[CQ-Contest] Cable modem questions

[Rick Tavan]

FWIW, I use both approaches at my Truckee, CA QTH with no problem. My shack is about 150' from the antenna which, unfortunately, points straight back at it when beaming the East Coast. I run 1.5KW. In the shack is one end of about 150' of Cat 5 to a cable modem/router upstairs and on the other side of the house. I think the spec for Cat 5 is 500' so your cable is short. Also on my cable modem/router is a separate wireless router intended to serve my son's apartment across the driveway. In fact, his wireless laptop is usable almost anywhere in either building. No RFI has ever been detected entering the network. Although I have intermittent, unidentified RFI entering my receiver, mainly on 10-20, powering off both the cable modem and the wireless router shows that they are not the culprits.

Wireless routers are insecure unless you tell them to encrypt everything. Then they can be very (but of course not completely) secure. According to my son (KC6YEW but he'd rather use the Internet, Thank You), you can use up to 128 bit encryption with many of these wireless routers, so only a very determined intruder could access anything. Every machine that relies on a wireless modem to access the network has to be informed of the security key. I don't think your firewall impacts security of the wireless environment positively or negatively.

73,

Rick N6XI

Robert Shohet wrote:

> Hi Guys,
>
> I currently use the basic Ethernet card with a Motorola SB4100 Modem to get
> Charter Pipeline service (about 750k bandwith) to my Dell Win98 computer.
>
> I would like to network this computer with another Win98 computer in the
> shack (downstairs and about 50 feet away).
>
> I was told that I have two basic options:
>
>  1) Buy a router (about $90 at Staples) and about 50' of Category 5 cable
> together with another Ethernet card and Motorola Modem SB4100 modem and then
> install and hook everything up (and hope that it works).
>
> 2) Buy a wireless router (about $150) and Two high end Ethernet cards (about
> $100) and the Motorola modem and then install same.
>
> I am wondering about the potential issues for each....
>
> For Scenario #1, by far the simplest, I wonder about the degradation of
> signal over 50' of category 5 cable to the upstairs computer.  I also wonder
> about the potential RFI problem of transmitting legal limit power and having
> the 50' cable run act as an antenna.  I know that I can use ferrite beads to
> reduce the effects of RFI but I still wonder about the signal degradation
> over such a long length of cable.
>
>  What about the RFI to the router located 10' away from the transmitter.  Is
> this an issue that anyone has in their station?  If so, how is it solved?
>
> Scenario #2
>
> If  I go wireless, will the legal limit RF create a problem with the router
> and the wireless signals?
>
> Also, if there is a wireless signal now, wouldn't it be easy for anyone in
> close proximity to my qth to access either or both computers and get data
> from my files?  Security is a real concern to me.
>
> I currently use Zonealarm ver 2.6 as a firewall on both computers but my
> understanding is that this is excellent protection against people trying to
> invade from the "outside"  but I don't know if it will protect against
> invasions against interecepted wireless signals and my transmissions by the
> wireless router.
>
> Can anyone provide practical info on these issues?
>
> Many thanks in advance for your help.
>
> 73
>
> Bob KQ2M
>
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