News - WPA encryption broken in 60 seconds.

[Singh400]

I have homeplugs in my house for my second pc, PS3, and asusO!play media player which is secure (after all its basically wired lan). My main pc is connected directly to the router.

I also have wireless internet activated for my sisters pc and my own laptop, and its secured with WPA2. After seeing my mate hack WEP within 5 minutes I'd thought I'd up my security from WEP to WPA2.

Read something a while ago, talking about how PowerPlugs "leak" data, across the house wiring. Not sure if it applies to the latest stuff though.

[Georgy291]

You seriously can't see the point of wireless? I'll give you some hints... how about laptops? Netbooks? iPhones? Yeah, wireless isn't the best solution for desktops, but that doesn't make it pointless. What's pointless is having a portable device which has to be plugged in all the time.

yes but when it barely works?

besides dont lap tops have to be pluged in to power socket anyway?
anyone actually got a netbook?
iPhone is a pile of junk anyway. and iphone has got its own 3g modem. as far as i seen if you take out a contract with O2 for it which is about £40/month dont you get unlimited internet anyway?

and no i know this is a slight contradiction, but im all for developing future wireless stuff. Id love to see my house go completely wireless with out any of the ugly cat5e cables. just atm they arent anywhere near reliable enough

[kalniel]

yes but when it barely works?

As we've discovered, you have a broken card! Try it with a card that works and it's 100% reliable

besides dont lap tops have to be pluged in to power socket anyway?

anyone actually got a netbook?

Several million have been sold I think.

iPhone is a pile of junk anyway.

Hush, Jobs might hear you.

and no i know this is a slight contradiction, but im all for developing future wireless stuff. Id love to see my house go completely wireless with out any of the ugly cat5e cables. just atm they arent anywhere near reliable enough

They are if you have a card that isn't broken.

[Georgy291]

Several million have been sold I think.

yeah, but what is the point off them?

and my card is fine, i also got another USB one and same thing keeps happening. might be the router on the other hand

[shadowmaster]

Read something a while ago, talking about how PowerPlugs "leak" data, across the house wiring. Not sure if it applies to the latest stuff though.

I think thats a possibility if you are somehow sharing an electrical phase with your neighbour. Afaik your electricity meter acts as a block.

[crossy]

Read something a while ago, talking about how PowerPlugs "leak" data, across the house wiring. Not sure if it applies to the latest stuff though.

The gen I got on this was that there's something intrinsic to the way that the power meter works that effectively zaps the network signal (I'm not a sparky so I can't say whether this is 100% accurate in all cases).

However, most of the Ethernet-over-Powerline products I looked at have the concept of a "network id" (analogous to a WLAN SSID) and without knowing this an EoP just won't join the network - and unlike WLAN gear there doesn't seem to be the EoP version of "promiscuous" mode where you could shark the data to find the id and then join it.

Oh, and if this isn't secure enough, then all the modern gear will let you trade some speed for data encryption. In the case of the Solwise gear, (good technical support), I use this is 128bit AES which is reputedly only at risk from GCHQ, NSA etc.

I switched to EoP when the 200Mb "AV" standard came out and have had very little bother with it - unlike the WLAN in my house, it just works (and I've got the usual wierd collection of Linux, Windows , Apple things, etc).

Speaking of the WLAN - am I right in thinking that even WPA2-TKIP is now busted? Reason is that the old iPod Touch I've got doesn't seem to do WPA2-AES.

Thanks, Bob.

[aidanjt]

TKIP in any form is vulnerable. So if any of your equipment isn't AES compatible you should probably see about replacing it.

[Mattus]

yes but when it barely works?

Most people use wireless with few or no problems. If yours barely works, that's an issue with your setup and not with the technology.

besides dont lap tops have to be pluged in to power socket anyway?

Not always. And anyway, I don't know about you, but I have a lot more power sockets in my home than ethernet sockets.

anyone actually got a netbook?

Several million people, actually. Whether you think they're pointless isn't relevant.

iPhone is a pile of junk anyway.

Show me a phone which has a better browser than the iPhone. And that's not relevant anyway - substitute any other WiFi-capable mobile device for the iPhone and my point still stands. Blackberries, WinMo, Android, Symbian...

and iphone has got its own 3g modem. as far as i seen if you take out a contract with O2 for it which is about £40/month dont you get unlimited internet anyway?

Why use 3G when you could use a much faster wireless connection? What if your area doesn't have 3G coverage?

You're just being obstinate for the sake of it. You obviously don't like wireless, but none of your arguments are pertinent.