep the laptop off the bed, dust can easily go in and block the fan resulting in premature death. preferably always use it on a bench or a flat surface

2) if its a HP, Compaq, Dell, Toshiba, IBM(lenovo), acer

*sell it immediately* 1 year warranty products usually dont last long after the warranty has expired.

3) take care with your power socket. Easily able to snap with most brands.

*dont transport with the power ac adapter still connected to your laptop.

and for your wireless, check that your router has access control (on)

basically you just put your ip in the list and only you can get in.

also please change your password and username from the original router settings. anybody can get into your router, with the "administrator" "password" settings.

You can also create a vpn or whatever you wish but for home use i doubt you will require such security measures.

any problems pm me.

Toshiba's are by far one of the best laptop makes you can get. They don't last long after the warranty has expired? Rubbish. You can always extend them anyway from the retailer. I've had my toshiba since 1997 and to this day it hasn't died and never showed any signs of dying (even after being dropped twice). I use it regularly to surf the net and write on as I'm working on a novel. This laptop is 10 years old.

[SPTIVO_LUVA]

i went into my desktop settings and put in an administrator password under the WPA option. I did not put a really hard password but i dunno if i really need to. So now instead of searching wireless things on my laptop and clicking my network and it connecting straight away it now asks me for an access password. Is this correct what i have done now.

Cheers

[Conquest]

i went into my desktop settings and put in an administrator password under the WPA option.

Is this correct what i have done now.

Cheers

I don't really understand what you have done re. the desktop settings.

From what I understand you are using a desktop and a laptop and they are both connected wirelessly, correct?

You should set the password on the modem/router and then when you try to connect onto your network with either the desktop or the laptop it will ask you to enter the authentication key. Once you have done that it should remember the settings from then on.

EDIT: Here is a picture of my wireless security settings minus the SSID

A little more info about your setup would be nice i.e. what brand of modem/router, how the computers are connected and whether or not you are using Windows XP SP2...

Edited January 14, 2007 by Conquest

[neK]

my password is usually a quote (without spaces) i would remember.

Something rather stupid, but long.

eg. a homer quote

carpullingintokrustyburgerpowerlesstoresist

i would have no problem remembering it, but good luck to those trying to guess it. LOL

[SPTIVO_LUVA]

haha nice, sorry i ment router settings not desktop settings...

[Mello]

post removed

Edited January 14, 2007 by Mello

[Conquest]

haha nice, sorry i ment router settings not desktop settings...

Did you get it sorted out?

Assuming you set it up correctly in the router (WPA-PSK) then all you need to do is find your wireless network on your desktop or laptop and type in the authentication key.

If you're using an older version of Windows XP then you might need to set up the authentication type manually but assuming it's a new laptop it should already have Service Pack 2 pre-installed which handles that automatically...

Edited January 14, 2007 by Conquest

[Mikey]

yeah just look for a padlock picture/symbol next to your signal strength and if its there, its secure.

[CHA54]

FWIW, Dell Latitudes come standard with 3 years warranty...

Also FWIW, there have been more than Dell notebooks that have had their japanese made Sony Lithium ion batteries have issues...

Dell were just the first to stand up and take responsibility for Sony's stuffup, then all the other manufacturers slowly followed suit ;)

[neK]

Mello are Asus notebooks any good then?

Any brands you recommend?

[Mello]

post removed

Edited January 14, 2007 by Mello

[Tats]

I work for a Dell corporate client and we have no problem with calling India and telling them what we need and when we need it. Then again our purchasing power gives us a lot to lean on, I question whether a consumer would get the same treatment.

Not that I'd recommend a Dell to anyone. Something about the letters "DOA" that don't really do it for me.

[CHA54]

Mello,

Your post just confirmed to me that you have absolutely no idea about Dell.

I'll be at Dell's head office in Sydney at the end of the month to see the guys at the helpdesk in Frenches Forrest, and Dell does ONSITE warranty for their corporate and client products. If you're in a metro area you get a minimum of Next Business Day onsite warranty on the majority of client products when the call is dispatched before the cutoff time...

The return to base notebooks go to the repair centers either Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Canberra, Hobart or Brisbane depending on their location.... None are shipped OS, nfi who fed you that crap.

The company I used to work for repaired HP, IBM, ACER, Dell, Toshiba etc, all brands have their good and bad....

I buy my stuff on the base warranty offered, if it's less than 3 years I wont buy it. A 3 year old notebook is due for replacement if you need to do any real work on it... I couldn't imagine having to do my job on a 1997 model notebook, from memory they were mostly P1's back then :P

Dell is hardly going broke when their year on year profit growth(yes, profit, not revenue...) is still positive, and they have $14 Billion in cash in the bank... not tied up in assets etc. The market is tightening but the business is still doing very well and continually expanding.

Edited January 14, 2007 by rollamods

[SPTIVO_LUVA]

yupp i got the pag lock signal. cheers all

[Mello]

post removed, stiring up rollamods

and sptivo_luva got ******. my apologies that you dont want my advice. i have removed them all.

Edited January 14, 2007 by Mello

[SPTIVO_LUVA]

dude get the fuk outta my topic your starting to ***** me off!

[kelvin33]

relax mate.... there is no need for that... hee is entitled to his comments...