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GeekNights 070305 - Network Address Translation
Tonight on GeekNights, we explain NAT (Network Address Translation) in layman's terms. In the news, Diebold may be getting out of the voting machine business, and Best Buy may be doing shady things with its intranet site.
Scott's Thing - VI Man
Rym's Thing - Neal Adams is a Crazy Nutjob
Comments
I doubt it, but perhaps it has something to do with today's iTunes update?
Scenario:
A router connects several computers together in a Windows workgroup. A wireless router is connected to the first router to provide wifi access to the internet for visitors, but prevents them from seeing any Windows shares from the office's workgroup.
Like I said, quick and dirty. I admit that it's not all that secure, but it will keep most people out of those shares.
I would sit in my car and open up a browser window just to surf porn on their open network while doing other things. I don't know if anyone ever got fired but... After I sent a bunch of porn images to their full color printer the router was locked down within 3 days!
When using NAT with your linksys router how much scamming can you do?
If you keep changing your IP (dynamic IP logout then login again) will it have any effect on others tracking your online activities?
If you have multiple computers behind your router (or someone latching onto your Wi-Fi) will there be any evidence in server logs so that you can defend yourself? i.e. MAC information?
If you have some sort of internal network monitoring you can know everything that goes on inside your network. As far as people on the big Internet are concerned your entire network is just one IP address doing a whole lot of stuff.
What I am wondering is, as a specific example, what occurs when you log into a game server from behind a NAT/router with a few other people behind the same NAT/firewall.
Will this send out a red flag to most servers that there may be some form of cheating going on?
Its not just a text editor, its a way of life.
A bunch of Digg users all work for the same big company,by big company I mean IBM or AT&T. Because some of them are accessing the Internet over their Intranet and thus are likely to be behind a NAT firewall will Digg see this as gaming or multiple accounts by the same user?
Some ISP's have a very weak way of forcing you to have only one computer. They want you to plug in an actual computer (with a CD-ROM drive) directly into your cable modem after installation to "initialize" the connection. They then record the MAC address of the computer with which you initially connected, and only that MAC is allowed to connect on your line.
This is often associated with static IP service like what I have. (Tip: with Time Warner Cable in Rochester, NY, you can get business-class cable with a static IP for $20 more than the regular service; it's called "premium" and is identical to the $200/mo+ business-class service.) It's easily circumvented if you just plug in a router right away, but otherwise you have to be a little tricky.
Most routers, including the infamous Linksys WRT54g, let you spoof the MAC address of the router. Simply tell the router to use the same MAC address as your original computer, and the ISP is fooled. They expect this, of course, but they don't want you to do it. Kind of like how, with business-class, they give you a router with 4 ports, but it doesn't have NAT and has no interface (web, serial, or otherwise) to change that. They say you have to pay for more IP's. Or...you can just put a fricking router on the one good port. Morons.
Anyway, that's not exactly NAT, but it is relevant.
In fact, Core 2 based MacBooks have 802.11n support, but you have to buy, for MONEY, an "enabler" that activates the already-enabled functionality. Unbelievable. Un-fucking believable. What's next? Windows charges you $4 per USB port? $8 per printer?
To make matters worse: one can easily install an 802.11n supporting card for a MacBook or MacBook pro. It's no more difficult than installing a hard drive. The card has an identical profile. Trouble is, it's pretty damn difficult to get a hold of (very few retailers, online or offline, carry the part), and Apple spreads FUD about its efficacy. They say "well, you'd void your warranty if you installed it yourself" and "802.11n is just a draft, so we can't support it", etc, etc. This would all be fine if they didn't market the "blazing speed" of the new Airport Extreme as if you could actually achieve it!
I put it to fanboys to seriously consider if they want to remain loyal to a company that charges $1.99 to "enable" a piece of hardware that's already included in their system.
Until then, I'll stick with my WRT54g.
The biggest thing I miss about RIT is the ability to borrow fantastically expensive networking equipment in order to play with it.