Is it possible for a 13 year old WIFI receiver to NOT be obsolete?
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I've just discovered a bunch of these that evidently I had stashed away when computers started having WIFI capability integrated onto the motherboard, and was wondering if I should just throw them out.
Given that wifi routers still support B/G/N which were all available back then, I wouldn't call them obsolete. I remember getting a USB attached Linksys device that routinely connected at 300MB/s. It became obsolete due to incompatible drivers/lack of support from Linksys. this was OK since at the same time, systems came with built-on wifi. On the same note, I was pondering something similar about my h/o server. The case/cpu/mobo/fans/psu are all around 13 y/o. The original 64GB SSD and spinning data drive have both been upgraded. (the spinner actually died an unrecoverable death at the 6 year mark) So current SSDs are around 7 y/o and everything else is original. Performance-wise, it still seems snappy enough...occasional monitoring during peak hours doesn't show anything to be alarmed about. I'm considering replacing it with an Azure VM to handle the dozen or so web applications/domain it is currently hosting and using an older laptop for a file/printer server for the local stuff I've come to rely on. Hardware is lasting a lot longer these days, especially with the advent of SS drives.
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse "Hope is contagious"
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WiFi routers are a primary attack point for those that are distributing malware and building bot-nets. For that reason they get frequent updates for security issues in their firmware. New models handle newer, more secure protocols. Not using a router to connect to the Internet is almost pointless. It can still be used as an access to other machines on your network, machine which may have Internet access. Given it's weak security you may have false confidence in its level of protection.
Software Zen:
delete this;As I understood OP's question, he's talking about the wifi "dongle" we plugged into a USB port before there was motherboard wifi support. Sure, routers are a major attack target for the baddies, but that isn't what this thread is about.
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012
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I've just discovered a bunch of these that evidently I had stashed away when computers started having WIFI capability integrated onto the motherboard, and was wondering if I should just throw them out.
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WiFi routers are a primary attack point for those that are distributing malware and building bot-nets. For that reason they get frequent updates for security issues in their firmware. New models handle newer, more secure protocols. Not using a router to connect to the Internet is almost pointless. It can still be used as an access to other machines on your network, machine which may have Internet access. Given it's weak security you may have false confidence in its level of protection.
Software Zen:
delete this;Gary R. Wheeler wrote:
It can still be used as an access to other machines on your network, machine which may have Internet access.
Not necessarily if you white list the connection pool pool, mapping only fixed local IPs to concrete MACs in your LAN subnet where thy are involved (and IIRC that was already possible in many router brands back in 2006)
M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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WiFi routers are a primary attack point for those that are distributing malware and building bot-nets. For that reason they get frequent updates for security issues in their firmware. New models handle newer, more secure protocols. Not using a router to connect to the Internet is almost pointless. It can still be used as an access to other machines on your network, machine which may have Internet access. Given it's weak security you may have false confidence in its level of protection.
Software Zen:
delete this;Gary R. Wheeler wrote:
For that reason they get frequent updates for security issues in their firmware.
Wifi routers get frequent security updates? That's certainly not my experience. And definitely not the opinion of Steve Gibson, host of the [Security Now](https://twit.tv/shows/security-now) podcast...he's rather dismayed at how quickly routers are abandoned by their manufacturers and hardly *ever* get updates. Unless you're talking about expensive commercial routers for which you pay a "subscription" fee - not consumer units.
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Many (most?) home wi-fi access points are, in my experience, backward compatible to the b/g/n standards. Your old wi-fi receivers should work fine with such an access point.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
The problem is that because they can send so much less data/time they'll suck up a disproportionate amount of your routers theoretical capacity.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius
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Could you please explain what the security issue is?
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012
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Security under WPA2 is cracked and unsecure. On top a lot of wifi devices have known flaws like bugs or fix passwords. Google for details ps: I work for an established wifi vendor
Press F1 for help or google it. Greetings from Germany
I understand the wide range of vulnerabilities in wifi networks, but I am yet to see one implicating a wifi "dongle" which is what the original question referred to. ps I have been building computer networks since well before wifi was invented.
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012
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The problem is that because they can send so much less data/time they'll suck up a disproportionate amount of your routers theoretical capacity.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius
Obviously new devices would have better throughput, but if the OP is using them for low-bandwidth functions, it may save him/her a bit of cash. I can imagine a configuration where the OP uses a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi channel for the old stuff and a 5 GHz channel for the modern stuff, thus having no interference between the old and the new.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
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I understand the wide range of vulnerabilities in wifi networks, but I am yet to see one implicating a wifi "dongle" which is what the original question referred to. ps I have been building computer networks since well before wifi was invented.
Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012